Welcome to our monthly round up to keep you in touch with the actions we are taking towards creating a lasting future for wild places.
Springtime is a busy season as our team gets out and about to advocate for wild places, protect and restore them and help more people connect to them. Read some of this month's highlights below.
If you are near Coventry in mid-April, we hope to see you at Charterhouse Heritage Park, when our Chief Executive David Balharry will be giving an illustrated talk. Read on to find out more about this and other events that are coming up.
Don't forget to check out our special offers. Scroll down to find out how to give the gift of Membership for £21 during the John Muir Day celebrations around 21 April.
This month, the policy team has been working on the Scottish Government’s consultation to increase the threshold for onshore electricity generation, which would allow more decisions to be made by local authorities. Additionally, as the sixth session of the Scottish Parliament concludes, the policy team will shift its focus to conducting policy research to develop proposals for the upcoming parliamentary session.
We were delighted to hear that the Scottish Government's Biodiversity Strategy Delivery Plan has earmarked two Trust sites for nature restoration. Our initial proposal to restore west coast rainforest and pinewoods at Li and Coire Dhorrcail with other partners on Knoydart, has been extended to include projects in Morven and Arkaig and named as one of the govenment's 9exemplar projects. In addition, our restoration work with the Nevis Landscape Partnership has also been singled out as one of 19 areas of focus in the government's delivery plan. Find out more.
Protecting and restoring wild places
The arrival of spring sees our land team getting out and about in the wild places in our care, working with volunteers and engaging with visitors and the local community.
At Glenlude, a couple of our conservation volunteers have acquired new brushcutting skills to help remove bracken to create more sunny, sheltered spots for one of Scotland's most threatened butterflies - the Northern Brown Argus. Read more about our project to create a rosy future for this rare butterfly.
Over at Nevis, our team spent an inspiring evening with our partners in the Nevis Landscape Partnership and the local community for a creative celebration of Scotland's rainforest. Participants enjoyed finding out more about this threatened habit while they viewed the rainforest-themed art on display and had a go themselves. Read more.
We have launched our spring programme of events at Coventry's Charterhouse Heritage Park. Booking is now open for a walk on 15 April, followed by an evening talk where you will have chance to hear why wild places matter from our CEO David Balharry. Find out more.
Connecting people to wild places
The Trust adminstered Des Rubens Bill Wallace Grant is supporting seven more adventures in wild places this year. Commemorating two former presidents of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, who each led inspring and adventurous lives, this year's grants will fund adventures in Scotland, Scandinavia, Poland and the Himalayas. Read about this year's grant recipients.
Thank you for your continued support of the John Muir Trust. We look forward to sharing more updates from across our work in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, our work continues every day. Visit our website for the latest stories, campaign updates and news from across the Trust.
This John Muir Day, on 21 April, we’re inviting you to take 21 minutes to connect with a wild place. As a John Muir Trust supporter, you’re already helping protect these places every day. All you have to do is find a place where nature is allowed to lead. Spend 21 minutes there - walk, sit, observe, explore. Notice what is growing, changing or moving.
You can also share your love for wild places with someone you know by inviting them to take part, and you have the chance to join the John Muir Trust for £21 for the first year’s Membership. The campaign is running from 14 – 27 April, with more details to follow.
Book up for a guided walk around a special urban wild space followed by an illustrated talk by the Trust's CEO David Balharry on the importance of wild places.
Becoming a Member of the John Muir Trust will help us protect the wild places in our care, campaign on the urgent issues facing wild places and connect more people with them.
