@highlandsrewilding.bsky.social
Nature recovery and community prosperity through rewilding, taken to scale. Sharing news of rewilding hope, action, progress and investment in scaling nature-based solutions. www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk #rewilding #naturerecovery #community
For us at Highlands Rewilding, having this expertise “on the doorstep” is invaluable.
*Special thanks to Seawilding for footage provided for this film*
🔗 Read David Smyth’s full blog here: www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/blog/reveali...
Full film here youtu.be/ZWjnCRrDGSA
Following on from Friday’s film featuring the seagrass meadow at Tayvallich, today, on #WorldSeagrassDay, we turn to restoration and the pioneers helping lead it. Join Marine Rewilding Lead David Smyth and Danny Renton, Founder and CEO of Seawilding, from Loch Craignish.
This Tayvallich meadow shows what a functioning system can look like.The question now is not just how we protect it – but how we extend it.
🔗 Read David Smyth’s full blog here: www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/blog/reveali...
A seagrass meadow – in exceptional condition – at Tayvallich, needs protection and extension. Marine Rewilding Lead David Smyth and researcher Rebekah Bajko (Queen’s University Belfast) take us underwater to survey a site that is not just biodiverse, but unusually intact. #worldseagrassday
🔗 Read the article (paywall) here: www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583712...
Or read Jeremy Leggett’s blog and white paper on the subject: www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/blog/white-p...
In The Herald today. A detailed look at @jeremyleggett.bsky.social's concept of the “Nature Prosperity Pump” – how linking forest restoration with sustainable timber construction could help tackle both the rural housing crisis and the climate and biodiversity emergencies. #NaturalCapital
🔗 Read Hannah and Penelope’s full bios and meet the rest of the Highlands Rewilding team here: www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/team
Today, on #InternationalDayOfWomenAndGirlsInScience, we’re proud to spotlight two members of the Highlands Rewilding team whose work is helping shape how nature recovery is understood, financed and delivered.
@hannahrudman.bsky.social
The Great Glen Way is one of Scotland’s most important long-distance paths, stretching 118km from Fort William to Inverness. Scheduled completion is the end of March 2026.
www.highland.gov.uk/news/article...
Work is underway at Bunloit Estate to make the Great Glen Way safer and more enjoyable. We’re delighted to be working with the @highland.gov.uk on this project which will see more than 3km of the Great Glen Way, removed from the public road, and into Bunloit estate’s natural woodland.
We are delighted to welcome walkers on this new route through Bunloit estate. Taking the Great Glen Way off-road will undoubtably make the area safer for everyone, while opening up some beautiful views and guiding people through the mosaic of wildlife habitats we're restoring at Bunloit.
We are delighted to welcome walkers on this new route through Bunloit estate. Taking the Great Glen Way off-road will undoubtably make the area safer for everyone, while opening up some beautiful views and guiding people through the mosaic of wildlife habitats we're restoring at Bunloit.
Captured on camera during a recent drone survey at Tayvallich Estate, carried out by BH Wildlife Consultancy.
A young Sika stag and a fox sharing the same space with little reaction.
This is one small glimpse from a wider survey.
We’ll be sharing more insights from the work in due course.
🔗 Read how we are removing plantation forests and beginning to rewet these ancient bogs, transforming them from carbon emitters back into one of nature's most effective carbon storage systems. www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/blog/how-we-...
#WorldWetlandsDay | Helping ancient peatlands to breathe again 💨 Peatlands are one of the world’s most important wetland ecosystems. Covering just 3% of the Earth’s surface, they store 30% of the world’s soil carbon – twice as much as forests combined. At Bunloit estate, we are restoring peatland.
Highland Rewilding – one of only two Scottish organisations to adopt the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
🔗 Read this blog www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/blog/in-conv..., a conversation between @hannahrudman.bsky.social and @helen001.bsky.social about TNFD
Great news.
The coverage reflects a key finding from the paper: if we manage all deer populations in the same way, we may inadvertently strengthen Sika’s competitive advantage.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/11/native-british-deer-same-fate-red-squirrel/#comment
Two UK newspapers have picked up on research led by our Co-Chief Scientist Calum Brown, exploring why non-native Sika deer could outcompete Scotland’s native Red deer. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15453713/British-red-deer-fate-red-squirrels.html
Farming and rewilding are often seen as opposites. But what if they could work together to restore nature?
Regenerative agriculture can be a powerful tool for ecosystem restoration. #rewilding #regenerativeagriculture #highlandcattle *film first shown in Spring 2025
#OFC26 #ORFC26
On Tayvallich estate we have around 20 deer per km² @NatureScot guidance suggests that deer densities should be around 2 deer per km² in woodlands where regeneration is a priority.
Reducing numbers is difficult but essential ecological stewardship.
#deermanagement #venison
Healthy, ethical, locally sourced. A new larder at Tayvallich will value deer beyond the cull. An improved, on-site facility will allow us to process venison directly on the estate to supply healthy, ethical, locally sourced meat to our community, local businesses, and potentially schools.
2025 - the science that guides us, the celebrations that lift us, the people that make it happen
Thank you to everyone who has supported, encouraged, and followed us this year, on our mission for nature recovery.
Wishing you a peaceful, restorative, and hopeful festive season.
#naturerecovery
As Penelope Whitehorn, co-Chief Scientist at Highlands Rewilding, explains in the film, these results are not yet conclusive. Factors such as deer movement patterns and plot location also play a role, and we’re taking those into account as we analyse the data.
While this is a small-scale trial and further testing is essential, the initial results suggest that:
* untreated saplings suffered the heaviest browsing
* Trico reduced damage
* saplings protected with sheep fleece showed the lowest levels of browsing
#naturebasedsolutions #deermanagement
First results from our Sapling Protection Trial
At Bunloit Estate we’ve been experimenting ways to protect young trees from deer browsing.
The trial :
* an untreated control area (4 plots)
* a Trico-treated (lanolin spray) area (4 plots)
* a sheep fleece treated area (4 plots)
Healthy soil grows healthy forests. As we work to restore Scotland’s Atlantic rainforest on Tayvallich estate, understanding the soil beneath our feet is as important as the trees we plant. On #WorldSoilDay, let's recognise that healthy forests start from the ground up.
*first shown in March 2025
Three deer managers - one hundred years’ experience - one scientific paper that could not have been written without them.
Bunloit deer manager David Tulloch - one of the three deer managers who contributed to our recent Sika research - explains why managing Sika requires time, effort, and resources.
Why Sika, a Victorian introduction from Japan, are outcompeting native deer. The graphic below by Co-Chief scientist Penelope Whitehorn illustrates how Sika outperform native deer. Full paper by Dr Calum Brown here: doi.org/10.1002/2688... Read our blog
www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/blog/scotlan...
Read the full article inThe Times www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...
#deer #Scotland