After three years of careful development, we are delighted that Affric Highlands has now launched. Formerly East West Wild, Affric Highlands is our long-term initiative that seeks to bring together stakeholders across 500,000 acres of the landscape, stretching from Loch Ness to Kintail. By bringing these stakeholders together and encouraging positive action, we hope to see the recovery of the natural landscape to the benefit of nature, people and the local economy.
In the past month there have been major developments. In August we received the excellent news that the board of Rewilding Europe had accepted Affric Highlands as one of its official rewilding areas. Other project areas include world famous natural habitats, such as Italy’s Central Apennines, the Oder Delta in Germany and Poland, and the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria.
Joining these pioneering areas is a real boost for the initiative. It gives us a European status and profile that will help draw project funding and private investment. This will be critical for establishing nature-based businesses in the project area. We have already seen this funding impact in practice. Rewilding Europe has awarded us a grant of €300,000 for the next two years. Along with funding already provided by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, it means that we are now ready to appoint a team to develop detailed plans for a funded, multi-million initiative from 2023.
Rewilding Europe suggested that we give the initiative a place-based name, to fit in with the rest of the network. So, Affric Highlands was born. We chose the Scottish wildcat as the project’s emblem. This is a species we hope can be returned to the landscape soon through the great work of Saving Wildcats.
We launched Affric Highlands in Drumnadrochit at our first major public event since the pandemic began. The launch saw Rewilding Europe formally adopt Affric Highlands into its network. Project partners, community members and landowners all joined us for the launch. Bringing together a diverse range of people with different interests is vital to the success of the initiative.
On top of this came further good news when NatureScot gave us a grant of £50,000 from the Nature Restoration Fund. These funds will help us to start delivering project work. This is a great chance to make some early progress with action on the ground. Our plan for this is still developing but could include:
looking at ways to help people collaborate on deer management,
progressing the project’s carbon sequestration potential,
and involving young people in decision making about how the initiative unfolds over time.
By November we will have a Team Leader in place to focus on developing the programme and an Enterprise Manager will start early next year. They will develop the nature-based business potential of a landscape where ecosystem restoration is underway. The aim here is to link livelihoods with nature restoration and so deliver a real economic boost to the area.
A Landscape Officer will complete the team, bringing an ecological perspective and expertise. They will work with individual landowners to work out their options to move towards nature restoration. The Landscape Officer will then analyse this information from a broader perspective, identifying opportunities to link habitats and form stepping stones for wildlife to move across the landscape.
The challenge now is to show how rewilding and partnership-working can deliver a truly sustainable local economy in practice. Nature, communities and landowners all stand to benefit. It promises to be a long and very interesting journey.
Affric Highlands has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Rewilding Europe, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Scottish Government Nature Restoration Fund.