Sitting on the shores of a spectacular sea loch on the west coast of Affric Highlands, Attadale Estate would once have been considered ‘traditional’. While there is still some sport shooting on the 30,000-acre estate, under the stewardship of owner Joanna Macpherson and her husband Alec, Attadale is increasingly doing things differently.
This year we welcomed the estate as an official partner of Affric Highlands - building on a relationship that began almost five years ago when we released squirrels into Attadale’s woods. With a public garden that attracts both locals and tourists, the squirrels have charmed everyone who visits, offering Joanna and the team a brilliant way to talk about local biodiversity and efforts to bring it back.
“We wanted to join Affric Highlands because we appreciate this is an initiative working towards a better, more collaborative future for the landscape,” says Joanna. “The Affric Highlands team is looking at what’s here on the estate and what should be here, and how everyone can work together to enhance nature – not just for the benefit of nature itself, but local communities too.”
Being part of the community is important to Joanna, whose family has been at Attadale since the 1950s. “I think it's really important that people have the opportunity to return to this part of the world. That they can have a life here and bring up their children - and really enjoy living in the natural surroundings,” she says.
Certainly, job security in this part of Affric Highlands can be challenging for many. The seasonality of the tourism trade is a familiar story. Joanna has joined the wider community in advocating for more ‘slow’ tourism, encouraging the many visitors who come to the area to stay longer - and experience it in all moods and weathers. Yet, as with the natural world, diversity is critical when it comes to economic health. We know from our own experience at Dundreggan that rewilding creates an array of jobs - from environmental to educational, and lots more. The vision is for this rewilding benefit to cascade throughout the Affric Highlands region, created in collaboration with the people who live here.
Attadale’s focus for nature recovery so far has been the return of native woodlands - through a combination of planting and natural regeneration. Non-native conifers have been felled and replaced with a mixture of Scots pine, birch, hazel, aspen and willow. Strategic fencing projects, combined with ongoing deer management, are supporting the expansion of existing ancient forest fragments, much of which has been confined to ravines. Putting efforts towards saving existing woodland maximises genetic and natural diversity. It’s a long game but will pay dividends for biodiversity, bolstering the resilience of trees in the landscape to variables such as climate change.
Joanna acknowledges that the status quo needs to change. She says: “Everyone realises that conservation is the way forward. The word ‘rewilding’ may unnerve some, but the truth is we have to look to the future and work as well as we can together to make the most of what we have here. We know how lucky we are to have this environment and we want to make it future-proof.”
Affric Highlands’ vision is to create a rewilding landscape with a long-term difference. It’s ambitious and it will take decades to realise. It’s vital at this early stage to create a shared agenda built on common interests - from landowners such as Joanna, through to entrepreneurs, students, community interest groups, and more.
Affric Highlands is a Trees for Life initiative being delivered in partnership with Rewilding Europe. It is generously funded by Rewilding Europe, Scottish Power Foundation, NatureScot - Nature Restoration Fund, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, FedEx Foundation, British Science Association, and Support in Mind Scotland.