We can’t quite believe that it’s been over six months since we first opened the Rewilding Centre doors back in April. It’s been a fantastic summer and so far, we’ve welcomed over 20,000 visitors, hosted 70 groups and served 4,496 cups of coffee!
Feedback from our visitors has been overwhelmingly positive: “Creative, entertaining and educating. Beautiful walks with stunning views. Such a beautiful place which gives hope for a better future.” We’ve loved reaching new audiences and offering more people an opportunity to engage with rewilding and nature.
We’ve checked in An Spiris guests from 21 countries around the world, including Austria, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Japan and the USA and have hosted professional groups with special interests in conservation, entomology, health and wellbeing, education and land use. “The setting is glorious, the accommodation excellent, the food wonderful, and everyone enthusiastic, friendly and helpful.”
One of our most exciting visits was in October when we welcomed the incredible Chris Packham, Megan McCubbin and their team to Dundreggan to broadcast a new wildlife show, 8 Out of 10 Bats. The hour-long shows were broadcast from Dundreggan over four nights and featured live segments, topical films by leading wildlife filmmakers, hilarious props, and live wildlife cameras. We loved hosting the team on-site for a week and watching the show come together every evening with spectacular footage of Dundreggan. [Watch the series here.]
In November, we also had some extra special events including Jenny Sturgeon’s The Living Mountain Trio, a beautiful audio-visual performance inspired by Scottish writer Nan Shepherd, and a screening of The Bough Breaks, a film about the work of visionary conservationist and Trees for Life founder Alan Watson Featherstone. Over the summer and autumn, we had lots of family-friendly activities at the Rewilding Centre, including workshops with expert naturalists Nick Baker and Dan Puplett, a Highlander survival skills day, folklore and mythology forest walks, woodcraft and felting workshops, scavenger hunts and a forest soundscape session.
The aims of the Rewilding Centre are to share the rewilding message with a larger, more diverse audience and to help more people connect with nature and engage with Scotland’s wild places. Through our events, activities, facilities and interpretation, we’re already reaching new people both locally and internationally and sharing the magic of rewilding. It has been lovely to read so many positive reviews from our visitors who have taken the time to share their thoughts and experiences at Dundreggan and we hope each visitor takes something away from their visit, whether it’s an idea for weaving rewilding into their own life or learning more about biodiversity and natural regeneration.
As we catch our breath moving into the winter season, we’re reflecting on a whirlwind first year and planning for 2024. Our events programme is constantly evolving, and we’d love your feedback. What would you like to see at the Rewilding Centre in 2024? Follow @visitdundreggan on social media, leave a comment and let us know!
For more information on what the centre has to offer, go to visitdundreggan.co.uk
Dundreggan Rewilding Centre is generously supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the Audemars Piguet Foundation, SSE Sustainable Development Fund, FERN Community Funds, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme led by the Scottish Government and The Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund, led by NatureScot and part-funded through the European Regional Development Fund.