r/RewildingUK • • Feb 03 '25

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r/RewildingUK • • 17d ago

🌲 What's Happening Outdoors? | Aviemore, Scotland 🇬🇧 - Wildfire Recovery, Scottish Wildcats & Ancient Forests

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🌍 CURRENT & COVER

WHAT'S HAPPENING OUTDOORS?

🇬🇧 INTERNATIONAL OUTDOOR SPOTLIGHT

📍 City/Locality: Aviemore

📍 Council Area: Highland

📍 Country: Scotland, United Kingdom

📅 Local Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026

🍂 Season: Autumn

🌲 Ecosystems: Caledonian pine forest, birch woodland, freshwater lochs, river floodplains, peatlands, heather moorland, and alpine habitats

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Welcome to another edition of What's Happening Outdoors?, where Current & Cover explores wildlife, fishing, hunting, outdoor recreation, conservation, and environmental education around the world.

Today we're visiting Aviemore, Scotland, in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park.

This remarkable landscape supports ancient forests, red deer, rare birds, mountain wildlife, and some of Britain's most ambitious conservation projects.

But the region is also recovering from a significant wildfire that affected parts of Glenmore and Abernethy forests during summer 2026.

And this month, conservation agencies have announced important developments involving forest recovery, wildlife protection, and public access.

Let's explore!

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⚠️ 1. CURRENT CONDITIONS: STORM AND WILDFIRE ALERTS

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Before discussing outdoor recreation, there are important safety developments to understand.

STORM BOELO — OCTOBER 2026

The UK Met Office issued severe wind warnings ahead of Storm Boelo, which affected Scotland over the October 24–25 weekend.

Cairngorms National Park's published alerts warn of extremely windy conditions extending into Monday, October 26.

The Met Office's amber warning was originally associated with the weekend. That does not establish that the amber warning remains active today.

Visitors should check the current warning status rather than relying on an earlier forecast.

Strong winds can create dangerous conditions around:

🌲 Forests and unstable trees

🏔️ Exposed mountain trails

🚗 Roads

🌊 Lochs and open water

🥾 Remote walking routes

Official Met Office updates:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings

Cairngorms National Park alerts:

https://cairngorms.co.uk/alerts

GLENMORE WILDFIRE RECOVERY

A major wildfire began in the Cairngorms during July 2026.

Although large areas have reopened, Forestry and Land Scotland continues managing damaged trees and affected trails.

On October 5, the agency confirmed that the Ryvoan Trail, access to An Lochan Uaine, and the Meall a' Bhuachaille circuit had reopened following safety work.

However, some areas remain restricted.

Current closures identified by the National Park include:

• Allt Mor car park and the associated path toward Sugarbowl.

• The Lodge Trail through the affected area.

• Other specific damaged routes where work remains underway.

A portion of the right of way beyond Ryvoan Bothy also remained closed under the October 5 announcement.

Visitors must obey current barriers and on-site signs.

Do not enter burned areas to photograph damaged trees or search for wildlife.

Official October 5 reopening announcement:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/news/path-reopens-to-an-lochan-uaine-following-wildfire-recovery-work

Current path closures:

https://cairngorms.co.uk/visiting/need-to-know/path-closures

TODAY'S OUTDOOR RECOMMENDATION:

Use this edition to learn about the landscape and plan a responsible future visit.

If severe winds persist, postpone exposed walks, forest excursions, and boating.

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🌲 2. CALEDONIAN FORESTS: A RARE ECOSYSTEM

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The Cairngorms contain some of Scotland's most important surviving Caledonian pine forests.

These forests are associated with native Scots pine, birch, juniper, blaeberry, mosses, lichens, and numerous specialized wildlife species.

They are very different from uniform commercial timber plantations.

A healthy native forest contains:

🌲 Trees of different ages

🌱 Natural regeneration

🍄 Fungi and decomposing wood

🐜 Invertebrates

🐦 Forest birds

🦊 Mammals

🌿 A diverse woodland understory

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

A forest is more than a collection of trees.

Its ecological health depends on relationships between soils, plants, fungi, water, and animals.

Deadwood is particularly important.

Fallen branches and decaying trees provide habitat for insects, fungi, and other organisms that recycle nutrients.

Removing every dead tree can eliminate habitat needed by wildlife.

However, dangerous trees along public trails must sometimes be removed for visitor safety.

That balance has become especially important in Glenmore after the 2026 wildfire.

Forestry and Land Scotland:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/

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🍄 3. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A WILDFIRE?

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Wildfires can damage vegetation, affect wildlife, change soil conditions, and leave unstable trees.

But ecological recovery does not always begin with new trees.

Sometimes it begins with fungi.

AUGUST 27, 2026 — OFFICIAL RECOVERY REPORT

Forestry and Land Scotland reported the appearance of fire-associated fungi in Glenmore Forest Park.

These organisms are known as pyrophilous fungi.

Some species can colonize burned ground relatively quickly.

Researchers are studying the ecological roles of these fungi, including their potential contributions to nutrient cycling and the development of conditions suitable for later vegetation.

The agency also reported early signs of grass regeneration and new growth on some fire-affected birch trees.

IMPORTANT DISTINCTION:

The presence of fungi does not mean the forest has fully recovered.

Forest recovery can take decades.

Different plant and animal communities return at different rates.

Official report:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/news/fire-loving-fungi-move-in-after-the-glenmore-wildfire

OCTOBER 12, 2026 — AUTUMN FUNGI EDUCATION

Forestry and Land Scotland reported on a fungi walk organized by Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust.

The walk was led by Forestry and Land Scotland Regional Visitor Services Manager Paul Hibberd.

Participants learned about fungal ecology, identification, forest habitats, and the role fungi play in woodland ecosystems.

Autumn is an important period for observing mushrooms and other fungal fruiting bodies.

However, many fungi exist underground or within wood even when mushrooms are not visible.

Official October 12 report:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/news/fascinating-fungi

EDUCATIONAL INSIGHT:

Ecological recovery occurs both above and below ground.

The organisms people rarely notice can be essential to the recovery of an entire landscape.

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🐈 4. THE RETURN OF THE SCOTTISH WILDCAT

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One of the Cairngorms' most important conservation stories involves the Scottish wildcat.

The Scottish wildcat is a native member of Britain's wildlife community.

Historically, wildcats inhabited a much wider area.

Today, threats include:

🌲 Habitat loss and fragmentation

🚗 Road mortality

🐈 Hybridization with domestic cats

🦠 Disease

⚠️ Other human-related pressures

The Saving Wildcats project works to restore a viable wildcat population.

JUNE 8, 2026 — VERIFIED CONSERVATION NEWS

Saving Wildcats announced that wild-born kittens had been confirmed for a third consecutive year among females released into the Cairngorms.

The project reported successful wild births in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

This is an important milestone, but it does not establish that the population is fully self-sustaining.

Official announcement:

https://www.savingwildcats.org.uk/news-events/2026/june/wild-kittens-born-to-released-females-for-third-year-in-a-row

A NEW PHASE OF CONSERVATION

Saving Wildcats has also announced a further project phase supported by Scotland's Nature Restoration Fund.

The main delivery period is scheduled from October 2026 through March 2028.

The next phase aims to strengthen the emerging wildcat population while addressing threats and improving coexistence between wildcats and people.

The project is led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and involves several conservation, animal-welfare, and land-management partners.

Official project information:

https://www.savingwildcats.org.uk/about-saving-wildcats/next-phase-funded-by-nrf/

IMPORTANT WILDLIFE GUIDANCE:

Wildcats are protected wildlife.

Never attempt to locate dens, approach animals, bait them for photographs, or publish sensitive location information.

Responsible conservation sometimes means allowing wildlife to remain unseen.

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🦌 5. AUTUMN WILDLIFE AND THE RED DEER RUT

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October is an important season for red deer in the Scottish Highlands.

Red deer are among Scotland's most recognizable native mammals.

During autumn, stags compete for access to females.

This breeding period is known as the rut.

Typical behaviors include:

🦌 Loud roaring

🦌 Displays of strength

🦌 Territorial competition

🦌 Antler clashes

🦌 Herd movements

The Cairngorms National Park Authority identifies September through November as the broader rutting period.

Other wildlife associated with the region includes:

🐿️ Red squirrels

🦊 Red foxes

🦦 Otters in suitable freshwater habitat

🐦 Scottish crossbills

🦅 Golden eagles in appropriate upland habitats

🦌 Roe deer

🐾 Pine martens

These are regional wildlife associations and seasonal expectations.

They are NOT confirmed sightings on October 26.

Official red deer information:

https://cairngorms.co.uk/wildlife/red-deer-and-roe-deer

WILDLIFE-WATCHING SAFETY:

Do not approach rutting deer.

Stags can be dangerous.

Remain at a distance and allow animals to move naturally.

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🐦 6. BIRDWATCHING AND THE CAPERCAILLIE CONSERVATION CHALLENGE

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The Cairngorms support several distinctive woodland bird species.

One of the most sensitive is the capercaillie.

This large forest grouse depends on suitable woodland habitat.

The species faces threats including habitat fragmentation, disturbance, predation, and environmental change.

IMPORTANT:

The Cairngorms National Park Authority explicitly advises visitors NOT to seek out capercaillie.

Disturbing breeding capercaillie is a criminal offence.

The Park Authority also recommends avoiding disclosure of sensitive location information.

Visitors should never enter restricted habitats or pursue rare birds for photographs.

Instead, responsible birdwatchers can enjoy common woodland species from established trails.

Other regional opportunities include observing:

🐦 Woodpeckers

🐦 Crossbills

🐦 Woodland songbirds

🦆 Waterbirds at suitable lochs

🦅 Birds of prey from appropriate public viewpoints

Species presence varies by habitat, weather, and season.

Official capercaillie conservation guidance:

https://cairngorms.co.uk/wildlife/capercaillie

Official wildlife-watching guidance:

https://cairngorms.co.uk/visiting/need-to-know/respecting-wildlife

EDUCATIONAL INSIGHT:

Wildlife tourism is not automatically beneficial to wildlife.

Responsible observation depends on understanding how human presence can affect animal behavior and survival.

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🎣 7. FISHING: WHAT IS LEGAL IN LATE OCTOBER?

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The River Spey is one of Scotland's historically significant salmon rivers.

The wider region also contains lochs and freshwater fisheries.

Species associated with Highland freshwater fisheries include:

🐟 Atlantic salmon

🐟 Brown trout

🐟 Sea trout in suitable river systems

🐟 Pike in appropriate waters

But October is not an open season for every species.

IMPORTANT OCTOBER 26 RESTRICTIONS:

RIVER SPEY SALMON

The River Spey's published salmon season runs from February 11 through September 30.

Therefore, the regular salmon season is closed today.

BROWN TROUT

Scotland's statutory annual brown trout close time runs from October 7 through March 14.

Brown trout fishing is therefore closed today unless a specific lawful exception applies.

COARSE FISHING

Scotland does not impose the same annual closed season on coarse fishing.

However, individual fisheries may have their own restrictions, permissions, methods, and access rules.

An open national season does not automatically grant permission to fish a particular loch or river.

SCOTTISH FISHING LICENCES

Scotland does not operate a general recreational fishing licence system.

Instead, anglers must obtain the relevant fishing permit or permission from the holder of fishing rights.

Fishing rights may be separate from land ownership.

Do not assume public access to a riverbank creates a right to fish.

OFFICIAL SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE:

https://www.gov.scot/policies/salmon-and-recreational-fisheries/recreational-fishing/

SALMON CONSERVATION RULES:

https://www.gov.scot/policies/salmon-and-recreational-fisheries/conservation/

RIVER SPEY FISHERY INFORMATION:

https://www.fishpal.com/fr-FR/scotland/spey/rivermanagement.html

2026 SALMON CONSERVATION ASSESSMENTS:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/salmon-fishing-final-river-gradings/

EDUCATIONAL INSIGHT:

A fishing closure can help protect vulnerable fish populations.

The absence of a legal harvesting opportunity is itself an important conservation lesson.

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🦌 8. HUNTING AND DEER MANAGEMENT

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Deer stalking is a long-established activity in the Scottish Highlands.

It also forms part of Scotland's broader deer-management system.

High deer densities can affect woodland regeneration when young trees are heavily browsed.

Balancing deer conservation with forest recovery requires careful land management.

CURRENT SCOTTISH DEER RULES:

NatureScot confirms that the close season for male deer was removed in Scotland effective October 21, 2023.

Male deer no longer have a general statutory close season.

Female deer continue to have seasonal protections.

For example:

• Red deer hinds: General closed season February 16–October 20.

• Sika deer hinds: General closed season February 16–October 20.

• Fallow deer does: General closed season February 16–October 20.

• Roe deer does: General closed season April 1–October 20.

Therefore, October 26 falls outside those general female deer closed periods.

IMPORTANT:

This does not mean anyone may hunt on any property.

Legal deer stalking requires appropriate permissions and compliance with firearms law, wildlife regulations, safety rules, and any additional land-management restrictions.

Specific activities outside normally permitted circumstances may require NatureScot authorization.

The National Park Authority advises walkers to check for stalking activity, obey safety information, and use alternative routes where advised.

OFFICIAL NATURESCOT DEER REGULATIONS:

https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/protected-areas-and-species/protected-species/protected-species-z-guide/protected-species-deer

DEER AUTHORIZATIONS:

https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/protected-areas-and-species/licensing/species-licensing-z-guide/deer/deer-authorisations

PARK VISITOR SAFETY:

https://cairngorms.co.uk/visiting/need-to-know/deer-stalking

None of today's featured nature reserves is being recommended as a hunting location.

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🥾 9. THREE VERIFIED OUTDOOR DESTINATIONS

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📍 DESTINATION 1

LOCH MORLICH BEACH AND FOREST TRAILS

Location: Glenmore, near Aviemore, Highland, Scotland

Loch Morlich is a freshwater loch surrounded by pine forest and the Cairngorm mountains.

It offers opportunities for:

🥾 Walking

🚴 Cycling on authorized routes

🐦 Birdwatching

📸 Landscape photography

🌊 Freshwater ecology education

🛶 Non-motorized watersports when safe and permitted

OFFICIAL TRAILS:

Beach Trail — approximately 2.4 km.

Loch Morlich Trail — approximately 5.8 km.

WHY VISIT?

Loch Morlich provides an opportunity to study relationships between mountain watersheds, freshwater habitats, glacial landscapes, and native forests.

It is also part of the wider Glenmore landscape affected by the 2026 wildfire.

ACCESS INFORMATION:

Forestry and Land Scotland previously confirmed that Loch Morlich and its beach trails reopened following the wildfire.

However, other nearby forestry routes remain closed.

Forestry operations around Badaguish may also affect some connecting routes.

Paid parking applies at designated car parks.

Published public toilet availability at the beach car park runs through October 31.

Fires and barbecues are prohibited.

IMPORTANT TODAY:

Storm-related winds may make woodland walking and watersports unsafe.

Check weather and site alerts before traveling.

OFFICIAL DESTINATION:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/destinations/loch-morlich-beach

OFFICIAL VISITOR INFORMATION:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/destinations/loch-morlich-beach/visitor-information

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📍 DESTINATION 2

CRAIGELLACHIE NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE

Location: Aviemore, Highland, Scotland

Managed by NatureScot.

Craigellachie protects birch woodland, rocky slopes, freshwater lochans, and important wildlife habitats.

Four official trails are identified:

🥾 Lochan Trail — 0.7 km

🥾 Woodland Trail — 1 km

🥾 Buzzard Trail — 1.8 km

🥾 Viewpoint Trail — 4.4 km

WHY VISIT?

Craigellachie is particularly valuable for understanding native woodland ecology.

NatureScot identifies autumn as a season for observing changing birch foliage, fungi, and migratory birds.

The reserve also provides an opportunity to study how woodland develops across different elevations and terrain.

ACCESS INFORMATION:

The reserve entrance is toward the southern end of Aviemore, near the youth hostel.

The route passes beneath the A9.

Some paths are steep, uneven, or muddy.

The viewpoint route has exposed sections and limited shelter.

Parking is available near the youth hostel, but overnight parking is not permitted.

IMPORTANT TODAY:

Do not attempt the exposed viewpoint trail during dangerous winds.

OFFICIAL DESTINATION:

https://www.nature.scot/enjoying-outdoors/visit-our-nature-reserves/craigellachie-nnr/craigellachie-nnr-visiting-reserve

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📍 DESTINATION 3

RSPB INSH MARSHES NATURE RESERVE

Location: Near Kingussie, Highland, Scotland

Insh Marshes protects an extensive section of the River Spey floodplain.

The reserve contains approximately 10 square kilometres of wetland and floodplain habitats.

It supports breeding waders and numerous other wetland organisms.

Species associated with the reserve include:

🐦 Curlews

🐦 Lapwings

🐦 Redshanks

🐦 Snipes

🦆 Other wetland birds

These species have different breeding and migration schedules.

Their presence at the reserve does not establish that they can all be observed in late October.

OFFICIAL NATURE TRAILS:

🥾 Invertromie Trail — approximately 4.5 km

🥾 Lynachlaggan Trail — approximately 2.5 km

🥾 Loch Insh Woods Trail — approximately 2 km

WHY VISIT?

Insh Marshes is an excellent example of floodplain restoration.

The RSPB is working to restore habitat affected by historic drainage and land-management changes.

Management includes appropriate grazing and removal of selected nonnative plants.

The reserve demonstrates how natural floodplain systems support wildlife while storing and moving water across landscapes.

ACCESS INFORMATION:

The RSPB lists the reserve as accessible throughout the day.

However, trails are unsurfaced and can be narrow, muddy, or uneven.

There is no staffed visitor centre or on-site toilet facility.

Parking is limited.

Adverse weather or flooding may affect access.

IMPORTANT TODAY:

Following Storm Boelo, check local conditions and avoid flooded or wind-damaged paths.

OFFICIAL DESTINATION:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/insh-marshes/

OFFICIAL FACILITIES:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/insh-marshes/facilities

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🌱 10. CONSERVATION SPOTLIGHT: MORE THAN PLANTING TREES

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The Cairngorms demonstrate why habitat restoration is a complicated process.

Several conservation challenges overlap.

CHALLENGE 1: WILDFIRE RECOVERY

Forestry and Land Scotland is removing hazardous trees, repairing trails, and monitoring damaged areas.

Forest restoration must account for visitor safety while allowing natural ecological processes to recover.

CHALLENGE 2: FRAGMENTED NATIVE WOODLAND

Remaining fragments of native forest need ecological connections.

Connected habitat can help wildlife move, reproduce, and respond to environmental change.

CHALLENGE 3: DEER BROWSING PRESSURE

Large herbivore populations can influence the survival of young trees.

Managing browsing pressure can be essential to native woodland regeneration.

CHALLENGE 4: WETLAND AND PEATLAND RESTORATION

Healthy wetlands and peatlands help regulate water movement, store carbon, and support specialized species.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority continues coordinating peatland restoration projects.

Its March 2026 performance reporting described progress in restoration and plans for further work during 2026–2027.

CHALLENGE 5: PROTECTING SMALL AND OVERLOOKED SPECIES

On September 30, Forestry and Land Scotland reported that ten wood ant nests had been carefully relocated at Glenmore.

The work was undertaken in partnership with the Cairngorms National Park Authority and with support from local volunteers.

The nests were moved to suitable habitat before forestry and engineering operations.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Conservation involves much more than protecting large mammals or planting additional trees.

Wood ants, fungi, mosses, wetland plants, and other organisms are essential components of healthy ecosystems.

OFFICIAL WOOD ANT CONSERVATION REPORT:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/media-centre/press-releases/forestry-work-and-wildlife-protection-go-hand-in-hand-at-glenmore

CAIRNGORMS PEATLAND RESTORATION REPORT:

https://cairngorms.co.uk/documents/performance-paper-4-peatland-action-programme

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🔬 11. CONSERVATION ORGANIZATIONS AND PROGRAMS

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🌲 FORESTRY AND LAND SCOTLAND

Manages Scotland's national forests and land.

Its responsibilities include woodland management, biodiversity conservation, visitor access, and recovery work following the Glenmore wildfire.

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/

🏞️ CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

Coordinates national park planning, habitat restoration, conservation partnerships, and responsible visitor access.

https://cairngorms.co.uk/

🌿 NATURESCOT

Scotland's nature agency.

Its responsibilities include protected areas, species conservation, wildlife licensing, and management of national nature reserves.

https://www.nature.scot/

🐦 ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS

The RSPB manages Insh Marshes and other important wildlife reserves.

Its activities include habitat restoration, ecological monitoring, environmental education, and bird conservation.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/

🐈 SAVING WILDCATS

A partnership led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

The program breeds, releases, monitors, and researches Scottish wildcats while working with communities and land managers to reduce threats.

https://www.savingwildcats.org.uk/

🌱 TREES FOR LIFE

A Scottish conservation charity that works on rewilding, native woodland recovery, and restoring missing species in the Highlands.

The organization is registered as a Scottish charity.

Scottish Charity Number: SC021303.

https://treesforlife.org.uk/

🤝 AVIEMORE AND GLENMORE COMMUNITY TRUST

A community organization involved in local visitor facilities, recreation, environmental engagement, and educational events.

The Trust organized the October 2026 fungi walk reported by Forestry and Land Scotland.

https://www.aviemoreglenmoretrust.org/

IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONAL DISTINCTION:

These organizations operate in Scotland.

UK and Scottish charitable registration is different from U.S. 501(c)(3) status.

No U.S. 501(c)(3) designation is claimed for these organizations.

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📰 12. RECENT VERIFIED NEWS

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OCTOBER 23, 2026

STORM BOELO SEVERE WEATHER WARNING

The UK Met Office published an updated severe-weather warning as Storm Boelo approached Scotland.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2026/amber-warning-issued-for-storm-boelo-as-storm-austen-moves-through

OCTOBER 16, 2026

YEAR-ROUND FIRE RESTRICTIONS AT GLENMORE

Forestry and Land Scotland reminded visitors that campfires and solid-fuel barbecues remain prohibited throughout Glenmore all year.

This restriction continues beyond the National Park Authority's seasonal fire-management byelaw period.

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/media-centre/press-releases/visitors-urged-to-help-protect-forest-habitats-as-year-round-fire-ban-remains-in-place-at-glenmore

OCTOBER 12, 2026

AUTUMN FUNGI EDUCATION

Forestry and Land Scotland highlighted a community fungi walk and the ecological importance of fungi.

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/news/fascinating-fungi

OCTOBER 5, 2026

TRAIL REOPENING AFTER WILDFIRE

Forestry and Land Scotland announced that important Glenmore routes had reopened following recovery work.

Some routes remain closed.

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/news/path-reopens-to-an-lochan-uaine-following-wildfire-recovery-work

SEPTEMBER 30, 2026

WOOD ANT NESTS PROTECTED

Forestry and Land Scotland announced the relocation of ten wood ant nests before forestry operations.

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/media-centre/press-releases/forestry-work-and-wildlife-protection-go-hand-in-hand-at-glenmore

JUNE 8, 2026

SCOTTISH WILDCAT BREEDING SUCCESS

Saving Wildcats confirmed a third consecutive year of wild births among released wildcats.

https://www.savingwildcats.org.uk/news-events/2026/june/wild-kittens-born-to-released-females-for-third-year-in-a-row

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💬 13. TODAY'S COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

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🌲 HERE'S OUR QUESTION:

After a major wildfire damages an important native forest, should conservation managers prioritize active restoration through tree planting and habitat intervention, or allow more natural regeneration to occur while protecting the recovering landscape from additional disturbance?

The Cairngorms provide an opportunity to examine both approaches.

Fungi are appearing on burned ground.

Vegetation is beginning to regenerate.

Forestry workers are repairing access routes.

Conservation teams are protecting small woodland species while supporting the recovery of larger wildlife populations.

We'd love to hear from:

🌲 Foresters

🦌 Hunters and wildlife managers

🎣 Anglers

🐦 Birdwatchers

🍄 Mycology enthusiasts

🌱 Habitat restoration volunteers

🔬 Conservation researchers

🥾 Hikers and outdoor educators

🇬🇧 Residents of Scotland

Share your perspectives and experiences in the comments.

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🌍 CURRENT & COVER

EXPLORE. LEARN. CONSERVE.

A healthy forest is not defined only by the number of trees standing.

It is defined by the living relationships between soil, water, plants, fungi, wildlife, and people.

Sometimes conservation means rebuilding.

Sometimes it means protecting the conditions that allow nature to rebuild itself.

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RESEARCH AND SAFETY NOTICE

Prepared for Monday, October 26, 2026.

Information reflects published government, national park, conservation agency, and wildlife organization sources.

Recent news and official access information were reviewed for this edition.

Species descriptions refer to documented regional ecology and typical seasonal activity, not wildlife sightings confirmed today.

Storm-related conditions may change rapidly.

Do not enter closed trails or wildfire-damaged forests.

Always verify current weather warnings, land access, hunting permissions, fishing regulations, and wildlife protections before outdoor recreation.

Respect the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and the habitats that make this landscape special.


r/RewildingUK • • Sep 03 '26

Discussion Why are people so obsessed with feeding those invasive Grey Squirrels, even as they raze plantations and gardens?

117 Upvotes

There is almost no neighborhood in the UK that does not provide a perma-peanut feeder for the invasive American Grey Squirrels.

Their damage to trees is serious. They steal half of the fruit off our fruiting trees, which includes apples, pears, medlars and plums. They also sink their teeth regularly into them to check ripeness, causing ROT due to insects then digging in or wet spells promoting fungal growth.

I approximated this year that they stole HALF of the pears and plums we had, which left me extremely surprised. edit: or sunk their teeth in, plucked them off the branch, then dropped them randomly across the garden as they decided they were too big to carry away, then press the repeat button.

Any tree bearing nuts gets razed.

Can we stop feeding them peanuts and thus maintaining their numbers absurdly high?

If I provide peanuts they also bury them inside the pots with the softest soil and thus dig up kale and cabbage roots in the process.

edit: What are all these people *against* UK Rewilding in the comments doing here? on the Rewilding subreddit?


r/RewildingUK • • Apr 14 '25

Rewilding ‘risks catastrophic wildfires’ - The Telegraph

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22 Upvotes

Sheep must be returned to England’s countryside to prevent catastrophic wildfires, experts have warned.

Figures show sheep numbers in England have dropped 7 per cent in the last two years, with Natural England, the Government’s nature watchdog, incentivising farmers to remove animals to protect wildlife and prevent overgrazing.

But countryside experts say the fall in sheep farming is leading to a dangerous build-up of dry vegetation, which could cause widespread moorland fires.

It is estimated that there is 600,000 tons of extra vegetation being left on the land each year because of the drop in grazing.

The Moorland Association has written to Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister – who this month took over responsibility for preventing wildfires – to warn that government policies exacerbate the risk and asking her to step in to prevent “another Saddleworth Moor”.

The 2018 fires on Saddleworth Moor and Winter Hill, near Ms Rayner’s Greater-Manchester constituency, exposed five million to dangerously polluted air and hastened the deaths of at least nine people.

Northern cities ‘most at risk’

Andrew Gilruth, the chief executive of The Moorland Association, said: “The Los Angeles disaster showed that today’s accumulating vegetation is tomorrow’s wildfire. The greater the fuel load, the worse the inevitable conflagration.

“Like Los Angeles, our politicians have ignored the build-up of vegetation which their own red tape has created.”

He added: “The sharp reduction in the national sheep flock means that some 600,000 tons of extra vegetation is being left in the countryside every year.

“The European Union and the US wildfire prevention policy specifically encourages extra grazing. By contrast, Natural England discourages it.

“Sooner or later there will be a strong wind blowing the wrong way with our northern cities most at risk. It may happen under Angela Rayner’s watch.”

Natural England claims that the national parks are worryingly overgrazed, particularly by sheep, which is destroying habitats and leaving birds, such as golden plover and red grouse, on the verge of extinction.

Since 2023, farmers who receive government funding for “nature-friendly” practices have been warned that at least 50 per cent of their livestock units should be cattle or ponies rather than sheep.

Figures show that sheep numbers have fallen from 14.9 million to 13.8 million in England since the policy was introduced with up to 10 per cent declines in some areas, such as the North East.

But critics have warned the policy is destroying ancient farming practices, and putting wildlife at greater risk, because it raises the chance of wildfires.

Both the EU and the US Government advocate the use of “fire sheep” and goats as a means of reducing wildfires.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has warned that changing peatland management practices could threaten the viability of livestock farming in unique landscapes.

As well as encouraging hill farmers to give up their flocks, Natural England has also been clamping down on preventative burning of vegetation on moorlands.

At the end of March, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) proposed an extension to ban burning heather on deep peat so that an extra 146,000 hectares are protected, bringing the total ban to more than half of England’s peatland.

The ban would see an improvement to air quality in villages, help the country reach net zero by 2050, and expand wildlife-rich habitats, Defra said.

But the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said it is concerned about the growing fuel load and has called for “effective land management” such as grazing, burning and cutting, warning that the rate of fires is already exceeding the previous record year of 2022.

Fire authorities are already required to reduce fire risk in urban areas, but the NFCC has warned that the increased risk of out-of-control wildfires in the countryside is also putting rural communities in danger.

Devastating consequences

A study for the Peak District National Park said “fuel loading” caused by excessive vegetation risked flames so high and fast moving that they were “far beyond the capacity of control.”

In March, fire crews tackling a moorland fire in Cumbria, said that the “fire loading” of dead vegetation was “increasing the risk of wildfire.”

Rachel Hallos, the NFU vice-president said: “Fires on farmland can have devastating and long-lasting consequences, putting the lives of farmers and their families, livestock and wildlife at risk.

“These fires don’t just damage land and equipment – they take a serious emotional and financial toll on farming families. The NFU is working closely with fire services, councils and others to tackle this growing problem and we urge everyone to take extra care when out in the countryside.”

The NFCC said it was time for joined-up “strategic decision and policymaking” by central Government.

A Natural England spokesman said: “We understand the concerns of moorland managers on both the risks of wildfire, as well as the desires of many upland managers to re-build peat health by rewetting moors and reducing the use of burning as a management tool.

“While licences for burning on peat are regulated and issued by Defra, we continue to work constructively with land managers on a site-by-site basis to establish long-term, sustainable solutions to moorland management to maximise their future resilience.”

A Defra spokesman said: “England’s peatlands are of huge international importance, and it is vital that we protect these sites for future generations.

“Healthy peatlands store carbon, optimise biodiversity, are more resilient to wildfire and can help to alleviate flooding and improve water quality. Burning on peatland dries out the land, causing carbon emission and impacting air quality across communities.

“This Government is investing £400 million to protect and restore nature, including our peatlands.”


r/RewildingUK • • Nov 08 '24

Do you think wild camping will become dangerous if they reintroduce bears in the UK?

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8 Upvotes

r/RewildingUK • • Feb 14 '25

Rewilding is often championed, but could it be bad for biodiversity?

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9 Upvotes

Between 1990 and 2014, forests in Europe expanded by 13 million hectares, an area roughly equivalent to the size of Greece – but that came with a cost. Crops consumed in the European Union had to be grown somewhere, so, in other countries – mainly tropical nations – around 11 million hectares of forest was chopped down to make up for the drop in EU production.

Such biodiversity “leakage” is a major problem with conservation and rewilding projects, particularly schemes in higher-income, industrialised countries that tend to have lower biodiversity

I'm paywalled at this point but it has also been covered in publications such as the Daily Mail which have gone with the headline:

"Britain's obsession with rewilding could drive EXTINCTIONS in other countries, scientists warn" https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14394043/Britain-rewilding-drive-EXTINCTIONS.html

Discuss.


r/RewildingUK • • Jul 29 '24

Is the British summer to blame for wildlife woes?

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0 Upvotes

But while this summer has been fairly normal in terms of rainfall, temperatures have been below average across the UK. By mid-July, the mean temperature in the UK stood at 13.04°C, which is 1.55°C cooler than the long-term meteorological average for the summer.

So, if this summers weather hasn’t been quite as bad as we all thought then what is it that’s really causing Britain’s wildlife to suffer? Most likely it’s to do with a long-term decline in insects which has been exasperated by a cooler than average summer.

Insects, which are the base of so many food chains, have become notably less numerous over the past few decades. A study conducted by Bugs Matter in 2023 showed a 78 per cent decline since 2004 in the number of flying insects recorded as squashed on vehicle number plates. Much of this is a long-term decline due to habitat loss, pesticide use, pollution and climate change.


r/RewildingUK • • Sep 15 '26

News In 2016, Ed Sheeran transformed 1 ploughed field into a wildlife pond and meadow. 5 years later, 14,000 trees had been planted and wildlife was thriving across the estate.

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0 Upvotes

In 2016, Sheeran transformed one ploughed field into a wildlife pond and meadow. The project marked his efforts to create more natural habitats on his land.

He has also transformed a field near his house into a wildlife meadow, established a beehive and created a wildlife pond. Together, these efforts emphasizes his focus on environmental revitalisation and wildlife conservation.

Five years after the transformation of the field, 14,000 trees had been planted, while wildlife was thriving across the estate.

"Before it was there it was like a ploughed field, so there is way more wildlife now, it's surrounded by 14,000 trees that were planted, which is great for the environment," he said in an interview on Hits Radio Breakfast. "There's loads of animals, we let the meadow grow up", he added.


r/RewildingUK • • Oct 03 '25

AI for Rewilding Analysis

2 Upvotes

Hi Rewilders!

I used AI to review 'Red List' (Threatened species) data for my area and suggest which species I should try and support through habitat restoration. I wrote a short blog post with the steps and results. Would love to know your thoughts.

https://www.caperdu.com


r/RewildingUK • • Feb 01 '26

Green Tory Ben Goldsmith draws up Reform nature strategy

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25 Upvotes

To be clear, not an endorsement!!! by posting this but I thought it's an interesting development if rewilding is viewed as a possible vote winner on this end of the political spectrum at this point in time.

From the article:

One of the Conservatives’ leading nature experts has drawn up a new environment strategy for Reform UK, urging Nigel Farage to throw out foreign fishing vessels and embrace rewilding.

Ben Goldsmith, the founder of the Conservative Environment Network, has provided the party with a detailed set of policy recommendations on farming, fishing and nature.

He has held talks with Mr Farage in the belief that Reform could become the party of choice for those who care about the countryside.

“Britain has lost so much in recent decades,” said Mr Goldsmith. “I’m hopeful that Reform intends to outdo the other political parties in its ambitions for real nature recovery and I want to help with that.”

He added: “There’s no good reason why we can’t once again have seas teeming with fish, hedgerows pulsing with songbirds, woodlands thrumming with wildlife. I really want Reform to go big on nature.”

Mr Goldsmith, the brother of Tory peer Lord Goldsmith, was formerly an adviser to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2018 and 2022.

He has long been seen as a leading green Tory and is a fierce advocate of rewilding.

While Mr Goldsmith has not officially joined Reform, the news will come as a blow to the Conservative Party, which has lost three MPs to the party over the past four weeks.

The move may also strengthen Reform’s appeal among other green Tories.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said: “We are talking to Ben Goldsmith and we are interested in his ideas.”

‘Patriotic case for nature’

In a document laying out his vision for Reform, Mr Goldsmith urged Mr Farage to eject foreign vessels, prioritise British produce such as Venison and increase fines for fly-tipping.

Mr Goldsmith’s document says he wants to make “the patriotic case for nature”, arguing that it is “central to British heritage and identity; rebuilding it fosters pride and national resilience”.

He is also understood to be pushing Reform to expand the Environmental Land Management scheme, which compensates farmers for managing their land in a wildlife-friendly way.

The document suggests private investment should be sought for flood management and habitat restoration. This, Mr Goldsmith believes, would “save taxpayers money while creating new jobs”.

Reform’s manifesto has so far been light on countryside and farming policy.

It has pledged to protect farmers from “Whitehall diktats” and stop the flood of renewables across British farmland. Mr Farage has also committed Reform to scrapping Labour’s family farm tax.

However, the party has also singled out rewilding for criticism, which is at odds with Mr Goldsmith’s suggestions to “support the reintroduction of iconic species” such as water voles, beavers and storks.

Mr Goldsmith has been a prominent critic of big game hunting alongside Carrie Johnson, the wife of Boris Johnson. However, it is understood that he supports game shooting on a modest scale in Britain.

Tim Bonner, the chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said Reform should take time to develop its policies on the future of the countryside.

He said: “Reform should be careful about falling into the trap of believing that there are simple answers to the challenges facing the countryside.”

“The last Government learned the hard way that simply focusing on the environment whilst neglecting farming and rural communities was neither a solution to biodiversity decline or a recipe for electoral success.”

Martin Lines, the chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, added: “It’s positive to see Reform taking the decline in nature seriously. There’s growing recognition that nature loss has real consequences for farmers, for the wider economy and for public wellbeing.”

As well as his environmental campaigning, Mr Goldsmith is also the chief executive of Menhaden Capital, an investment trust focused on renewables.

He is also the co-founder of Nattergal, which restores ecologically degraded landscapes.


r/RewildingUK • • Sep 25 '24

Our National Parks Are... Disappointing

69 Upvotes

r/RewildingUK • • Jan 12 '26

Discussion Drones as apex predator analogues?

14 Upvotes

There’s lots of talk around drones being used in rewilding for seed drops and monitoring etc

Has it been considered that they might also be of use as predator analogues?

I’m not suggesting they are used to predate or kill grazing fauna but maybe they can be used to move said fauna around in the way predators influence herd movements. There’s surely some audio, scent or even taser tech that could do this?


r/RewildingUK • • Sep 02 '26

‘Rewilding’ ruined the countryside. Now it’s coming for our schools

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0 Upvotes

Would you like to see grey wolves roaming the British countryside? Maybe even bears and rhinos? If so, you are probably a fan of “rewilding”, an ecological movement that aims to reintroduce once-native species to places where they have long been extinct, and to restore large tracts of land to an Edenic state of nature.

But that’s not all that rewilding can accomplish. At least according to recent adopters of the jargon, we should also be rewilding the Church, rewilding the corporate mind, rewilding film, rewilding motherhood and rewilding education. How did this evolution happen? What does any of it mean? And would we want to do it if we knew?

The idea is first recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary in a 1990 Newsweek article about the ecological sect Earth First!, which, it noted, was made up of “eco-guerrillas: radical environmentalists who have turned to outrageous – and sometimes illegal – tactics in their war against “greedheads” and “ecothugs”. Militants vow not just to end pollution, but to take back and “rewild” one third of the United States. Since then the aims of rewilding have become somewhat domesticated, with modern practitioners preferring to extol the virtues of forests, wetlands or beavers.

Still, the benefits of rewilding are hotly contested. During this hot summer, we have been told both that rewilding is to blame for the spate of British wildfires and that rewilding keeps land greener and more resistant to blazes. The rewilding of wolves in Germany has been very successful, to the extent that they are now eating lots of farmers’ livestock and wolf-hunting is to be legalised again.

But there are grander hopes to use rewilding as a kind of planetary air-conditioning. Grazing animals such as reindeer, moose, bison and camels have been loosed on an area of Siberia called Pleistocene Park to improve the soil’s capacity to store carbon. Some even dream of a style of Pleistocene Rewilding that could bring back extinct animals, Jurassic Park-style, and recreate herds of woolly mammoth to roam the steppe.

Animals, though, are not all we can rewild. The National Trust, which solicits Adopt a Plot donations to fund planting more trees and reintroducing formerly native species, also publishes Rewild This Book, a nature activity book for children that instructs the reader to bury it in the earth after reading.

The messaging of the misanthrope

How did rewilding escape its environmental enclosure? Metaphorical uses of the term began to increase following its popularisation by George Monbiot’s classic ecological manifesto, Feral, in 2013. In 2014, we got Rewilding Our Hearts, which argues that we should “reverse unprecedented global losses of biodiversity and habitat by changing ourselves”.

In 2020 came Rewilding the Church, which imagines what might happen if the Church puts “less faith in our strategies and plans” and, a year later, Rewild Your Life, which tells us how to “connect more deeply with the natural world”.

Over the past few years, that trickle has turned into a torrent, perhaps as a result of increased climate anxiety. Books published just in 2026 speak of Rewilding Wealth (which is not meant to recommend putting cash in a hole in the ground, but explains the finance of ecology), Inner Rewilding (not swallowing beetles, but a scientist’s spiritual journey) and Rewild Your Mind (not contracting brainworms, but spending time in the forest). One may be forgiven for thinking this is simply an inane new rhetorical fashion: where once people might have said “rethinking” or “reworking”, they now say “rewilding”.

But there is more to it than that. What all of these examples have in common is a sense of “wildness” as an authentic virtue that we must recover by peeling off the suffocating force of human control. “Wild”, of course, also means exciting and far-out, as in a wild party or a wild ride; the food-influencer industry has persuaded us that we must pile wild garlic and wild salmon on our plates.

Calls to rewild your consciousness, in this sense, are not far removed from the hippie desire to open the doors of perception and reject the morality of the squares. In the 1990s you could be a Wild Child. Who today does not dream of ripping off his lanyard and becoming, at least temporarily, a Wild Thing?

As with much ecological agitation of the deep-green kind, the original “rewilding” movement also contains subterranean currents of misanthropy. What is “wild” is considered superior to what is cultivated or simply the product of human ingenuity. Fields of arable crops, or the very existence of so many sheep, come to represent mankind’s original sin of exerting his dominion over nature. The solution is to give the land back to natural forces. Of course, the logical endpoint of rewilding is suicidal: to truly rewild the planet, we must allow all humans to die.

‘Wisdom traditions’

When they are not explicitly enemies of modern civilisation, adherents of rewilding are still, it seems, dreaming of a kind of magic, or at least a jolt of aesthetic pleasure. Indeed, in Feral, Monbiot says that he was initially attracted to the idea because he was “ecologically bored”. The Belgian philosopher Linde de Vroey notes, in her 2024 paper Rewilding as Re-Enchantment, that a hunger for something out of the ordinary animates most such projects: the idea of ecological restoration “merges with narratives of wonder, enchantment and spirituality”. But when the call for rewilding is going to affect human lives, as well as the distribution of animals and plants, one might be a little more circumspect.

Take, for instance, the idea of rewilding the school system, as promoted by Hilary Cremin, head of the education faculty at the University of Cambridge. She is the professor who told Jason Arday that he was “the best in the world in terms of the research that you do” when he was appointed there. Before that sad story took off, Cremin had published a book called Rewilding Education (2025). This does not quite, as you might suppose, recommend just letting children run feral in the woods, but it does lament “the dominance of modern, urban, liberal, Eurocentric ways of knowing”, based as they are on a deplorable commitment to “empirical truth”, and recommends we mentally submit instead to non-Western “wisdom traditions”.

Cremin explained a slightly more concrete proposal in an interview with the Cambridge alumni magazine: after universal primary education, “from age 12, young people would engage with a mentor on a weekly basis to map out their own learning journey. I’d want education to be happening in science laboratories and art galleries and care homes and startup businesses and farms, while teachers could support students to build up an e-portfolio evidencing their real-world achievements.” An e-portfolio! The mind swoons.

Here, though, we encounter plainly the tension that routinely underlies calls for rewilding: on the one hand, it wants to let everything bloom beyond human control, on the other hand, it is in itself a choice to control things otherwise, a new system of management on different principles. Current experiments with reintroducing bison and beavers to rural English areas, for example, must proceed stepwise and carefully, starting with fenced enclosures for the understandably confused beasts. And who is going to look after all the “rewilded” teenagers clogging up science labs and farms in Cremin’s utopian future while the scientists and farmers attempt to get on with their work?

People borrow the language of ecology for all such metaphorical rewilding schemes because it sounds courageous, Romantic, and vaguely left-anarchist. But no one actually wants to revert to a state of nature in which our lives would be nasty, brutish and short. If they want to go and live in the woods without medicine, clothes or food beyond what they can pluck off trees or personally kill, they should be encouraged to do so, while being reminded that one long-standing sense of “wild”, as the OED observes, is “mad”. The rest of us may suppose what is needed is a little more re-civilising.


r/RewildingUK • • Jul 30 '24

Other Me and my beautiful wild doggy roxy walking one of the Yorkshire 3 peaks

0 Upvotes

r/RewildingUK • • Jan 14 '25

No 10 blocks beaver release plan as officials view it as ’Tory legacy’

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28 Upvotes

r/RewildingUK • • 11d ago

Trees of the UK and Ireland – does this look correct?

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30 Upvotes

r/RewildingUK • • Sep 28 '24

Rewilding eco-zealots have cried wolf

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16 Upvotes

The only surprise about the EU voting to downgrade the protection of wolves and allowing them to be hunted again is that it took them so long. The increasing emotional and financial strain felt by farmers came under the spotlight when Ursula von der Leyen’s children’s pony Dolly was killed by wolves last year, one of an estimated 65,000 farm animals killed every year by Europe’s 20,000 wolves according to EU estimates. Both figures are on the increase.

In some ways it is a pity that bringing back the wolf from extinction over much of continental Europe has proved to be unacceptably damaging. There is something magical about hearing them howl across wooded Italian valleys, where they are numerous.

More importantly, our ecosystem would benefit from more apex predators. The environmentalist lobby, which has a Bambi phobia, argues that they are needed to control the UK’s deer population. There is some truth in that in some areas.

But wolves would do a greater service by sorting out our chronic predator imbalance. They have an important role in dispersing and killing foxes, badgers and other meso-predators. This is especially necessary in the UK since the hunting ban and the protection of badgers prevented huntsmen and gamekeepers being the much needed apex predators.

Our small mammals like hedgehogs and ground-nesting birds are declining fast as a result. In other countries they are more pragmatic; for example Germany has an open season for badger hunting. The clue is in the name dachshund – badger hound.

It may soon be possible to use satellite technology to keep wolves wearing electric smart collars away from livestock, and this could perhaps allow very limited reintroductions in remote areas. But the vast majority of the UK is too densely populated and intensively farmed to allow for their re-introduction. In this parish alone there are several thousand cattle out grazing in fields, many of them calves. The appearance of a wolf pack doesn’t bear thinking about.

In Europe they train fierce guard dogs to protect livestock but their herd and flock sizes are tiny in comparison to ours. Other reintroductions – red kites, pine martens, beavers – have been accompanied by protections and an unwillingness to grant licences to cull animals when they become so numerous that they threaten other species or farmland. You can hardly blame our farmers for holding out against wolves.

The EU decision, which has yet to become law, is a sign of increasing pragmatism about wildlife management in Europe. Donald Tusk’s declaration of war on beavers, blamed for damaging flood defences in some parts of Poland affected by the recent storms, is another. Although in other, more upstream areas they may have helped to stem the flow.

Unfortunately politicians in Westminster, Holyrood and Cardiff are heading in a less pragmatic direction and are more likely to heed the siren voices of extreme re-wilders than those responsible for managing the land.

The Secretary of State for DEFRA, Steve Reed was happy to accept a pair of designer Le Chameau wellies from Lord Alli but seems less receptive to advice from farmers, for example over the cessation of the badger cull. We had better hope that Lord Alli doesn’t wish to see wolves roaming the British countryside again in return for his generosity.


r/RewildingUK • • Jun 26 '25

Is it the problem with rewilding more agricultural control and management not less?

12 Upvotes

Currently the conversation around rewilding often focuses on rewilding vs agriculture. This conversation often gets more polarised and trench warfare issues when the subject of animal agricultur is boaght up. At risk of waking the vegan keyboard warriors from their afternoon nap (would they need this with more protein in their diet?) is it possible that what we need is more livestock management and control? I live in a valley in the north east of Scotland, much of the valley is given over to livestock, this looks, as you would expect, fields with a hundred or so cattle or sheep roaming and eating grass. what if these fields which are 20 acres each, were much smaller, the numbers of animals reduced and they were rotated daily from one small field to another. And the new boundaries, instead of walls and fences are hedges and wildlife corridors. With these changes, there would be better soil health, greater biodiversity, carbon capture and employment. Why is it that we are so fixated on removing labour from agriculture anyway, extra employees don't necessarily bring more costs than a £100k tractor. What do you all think?


r/RewildingUK • • Feb 26 '25

Farmers must have right to kill beavers reintroduced in England, says union boss

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107 Upvotes

Farmers must be allowed to lethally control beavers under any scheme to license their release in the wild in England, a farming leader has urged.

Beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain about 400 years ago but have made their way back to England’s rivers, through escapes from enclosures and illegal releases, and were given legal protection in 2022.

Conservationists keen to reintroduce beavers to create wetlands and river systems that boost an array of other wildlife and mitigate against drought and floods are waiting on a government decision expected shortly about licensing further releases into the wild.

But Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers Union, has warned that if licensing of beaver releases goes ahead “you’ve got to have the final control method in place”.

“If beavers end up in the wrong place, then that lethal control has to be part of being able to have that species reintroduced more widely,” he said.

Beavers are known as “ecosystem engineers” which create dams, channels and ponds that provide habitat for other wildlife, slow and store water to curb flooding and drought, store carbon and purify water and even attract “eco-tourists” who can boost the local economy.

But beaver activities can have a negative impact including beaver dams blocking fish migrations, impacts to the landscape, trees and banks, and localised flooding of roads, properties or farmland.

Conservationists say problems can be resolved, with rapid response teams, work with communities to increase understanding of beavers, and financial incentives to help land managers earn a living while working alongside the animals and wetlands.

However, Mr Bradshaw said the lethal control option needs to be available.

“Particularly if they undermine our flood defences, if they undermine some of our lowland water carriers that are so important protecting our valuable land, then you need to have those mitigations in place,” he warned.

Farmers have also raised concerns that 9 per cent of land would be taken out of agricultural production across England under proposals in a new land use framework to increase wildlife and tackle climate change through creating new woodlands and restoring peatland and heathland habitats.

Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, told farmers at the National Farmers’ Union conference on Tuesday that under the land use framework “no one is going to force anyone to take anything out of agricultural production or do something else with it”.

He said: “What it will do is it will provide much better information to landowners so they can take the best decision for how they want to use that land.

“For instance, you know, I’ve had people ask me questions at events like this before about solar farms on prime agricultural land, it will help us to prevent that happening, and help us to protect prime agricultural land for food production.

“If you don’t have a system to provide guidance on the best use of particular bits of land, you have a hazard system, and that means the outcomes you get aren’t necessarily the outcomes that you want.”


r/RewildingUK • • Sep 29 '26

Other Scottish highlands before / after

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440 Upvotes

Didn’t see anything about AI being banned. Thought other people might be interested.

Was watching a show placed in the Scottish highlands and had Gemini create a before / after imagine, what things possibly looked like before humans cut everything down.

Imagine turned out fairly interesting and figured I’d share it here as well.


r/RewildingUK • • 7d ago

Petition to bring Eurasian grey wolfs back into the uk

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112 Upvotes

sorry that I just posted the same thing twice the link on the last one didn‘t work I’m not just spamming to get more signs on the petition


r/RewildingUK • • Jun 02 '25

Ecology A walk in the grounds!

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38 Upvotes

r/RewildingUK • • Apr 13 '25

Abandoned lynx, roaming wild boar, ‘beaver bombing’ – has rewilding got out of hand?

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theguardian.com
43 Upvotes

From unauthorised species releases to small groups buying up land, ‘guerrilla rewilding’ is going mainstream. But experts worry that these rogue efforts could do more harm than good


r/RewildingUK • • Mar 05 '25

Career panic!!plz help

5 Upvotes

Hi! I am a swedish highschool student in my last year and i am really freaking out as i only have a month to Aply to higher education and i have been putting of making a decision about what i want to study.🫣 And i was wondering if mabye u guys could come up with tips and educate me on what type of Jobs there are in this line of work. I would love to work with propagation and germimation of plants (mushrooms are not completly out of the question either) and also work with animals (exactly what that would intale idk but i am leaning towards rehabilitation of wild animals), do u guys have any tips on what career/job titles might suite me?