JOHN MUIR TRUST 10 Our position on the national energy debate 16 Breathing new life into JOURNAL Assynt and 26 The transformation of 52 spring 12 a Lake District valley Wonder of life. Spring is here and with it a flourish of new growth. Life that has lain dormant over winter awakens slowly. In thriving habitats, nature prospers, giving us clean air, fresh water, great beauty and endless wonder. That’s why the John Muir Trust works to improve all sorts of habitats – from native woodland and peat bog to dwarf shrub heath and machair (one of the rarest habitats in Europe).

If you’d like to join us, call 0131 554 0114 or email [email protected] CONTENTS 03

REGULARS

04 Foreword from the Chief Executive 06 News round-up 19 Testimonial Wilderness – inspiring adventures in the wild places of Scotland 32 Classic texts Walden: or Life in the Woods, Henry David Thoreau 33 Book reviews The Great Wood, Jim Crumley; There are Other Rivers (Mappazine edition), Alastair Humphreys; Skimming Stones and other ways of being in the wild, Rob Cowen and Leo Critchley 34 Properties and their wildlife: Ring ouzel at Quinag

FEATURES

10 Any way the wind blows A Q&A with head of policy Helen McDade which sets out the Trust’s position on the energy debate 14 Setting the tone The Trust manages the land it owns according to a clear set of standards that can now be viewed by everyone, thanks to a new website 16 Bringing life to the landscape A look at the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Project – an ambitious conservation initiative in a particularly rugged corner of the Highlands 20 Ring of fire An important part of Scotland’s outdoor heritage, the Craigallian fire was a beacon of hope for many young Glaswegians during the 1920s and 1930s 24 Against all odds A profile of a remarkable woman who has refused to let disability prevent her from experiencing all that the outdoors has to offer 26 Wild Ennerdale Personal reflections on a Lake District valley that is home to one of the longest running wild land restoration projects in the UK 28 Paving the way An experience of a lifetime for one Trust volunteer who went to southern Chile to help in the creation of the future Patagonia National Park

JOURNAL 52, SPRING 12 PITLOCHRY OFFICE Editor: Richard Rowe John Muir Trust email: [email protected] Tower House, Station Road, Managing editor: Susan Wright Pitlochry PH16 5AN telephone: email: [email protected] 01796 470 080 fax: 01796 473 514 Design and production: Various Creative email: [email protected] LEITH OFFICE This Journal is printed on Revive 100 Uncoated John Muir Trust stock, a recycled grade paper containing 100% 41 Commercial Street, post-consumer waste and manufactured at Edinburgh EH6 6JD a mill accredited with ISO 14001 environmental telephone: management standard. The pulp used in this 0131 554 0114 product is bleached using an Elemental Chlorine fax: 0131 555 2112 Free (ECF) process. We use a Scottish printer, Thomson Colour, who have excellent environmental www.jmt.org credentials, achieving environmental standard ISO 4001 in 2006 and the FSC and PEFC [email protected] standards in 2006. If you would rather receive your publications from the John Muir Trust electronically, please Cover photography email [email protected] Spring sees the Ennerdale valley The John Muir Trust is a Scottish charitable turn a vibrant green © company limited by guarantee. Registered office: GARETH BROWNING, FORESTRY COMMISSION Tower House, Station Road, Pitlochry PH16 5AN Inside front cover photography KEITH BRAME Charity No. SC002061 A tormentil blooms in Assynt Company No. SC081620 © KEITH BRAME PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: 04 FOREWORD Celebrating the links JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL between storytelling SPRING 2012 and the wild KEITH BRAME PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: From the Chief Executive

Wild places have the capacity to generate powerful and emotive stories – something that Stuart Brooks celebrates in introducing our latest issue

Of course, one of our big stories is the Sometimes we find a story outside the continuing campaign for better statutory Trust that resonates strongly with our protection of the UK’s best wild land. You values. Last year, we were made aware can’t pick up a daily newspaper these of an idea to build a small memorial to days without an article or a letter about celebrate the workers of Glasgow who wind farms and the country’s energy gained warmth and companionship – future. Over the last three years, we’ve and escape their harsh urban surroundings been increasingly active in this debate – by the ‘Craigallian fire’ just off what is and have tried to highlight the issues now the West Highland Way. By telling because large-scale wind developments their story in this Journal (p20), I hope are threatening to impact greatly on our that in some small way we’re able to wild land areas. Inevitably, we’ve been keep the memory of the flame alive. I Welcome to the Spring 2012 edition of drawn into some of the more technical hope you’ll agree it’s a wonderful story our Journal. If this is the first time you’ve arguments. I hope the discussion-led and part of our mountain culture that picked up a John Muir Trust publication, piece with Helen McDade, our head is well worth supporting. perhaps as a new member or a casual of policy, will help clarify the Trust’s Elsewhere in this issue we learn about acquaintance, I hope it conveys the thinking around what is a complex progress with the Coigach and Assynt passion we have for wild places and issue (see p10). Living Landscape Project (p16) and inspires you to take some action. That Whenever I attend a John Muir Award hear from our very own Sarah Lewis, might be to spend some time in a wild event, or hear participants speak of their conservation officer at Nevis, about place, support one of our campaigns experiences, I am always struck by the her tales from a recent trip to Patagonia or join us as a member. many and varied ways the outdoors can (p28). Enjoy our stories and, of course, This edition is all about telling stories. have a positive impact on people. It’s the wonderful pictures that form the On one level, the Trust’s objectives are these individual stories that help bring backdrop to our words. very singular – we exist to conserve wild to life the benefits of conserving wild places. However, in order to do that we places – and it is here that the value of storytelling comes into its own. We’re Stuart Brooks engage in a range of activities and there’s chief executive a story to tell about each and every one privileged in this issue to hear a very john muir trust of them – whether it’s the work we do on personal story from Julie McElroy (p24) the land to enhance its qualities and that highlights not only the power of wildlife, or in helping many thousands wild places to inspire and challenge, of people each year to experience wild but also the immense personal courage Taking it in (left to right, from opposite): on the places through the John Muir Award she has demonstrated in meeting summit of Ben Dorain looking towards those challenges. and Stob Binnean, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and work parties on our properties. National Park; Willie and Iain Grieve from the This edition of the Journal attempts Friends of the Craigallian Fire by the original to pick out just a few of these stories. fire site; schoolchildren planting saplings near Lochinver, Assynt WILLIE GRIEVE NIALL BENVIE/2020VISION PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: 06 NEWS JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL SPRING 2012

TRUST EFFORTS TO ACQUIRE Thanks to the fantastic generosity of LAUNCH OF JOHN MUIR AWARD TALLA AND GAMESHOPE supporters and benefactors, the bid was CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE Some members and Journal readers made in March following a last-minute GUIDE may have noticed a flurry of media public appeal for pledges towards the Michael Russell, MSP, the Scottish activity in March around the Trust’s purchase price of the estate. The story Government’s Cabinet Secretary for possible purchase of wild land in the was covered in a range of media Education and Lifelong Learning, has Borders. A last minute opportunity arose including the Scotland on Sunday helped to launch a new resource for to bid for Talla and Gameshope, a newspaper and BBC Reporting Scotland. teachers produced by the John Muir Award rugged estate of 2,150 hectares (5,300 “This was an opportunity to do team. The resource, a four-page guide acres) in the southern uplands, which something special with a beautiful and complete with visual mind map, explains includes the magnificent valley of the unique piece of Borders land, but how the John Muir Award can contribute Gameshope Burn and an extensive high unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” said to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence plateau with 12 peaks over 600 metres Stuart Brooks, Trust chief executive. to meet a range of educational needs. (2,000ft). “Staff and trustees, along with The minister launched the guide at Bordering the Carrifran Wildwood to the colleagues at the Borders Forest Trust, Lochgilphead High School with the aid south and the Tweedsmuir SSSI to the worked so hard and we are incredibly of S2 pupils who have already achieved north, the estate offered a tremendous disappointed not to have realised our their John Muir awards, helping to opportunity for major landscape-scale vision for the estate. present their Award certificates and conservation, with potential for restoring “We understand there was a lot of listening to a presentation as they habitats and encouraging rare mountain interest and although we managed to shared their experiences doing a plants and wildlife such as golden eagle gather enough resources to put in a very variety of conservation activities. and black grouse. Trustees considered credible bid we understand we were just “Outdoor learning has an important this a once-in-a-generation opportunity pipped at the post. We’d like to thank role in delivering the Curriculum for and agreed to make a bid in partnership everyone who gave such a great show of Excellence,” said Russell. “This resource with the Borders Forest Trust. support. We continue to keep an eye out demonstrates that the John Muir Award for special areas of wild land that could supports learning outside the classroom potentially come under our care.” and helps to meet many educational The wild Talla and Gameshope estate needs and themes across learning. in the Scottish Borders I’m delighted to be able to launch it here at Lochgilphead High School. “I hope it will encourage more schools to give every pupil the opportunity to appreciate and do something positive for wild places.” “The John Muir Award has a simple structure so it’s incredibly flexible. This means it can be used to fit in with subjects across the Curriculum for Excellence,” said Rebecca Logsdon, John Muir Award Scotland education manager. “This allows it to be delivered in a range of ways from school grounds projects, to local community partnerships and residential programmes. Pupils also have their achievements acknowledged by gaining a nationally recognised certificate.” For more information, contact Rebecca Logsdon at [email protected] or download a PDF of the Curriculum for Excellence John Muir Award guide at www.johnmuiraward.org

Michael Russell, MSP, at Lochgilphead High School with John Muir Award Manager Rob Bushby, Scotland Education Manager Rebecca Logsdon, and a group of S2 pupils who recently received their Awards JOHN MACTAVISH PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: NEWS 07

MANY HANDS MAKE BIG IMPACT SNH WORK ADDS MOMENTUM TO The John Muir Award conserve audit WILD LAND CAMPAIGN continues to demonstrate the tremendous Progress towards improved protection impact of award activities across the UK. for wild land might be a step nearer with Throughout 2011, John Muir Award groups the publication, in early February, of new were asked to capture and quantify what work to map Scotland’s wild land. they did to meet the Conserve Challenge Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has – a key part of the Award – and what completed the first phase of a project differences they made to wild places to map relative levels of wildness for in the process. the whole of Scotland. Completion of the The 749 responses received represent mapping is something that the Scottish the activities of 18,777 participants – Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee 81 per cent of the total participants and has been keen to see in the context of 62 per cent of groups involved overall. the Trust’s petition calling for a new Their activities account for an impressive designation to protect Scotland’s best 138,531 hours of dedicated conservation wild land, and will help to inform ongoing volunteering – that’s more than seven discussions about whether there is a hours for each individual. need for legislative or policy change. Here are some of the key findings, This is also the first time in Europe which will be produced as a report that a national wildness map has later in the year: been produced at this level of detail, – 2,464 homes created for great something which could potentially be crested newts, barn owls, stag replicated for other areas and which beetles, slow worms, bumble bees, the Trust hopes could extend the frogs, otters, ants, birds, red squirrels debate about the importance of and many other species wild land elsewhere in the UK. – 32,000 metres of footpaths maintained SNH has followed a very similar and created (equivalent to more than approach to the Trust’s earlier wildness four tourist paths up ) mapping work and assesses the level at which four physical attributes are present: – Campaigns included Beach Watch, the perceived naturalness of land cover; Rights of Way and Earth Hour; ruggedness of terrain; remoteness from national surveys included water public roads or ferries; and absence of voles, butterflies, bugs, seaweed, modern artefacts (buildings, roads, Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) pylons etc). – 18,967 trees of native species planted. Whilst SNH and the Trust might differ on An area the size of 100 football pitches the fine detail, the Trust is hopeful that was cleared of invasive species, consensus might be reached on where decisions. However, the Trust is including rhododendron, Himalayan our core wild land areas are. delighted that the SNH work largely balsam, ground elder, snowberry reinforces its earlier findings in identifying and sea buckthorn A second phase of the work will examine the options for identifying wild land Scotland’s wild land. It is hoped that 2 – 74,711m of meadow created, areas which are considered of particular the SNH work will not only support the raked, seeded or mowed importance from a national perspective Scottish Government’s existing policy of – 82,451 bin bags of litter cleared because of their quality and extent. At safeguarding the natural environment – Woodlands were the preferred the time of writing, SNH was intending but also provide evidence – through activity location, with double the to present the results of this work in being able to show where current number of visits to tree-filled spring 2012. Public opinion is also statutory protection is lacking – in areas than to other sites being used to inform Phase II of the support of the Trust’s call for a new work, through the results of a recent designation for wild land in Scotland. Thanks to everyone who contributed to SNH survey to better understand what this impressive collaborative reporting Meantime, through the Wild Land the public understand by wildness in Campaign, the Trust is developing its effort. A summary report is available at Scotland. Some Trust members were www.johnmuiraward.org proposals for how better protection invited to contribute their thoughts and might operate in practice, as well as the Trust is looking forward to seeing continuing efforts to show how national what conclusions SNH draw from this. energy strategy needs to change in order More work and further guidance for to prevent inappropriate development planning authorities will obviously be in wild land. The presentation later this necessary to ensure that the information year of the Trust’s petition to the UK contained in the maps is applied in government will be an opportunity to a consistent manner across Scotland increase awareness of these issues when informing planning and land use throughout the UK, and also support the work being done by other organisations Above right: to secure better protection for key SNH’s interim phase one map showing landscapes outside Scotland. areas of relative wildness in Scotland Make sure you are signed up to receive Left: regular e-newsletters so that we can keep Pupils from Cockburnspath Primary you up to date with latest campaign School in the Borders cut back vegetation and cleared litter from local news and actions. www.jmt.org MANDY CRAIG MANDY woodlands for their John Muir Award > http://tinyurl.com/6mhkw9o PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: 08 NEWS JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL SPRING 2012

OUTDOOR EDUCATION BOOST FOR GAELIC LEARNERS The John Muir Trust has secured funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig to create and pilot Gaelic John Muir Award resources, so increasing the opportunity for Gaelic learners to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places through a recognised environmental award scheme. The funding has enabled the Trust to support a Gaelic pilot programme in partnership with Comunn na Gàidhlig – a social enterprise working across Scotland – that targets young people from Islay, Lochaber, Inverness and RORY SYME YORKSHIRE DALES NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY PARK NATIONAL DALES YORKSHIRE Skye. All are areas where there is a strong focus on supporting young people to enhance their Gaelic language skills and participate in activities. However, PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: the new resources will be freely available for anyone across Scotland wishing to Rae Lonsdale with his MBE Inverlochy Primary School pupil participate in the John Muir Award Daniel Parfitt receives his certificate through the medium of Gaelic. from John Hutchison, chairman of In addition, the Trust has gained funding the John Muir Trust to increase awareness and understanding MBE FOR AWARD STALWART LOCHABER SCHOOL CHILDREN GO of the importance of the Gaelic language and its relevance to the Scottish landscape Rae Lonsdale, a champion for the John WILD FOR POETRY and wild places across its staff team and Muir Award in the Yorkshire Dales, was Young bards from Lochaber were partner organisations through a specific awarded an MBE in February for his rewarded for their efforts at the Fort Gaelic awareness training day. voluntary service in North Yorkshire. William Mountain Festival in February. Rae has been a long-standing volunteer Nearly 400 primary school children from The chairman of the John Muir Trust, with a number of organisations including schools across the district took part John Hutchison, said: “As custodians the Cave Rescue Organisation and the in the Trust’s Wild Poetry Competition, of important parts of the wild land of Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. He has also submitting poems in English and Gaelic Scotland, we are aware of the legacy of raised the profile of the John Muir Trust which reflected local wildlife and our indigenous Gaelic language in place- and its Award and has been instrumental landscapes. The best entries were names and the natural environment. We in running the Award with the Yorkshire put on display at the Mountain Festival will play our part in using these wherever Dales National Park (YDNP) Authority’s and the winning children were invited possible, and welcome the support of Bòrd Ranger Service in conjunction with to a presentation at the Nevis Centre. na Gàidhlig and Comunn na Gàidhlig.” local schools. Daniel Parfitt, a primary one pupil at Rae, who lives in Settle, said: “There Inverlochy Primary School, won first prize AGM & MEMBERS’ GATHERING has been the good-natured leg-pulling in the English Primary 1–4 category for and curtseying from some of my more his poem titled Nevis Range. “I like Nevis Don’t forget that from 4–6 May we’ll be comical acquaintances, but also the Range because you can go skiing and heading to Ardlui by Loch Lomond for congratulations from many people, to biking there,” he said. “I really like a busy weekend of meetings and events. say nothing of the anticipation and reality going downhill fast!” We’ve added a members’ social on Friday of the visit to Buckingham Palace. When night to give people more time to chat John Hutchison, chairman of the John Her Majesty said ‘You seem to have done with staff and trustees and to mingle Muir Trust, presented the children a lot’, I just said that I hadn’t done with other members. If you have been with their certificates. “This is a super anything I hadn’t enjoyed. planning to attend this year’s event competition,” he commented. “As ever and have not yet booked, please visit “I want to use my active retirement to there was a very high standard of entries www.jmt.org/gathering2012.asp or call encourage and enable young people – with good descriptive writing. A love of Maggie on 0131 554 0114 to check what whether local or from farther away – local wild places really comes through spaces are available for the Members’ to appreciate what’s special about the in the poems.” Gathering. The AGM is open to all Dales, then to get stuck in and enjoy The winning poems are published at members, but please do book so caring for them. Everyone should have www.jmt.org/wild-writing2012.asp that we know to expect you. the opportunity and the John Muir Award offers that opportunity.” John Muir Award manager Rob Bushby congratulated Rae, saying: “We’ve really valued Rae’s enthusiastic support. Combining volunteering, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, John Muir Award and YDNP activity has been a fantastic example of partnership working in action. Long may it continue!” NEWS 09

UNDERSTANDING LANDSCAPES EXPLORE THE GREAT GLEN In what is being heralded as a first-of- The Olympic’s Discover Explore initiative its-kind project, the Cairngorms National has been working with the John Muir Park Authority (CNPA) has produced a Award team, Historic Scotland, the series of maps and guidance that are National Trust for Scotland and the designed to help retain and enhance Abriachan Forest Trust to develop those landscape qualities within the a range of exciting family-friendly park that are ‘good for the soul and the missions to encourage exploration economy’, while also making landscape of the Great Glen, which lies between information much more accessible to Fort William and Inverness. interested parties. It’s a web-based game designed The maps highlight the constant process to help children discover many of the of change in a landscape influenced extraordinary places and stories that by both natural processes and human relate to the area and is the third major land use. With advancing technology, commission from Discovering Places – an increasing population and changing the Cultural Olympiad campaign to expectations, the pressure on our inspire communities across the UK HAGLEY JAMIE landscapes gets greater by the decade. to discover their local environment. The online resource uses Google maps Budding young explorers need to to show what the character of an area create an account on the Discover PHOTOGRAPH: is and where the landscape is sensitive. Explore website to locate the missions, “Today’s landscapes are very different which focus on several key locations from those of our grandparents,” said along the Great Glen, including Glen Dawn on the Amazon Frances Thin, CNPA landscape officer, Nevis. They can then follow these who is behind the project. “Very recently, missions outdoors in the glen with SEEKING ADVENTURE IN the gales have brought down trees and their families and earn rewards in WILD PLACES heavy rain has caused landslides and the form of badges by correctly In 2011, Jamie Hagley and Jenny Newall rivers to swell, erode banks and flood answering questions online about joined expeditions to the Amazon and the straths; all this reminds us that their adventures. Find out more at Arctic Svalbard respectively following landscape change is constant. www.discoverexplore.co.uk receipt of funding through the Bill Wallace “We must strive to keep the different Grant – a scheme that supports people character qualities from glen to glen seeking life-changing experiences for and town to town [in the National Park]. the benefit of themselves and wild places. These differences are greatly valued by The grant takes its name from Bill Wallace people. We hope that this easy-to-access who played an important role in the information will be used by them to inform development of the John Muir Trust. their work and studies and help keep our Looking ahead, the 2012 application National Park special.” process has highlighted a fantastic mix Initial information and maps are now of inspiring, adventurous and challenging available, while in time it will be possible expeditions from independent explorers for photographs to be uploaded to help who have demonstrated a clear need illustrate local landscape qualities. The for grant assistance. The successful CNPA would welcome any feedback. The high Cairngorm plateau – just projects supported by the grant this www.cairngorms.co.uk one of many valuable landscapes in year include a trainee instructor the National Park developing mountaineering skills in Norway; a disadvantaged young person researching coral reefs in Borneo; and the first circumnavigation of the entire South American continent by bike.

MAUREEN WALLACE In related news, the Trust is sad to report the recent death of Maureen Wallace, a long-serving and enthusiastic supporter of the Trust both in her own right and together with her late husband. Latterly, Maureen was volunteering on the group overseeing the Bill Wallace Grant. Maureen had battled bravely against cancer for more than a year but passed away on 13 January. Rather than flowers, Maureen’s family asked mourners to make a donation to the Trust for the Bill Wallace Grant. > www.jmt.org/bill-wallace-grant.asp RJ KINNAIRD RJ PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: 10 POLICY Q&A Setting out the Trust’s position JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL on the energy debate SPRING 2012

Any way the wind blows

In recent years, the John Muir Trust has increasingly been engaged with the national debate on energy policy and wind turbine developments. The Journal asks head of policy, Helen McDade, if this represents a change of purpose by the Trust

Journal: Helen, why has the Trust got doesn’t destroy valuable and irreplaceable research and development, which is involved with the issue of wind power? wild land, is paid and accounted for aimed at reducing emissions from coal, Helen McDade: A study by Leeds through the tax system, and actually might well be a better priority for public University’s Wild Land Research Institute delivers what it promises. investment, for example. in 2009, commissioned by the Trust, found So what are the key issues? The current ROC system of subsidy in that most of the top 10 per cent of wild Where do I start? Large-scale wind the UK was introduced to enable new land in the UK is in Scotland and is of generation is currently the major issue renewable technologies to move from international importance. However, for wild land encroachment and also the research stage to commercial scale. Scottish Natural Heritage recently currently receives the lion’s share of However, both the energy industry produced figures that showed that the renewable subsidies available. and governments say that the mature in 2002, 41 per cent of Scotland was Therefore, we need to know: technology of wind will still require unaffected by visual impact from built significant subsidy at least until 2037. development, while in 2009 that figure – What were we told the expansion of wind developments would deliver? Another change in official thinking had dropped to 28 per cent. concerns landscape impact. When In seven years Scotland has lost one third – What do they need to deliver for large-scale wind developments were of landscape free from visual impact. This both climate emissions targets and first being proposed in 2005 it was will come as no surprise to anyone who energy needs? commonly said that the public only regularly visits Scotland’s remote areas. – What are they actually delivering? needed to accept 10 per cent of wind The current greatest threat to wild land When I first started researching this topic applications then in the Scottish in the UK is inappropriately sited wind in 2005, many people were saying that planning system to achieve the (then) developments. That is why, as the UK’s Scotland was doing this as an exemplar renewable targets of 40 per cent. Then leading wild land conservation charity, for the world so that we could demonstrate the official government position was we are campaigning on energy policy. to key developing countries, such as China that the target was not a cap and No-one would deny that some energy and India, that the technology worked could be exceeded. infrastructure developments will intrude and that the developed countries were Seven years on, Scotland has a 2020 on the scenery of wild areas, but if we committed to using it. The hope was target of the equivalent of 100 per cent are serious about reducing carbon that the developing countries would then of our electricity consumption from emissions – and as a conservation adopt the new technologies – essential renewable energy, something most organisation we should be – then if a significant contribution to reducing observers view as ‘challenging’. Evidence surely we have to accept the need for greenhouse gas emissions was to is sparse that all the wind development to renewables? Losing some scenery be achieved. date has significantly reduced greenhouse might be the price we have to pay to However, the costs associated with gas emissions or that the electricity prevent catastrophic global warming. this relatively mature technology are produced is contributing sufficiently The Trust would not oppose development not reducing much and are greater than to our energy needs given the public proposals in wild land areas if it could those for fossil fuel energy. Indeed, as money spent on it. A cautionary tale is be shown that a particular proposal was we shift to increasing dependence on Denmark, which has considerable wind necessary for the national or global good offshore wind generation, the costs development, can’t use 50 per cent of it and that it could be robustly demonstrated of Renewable Obligations Certificate directly, has the highest electricity costs that a particular scheme was the most (ROC) subsidy per MW output in the and little evidence of reducing cost-effective, least-environmentally UK will more than double. greenhouse gas emissions. damaging method of achieving the critical The major developing countries, far Surely the whole issue of bringing aims. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems from adopting our heavily subsidised large amounts of wind generation as if current UK and devolved energy technology, are focusing on fossil fuels. onto the grid for transmission to the policies, and related planning decisions, The number of coal-fired power stations rest of the country was debated at the are taken out of blind faith rather than in China has multiplied enormously in Beauly-Denny Inquiry? The decision looking at the facts. recent years: the electricity generating there went in favour of the power line A key part of the Trust’s UK work is capacity rose from just over 10 gigawatts with only minor mitigation. Why are explaining why an urgent re-assessment in 2002 to over 80GW in 2006. If the aim we still carrying on the argument? of energy policy is needed. We’re calling is to spend public money on potentially At the Beauly-Denny Inquiry in 2007 on the UK and devolved governments game-changing technology for export the Trust and many others objected to to develop a national sustainable energy so that the large developing countries the proposal for a 220km 400kV power strategy that places energy conservation adopt it, then that technology must be line to be carried by giant pylons through at its heart and maps out how to achieve economic and efficient in those countries. some of the Highland’s most beautiful a secure, low carbon energy supply that Investing in carbon capture and storage landscapes. The remit of the inquiry did the trust is all about protecting and valuing our last wild areas. wild land is a finite resource

KEITH BRAME that we can’t afford to lose PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: not address the issue of whether large- was specifically ruled out, was about the The Red Hills and Loch Slappin scale energy generation in remote areas cost of getting electricity from the north from the summit of Blaven on Skye. The north west of Scotland is an area was actually the best way of meeting the of Scotland to the main UK consumers of unique beauty, dramatic geological country’s electricity requirements. in middle England. This economic features and important ecosystem services that should be protected The Inquiry refused to consider evidence argument, if considered properly, regarding the costs of getting the power would have protected significant to where it was needed. The industry wild land areas. There will be yet more regularly over-estimates benefits and landscape and nature impacts to come under-estimates the costs of major throughout the UK. We are seeing major intention, even if it is realistically projects. For example, Beauly-Denny transmission line projects being rolled possible, of concrete bases and roads was estimated to cost £350 million. out – through the Cambrians and the being taken out. That estimate has risen to £600 million. Lake District, for example – and the case Moreover, the suggestion that these Now the transmission projects required for these, too, is based on ‘best-case’ sites will be restored in 25 years because to move the power south from Denny economic arguments from the industry there won’t be ongoing wind development are being rolled out with price tags that may well not stand up to proper is tacit recognition that, using current of billions. scrutiny. technology, commercial wind is an At the Beauly-Denny Inquiry and in What did the Trust learn from its high- inefficient method of producing subsequent cases the Trust has moved profile involvement in Beauly-Denny? electricity. It’s often described as an interim technology to bridge the energy in to economic and technical arguments Losing one important battle doesn’t gap between older conventional power about power generation as well as mean we should give up. What Beauly- stations and forthcoming more efficient environmental evidence. Are we not Denny did do was lead the Trust to renewables. Surely we would do better moving a long way from wild land launch our Wild Land Campaign – to to spend more now on the research and conservation? fight for better protection for our wild development to speed up implementation land through appropriate statutory There are two major issues here. The of those better technologies. first is that the Trust enters these cases designation and by contributing to The Stuart Young report, Analysis of to win and so we need to give it our a re-assessment of the UK’s irrational UK Wind Power Generation November best shot. Planning policy carries a and damaging energy policies. 2008 to December 2010, which the Trust presumption for economic growth in We are told that northwest Scotland supported, highlighted this inefficiency. most circumstances so for the Trust and is one of the best locations in Europe Taking first-hand data, the report showed other environmental objectors to win for siting wind turbines because of the that windless conditions can and do a decision we need to be able to make prevailing winds. If there is a need for occur for several days at a time in winter. the economic and social arguments, renewable energy, then shouldn’t we It showed that at each of the four highest as well as the local, national and global be using this wind resource? peak electricity demands of 2012, wind environmental arguments. We need to The ‘use it because it’s there’ argument output was less than 6 per cent of nominal carry the day with those whose priorities completely fails to take account of the capacity, as opposed to the 30 per cent may not be conservation and wild full economic, social and environmental often claimed to be the average land but who are probably thinking costs. In this case, those costs include load factor. ‘regeneration of this region and the massive spending on transmission, cheap power to the country’. impact on tourism and permanent loss Actually, the key economic argument, of wild and natural landscapes. There is which should have been examined at a lot of nonsense talked about ‘restoring the Beauly-Denny Inquiry but which these areas in 25 years’. There is no > continued KEITH BRAME PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

Beautiful and essential: Quinag in Assynt framed by bog flora (left); a tumbling burn in Glen Leirerag, west side of Quinag KEITH BRAME PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

Even the huge £800 million proposed Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) their electricity from renewables – pumped storage hydro scheme at Coire UK Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands, mainly from wind generation. What is Glas, near the Great Glen Way, can only a loss of only 5 per cent of UK peatland less commonly added, is that they only provide back-up for approximately 1800 carbon would equate to the total use half of that directly (that is, about 10 MW capacity of wind for 50 hours in annual UK anthropogenic greenhouse per cent of the country’s total electricity windless conditions. So the intermittency gas emissions. need); the rest has to be exported. problem of having a major percentage of Peatland plays a comparable role in Because neighbouring countries also our electricity provided by wind is not yet temperate areas to rainforests in the have good electricity production at those solved. Currently, when setting targets tropics in countering global warming. times when the wind resource is good, for what proportion of our electricity There’s international concern, quite Denmark has to export that surplus can come from wind, no account is taken rightly, over the loss of rainforest but wind-generated energy cheaply, typically of the extra costs of back-up through in contrast there has been a cavalier to Norway, which can store energy using conventional electricity generation approach to the destruction of peatland its extensive pumped-storage hydro when wind is not available. over the years. Surely it would be sensible systems. However, at other times when Finally, of course, electricity generated to regard our peatlands as equally precious Denmark needs more energy than it can in such remote locations has to be as the rainforests, particularly in energy generate, it has to buy back the energy transmitted great distances, generating policy, with regard to retaining damaging at a much higher cost. huge infrastructure and power loss costs climate change gases? This is not Elsewhere, the Dutch government has which have to be met, in the long run, considered properly in decision-making announced a review of energy policy by consumers. However, this is not either at planning or in energy policy. and has cut subsidies to offshore wind factored in to planning decisions. There is also a simple question to development, and Spain has recently So, do we have to focus entirely on consider: do we want to lose all our cut the subsidy offered to new wind energy economics in order to win the open, undeveloped spaces – wild places developments because of their financial environmental battle? where people can escape their urban situation. This should be a salutary Definitely not. The environmental costs of environments and where nature can economic lesson. If the UK spends badly sited industrial wind developments flourish – or do we want to ensure these significant subsidies on an inefficient are immense and have been largely special places survive? Obviously, the system, our economy will suffer. At the ignored in the debate. These intrusions Trust is all about protecting and valuing moment, the money is flowing but if can seriously damage habitats and disrupt our last wild areas. Wild land is a finite it’s not a sustainable economic system, wildlife. The importance of biodiversity resource that we can’t afford to lose. even before we cost the environmental is increasingly understood along with If Britain was to reverse its policy of impacts properly, there will be a crash. the need to protect wild land habitats, promoting wind energy, would this There was a time when you wouldn’t yet every other week another important not be out of step with international have been able to find many people site is impacted. practice? Many countries are already speaking out about the sub-prime Furthermore, most of the wild land investing heavily in wind power? mortgages system because the money targeted for wind developments is It’s useful to look at countries that have was flowing among those who were best peatland. Peatland represents the single significantly invested in wind. Take placed to raise any concern. Similarly, most important terrestrial carbon store Denmark, for example. It’s commonly the Trust is sometimes portrayed as in the UK. According to the International said that they produce 20 per cent of outside the consensus on energy but it would be sensible to regard our peatlands as equally as precious as the rainforests for retaining damaging climate change gases PHOTO MONTAGE: STUART YOUNG MONTAGE: PHOTO MICK BLUNT PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: recently the evidence has been stacking In the case of large-scale wind energy up. The Trust has reached its position on development, this level of scrutiny is an evidence-based, holistic examination increasingly demonstrating that the which we re-visit as new evidence comes policies of national and devolved forward. It’s a position based on science. governments have been underpinned Presumably the Trust wants to see by wishful thinking, selective evidence carbon emissions cut and our and fragmented and inadequate planning dependence on fossil fuels reduced. processes. How is it advancing this? It’s the Trust’s job to fight for the right The Trust’s case on energy is positive policies for wild land regardless of and increasingly supported by similar whether that is difficult or popular. For positions of other organisations – for some time, the Trust’s views appeared to example, the Institute of Engineering be in the minority. Increasingly, others in and Shipbuilding in Scotlandand environmental, economic and political the Campaign for the Protection fields are expressing similar views to ours. of Rural England. The fight goes on. We believe the UK and devolved governments need to develop energy strategies designed to deliver three aims: – A secure, adequate and affordable energy supply – The required reduction in What we stand to lose (above): greenhouse gas production a visualisation of the Muaitheabhal wind farm that’s been consented for – A commitment to protect our the Isle of Lewis. Over 30 turbines, local and global environment taller than the London Eye, will be visible from Bheinn Mhor within the as much as possible National Scenic Area; Helen McDade, The most effective way for public the Trust’s head of policy money to contribute to this is for any tax taken to support policies on energy and greenhouse gas emissions reductions to be primarily spent on the trust’s energy conservation measures. These case on energy would cost somewhere in the region is positive and of one third of the cost of generating an equivalent amount of energy, increasingly regardless of whether that generation supported by is coal, wind or nuclear. similar positions We continue to hear of approval being of other given to large-scale wind developments in unsuitable places. Do you ever feel organisations the Trust is fighting a lost cause? The John Muir Trust is dedicated to protecting wild land. In all its policies, the Trust is committed to a scientific, evidence-led, holistic approach. It applies these standards equally to the management of wild land and Further info Helen McDade is head of policy at the to scrutinizing the threats that John Muir Trust. She can be contacted at wild land faces. [email protected] 14 LAND IN CARE Outlining the standards by which JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL the Trust manages its wild land SPRING 2012

Setting the tone

The Trust manages the land it owns according to a clear set of LESTER STANDEN standards that can now be viewed by everyone, thanks to a new website. Susan Wright explains PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

Imagine the majority of our wild land these standards for some time,” explains more suppressed through over-grazing supporting natural habitats and species. Mike Daniels, the Trust’s head of land than others, but they all share wild land Imagine a diverse landscape of natural and science. “They have an important characteristics. tree lines, sustainable numbers of grazing role to play in achieving consistency “It could be argued that wild land animals, rich flora and abundant wildlife. across our properties, and in making it management is an oxymoron,” notes Imagine the wide open spaces, stunning clear why we’re doing things. They also Mike. “However, due to man’s influence views, fresh air and clean water that offer clarity for our partners who can on the land for thousands of years, doing are so important to people’s health and look at our standards and see what the nothing is also a form of management. quality of life, being valued and protected. Trust’s land management is all about For example, without natural predators, This is the Trust’s vision of wild land and how it fits in with the way they deer populations will soar if left management. do things.” unmanaged. With ownership comes responsibility and responsible wild The Trust recently launched its new FROM THE GROUND UP land managers need to take a proactive Wild Land Management Standards The 28 standards start from the premise approach to conserving and enhancing website and booklet (the latter can that everything depends on the geology the wild land resource. be downloaded from the former at and soil, then the biodiversity that lives www.wildlandmanagement.org.uk). on that, progressing to the impacts on “By definition, management activity These are the principles that guide the the land of grazing animals, such as tends to concentrate on the fringes of Trust in the management of its properties, sheep and deer, and engaging with the the wild land we own and less in the to provide a framework for the Trust’s people, visitors and communities that centre. The exception, of course, are and other land managers to work to and live on and visit the land in a huge footpaths that penetrate into wild land also to interest a wider audience. Whether variety of ways. Encompassing it all is such as on Ben Nevis or . you’re curious about predator control, the management plan that should enable These require intensive management community engagement or fencing issues, land managers to see what they’re doing due to the hundreds of thousands of the Trust’s aims and objectives on all and why they’re doing it. visitors that use them when they come aspects of land management are clear The standards have evolved over the to experience and enjoy wild land.” for all to read on the website. years, shaped by the Trust’s experiences The standards not only provide a means Although the Trust’s vision for conserving managing its different properties which of directing wild land management on land has remained relatively consistent encompass a variety of habitats – from the Trust’s lands and partnerships, but from its early days, it has taken a lot of native woodland and peat bog to machair, could also be used in the future to assess work to pull them together and articulate moorland and commercial forestry. Some wild land more generally. “If we were them fully. “We’ve been keen to develop are remote, some well-trodden, some able to audit the condition of core wild RORY SYME KEITH BRAME PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: land across the country, using the completely in the next 50 years if active CHANGING LANDSCAPES standards, we could benchmark the state conservation is not pursued, and this is Scotland’s landscapes have altered of wild land management and see whether true also of the remaining native pine drastically over time, particularly in this improves in the future,” says Mike. wood in Glen Barrisdale’. the last few centuries with the advent The native woodland regeneration of extensive sheep farming, increasing CONSISTENT APPROACH deer numbers and continual burning. The standards are new and old all at the seen today in Knoydart is the result of early management ambitions but with As a result, many of our habitats (such same time. Although they represent the as montane scrub) have become virtually the subsequent acquisition of more most complete picture to date of the Trust’s extinct while others (such as native approach to wild land management, the properties, and work with partners, woodland) have been heavily suppressed philosophies underpinning many of the need to have clear management or damaged. Consequently, much of the them have been a part of the Trust standards has grown considerably. diversity of life that relied on these from day one. “The appointment of a dedicated deer habitats – the insects, birds and predators – have suffered too. In 1987, the John Muir Trust bought officer in 2010 was a significant step Li and Coire Dhorrcail on Knoydart forward in our wild land management This is not irreversible. By reducing the with funds that included a £5,000 grant because it helped bring consistency to number of grazing mouths, the woody species can start to regenerate, and with from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In our deer policy and actions,” says Mike. them, in time, all the insects and other 1989, the Trust applied for more funding “The newly appointed footpath officer represents a step in the same direction, animals that depend on them. It is a from WWF to cover the cost of hiring a much slower process to restore than to conservation officer and begin executing enabling us to take a more proactive and sustainable approach to this key element destroy but nature is resilient and will its conservation plan. The five-page usually find a way back. On Knoydart of wild land management.” application form sent to WWF states two and Nevis, we are already beginning primary objectives for the Trust. These And effective, sustainable management to see signs of recovery. Other areas were to ‘develop a conservation strategy of wild land is what it’s all about. Taking of land in Scotland are also turning the for Knoydart’, and to develop ‘access a more proactive approach within a clear corner, such as and and recreation planning, including framework should stand the Trust in good Glenfeshie. involvement of recreational users of stead for the challenges ahead. If others the area in its conservation’. Where can be persuaded to do the same, then these aims conflicted, conservation that would really be a great result for would take precedence. wild land. THE STANDARDS The application highlighted similar Our 28 wild land management standards fall into six categories: problems to those that exist today, management planning; soil, carbon, pointing out that ‘the over-stocking water; biodiversity & woodland; of deer and consequent browsing has deer & livestock; facilities & heritage; caused substantial destruction of the communities, visitors & awareness. native pine and oak woods in the area’ You can browse all the standards and and that ‘a recent detailed survey of their related actions, or download the woodlands on the Trust property them as a PDF handbook, at indicates that they are likely to disappear www.wildlandmanagement.org.uk

How it could be (clockwise from opposite About the author top): regenerating woodland on Trust land Susan Wright is the Trust’s head of in Knoydart; Trust staff remove a redundant communications. She can be contacted at fence at Schiehallion; rowan, Glen Nevis [email protected] 16 CONSERVATION An ambitious landscape-scale JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL conservation initiative SPRING 2012

Bringing life to the landscape Rory Syme learns more about the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Project – a major conservation initiative designed to bring social and ecological benefits to a rugged corner of the Highlands

Something is stirring within the rugged landscapes of Assynt And, as Viv explains, the current CALL partners may soon see and Coigach in the . In June 2011, six additions to their ranks. Jim Sloane, the owner of 400 hectares landowners – the John Muir Trust, Assynt Foundation, Culag of land at Kylesku, is another landowner who has already Community Woodland Trust, Eisg Brachaid, Scottish Wildlife expressed an interest in joining the partnership. Trust and Tanera Mòr – came together to announce the beginning of one of the biggest landscape-scale conservation PROJECTS WITHIN PROJECTS projects ever undertaken in the UK. One of the first projects to come to fruition is a tree nursery which will provide saplings for future expansion of native The Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape (CALL) project is woodland. Located five miles outside Lochinver on Little Assynt nothing if not ambitious. The six partners have a long-term Field – an area of land owned by the Culag Woodland Trust – plan to bring woodland connectivity, species-rich flora and the nursery will raise a variety of local native tree species, with fauna, and economic prosperity to a rugged coastal corner a particular focus on the rarer ones such as witch elm, oak, of the Scottish uplands through projects that deliver both bird cherry and wild cherry that can be difficult to source environmental and social benefits. from elsewhere. Covering an area of more than 70,000 hectares, the project Because there are so few trees in Assynt it is hard to source focuses on one of the wildest and most beautiful parts of the local genetic stock in the area. The nursery will provide a ready UK. “This is a spectacularly varied landscape that ranges supply of saplings to allow an expansion of native woodland. from the peaks of Suilven to Tanera Mòr, the largest and only Eventually the tree nursery will support three jobs, which, inhabited island in the ,” explains Fran Lockhart, as Viv points out, “is very significant in Lochinver terms”. the Trust’s property manager at Quinag and representative on the CALL steering group. “We hope over time that landowners “A big thing about CALL is that it’s not just habitat improvement, within the Assynt-Coigach National Scenic Area will join it’s also about the human landscape,” she adds. “If we can the project and increase its reach even further.” demonstrate that good quality jobs can come from this project then that plays a big part in terms of building acceptance within CALL follows a model developed by the Wildlife Trusts that the community.” has been successfully applied elsewhere in the UK. Landscape- scale conservation recognises that to ‘do’ conservation properly, Looking further ahead, in October, the CALL project will a reserves model that sees resources concentrated on small, host Deerfest, a one-day event to promote local venison – unconnected areas is simply not enough. To get it right involves appropriately at Inchnadamph, ‘the field of the stags’. The spanning much larger areas and building a strong involvement aim is to encourage people to make more use of the venison from local people. produced locally. “A lot of the venison produced here is exported through game dealers, and conversely much To date, more than 100 Living Landscapes are already in place, of the venison you see in the supermarket comes from from the Ouse valley in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire and New Zealand,” explains Viv. Northern Ireland’s Belfast Hills to an innovative project that encourages London’s three million gardeners to create mini Deerfest will feature a cooking demonstration from venison nature reserves in their back yards. specialist Nichola Fletcher, and a number of other fun events aimed at people who work with deer, as well as those just Viv Halcrow is the person charged with making things happen visiting the area. “One of the biggest problems is that people in Assynt and Coigach, having been appointed as CALL project have tried venison once and decided it wasn’t for them officer in September 2011. She comes to the role with a because it wasn’t properly prepared,” says Viv. “We want background in ecology and also knows the area well having to show people what you can do when it is cooked well.” lived in the northwest Highlands for more than a decade. Two of her main tasks involve keeping communication lines open between all six partners and the local communities, and working to secure funding to get specific projects off the ground. “The big challenge has been getting to grips with the breadth of the project,” admits Viv. The CALL partners have a long wish-list of projects that includes forestry apprenticeships for local youngsters, events focused on local produce such as seafood and venison, and establishing orchards, berry gardens, hay meadows and new native woodland. The main focus for 2012, however, will be on developing a small number of projects that can be started quickly. > continued PHOTOGRAPH: NIALL BENVIE/2020VISION PHOTOGRAPH: ANDY SUMMERS Isles panorama children nearLochinver; Summer and Quinag;tree plantingwithlocal a successful stalk; views to Suilven Local life (clockwise from top left):

PHOTOGRAPH: PETER CAIRNS/2020VISION

PHOTOGRAPH: IAIN ROY AN INSPIRING PARTNERSHIP The Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape project is a partnership between six landowners, including the John Muir Trust, with plans to recruit more partners as it progresses. M FOXWELL PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

ASSYNT FOUNDATION Established ahead of the community buy-out of the Glencanisp and Drumrunie Estates in June 2005, the Foundation manages land for the benefit of the community as an important part of the protection and sustainable development of Scotland’s natural environment. www.assyntfoundation.org

CULAG COMMUNITY WOODLAND TRUST Formed in 1995, the Trust manages the Culag Wood under a lease from Assynt Estates and Highland Council, and owns Little Assynt Estate which it purchased in 2000. www.culagwoods.org.uk

EISG BRACHAID A privately-owned estate in the west of the project area, owned by a family based in Australia with experience in conservation management. The land is ASSYNT FOUNDATION ASSYNT factored by CKD Galbraith and managed under an agricultural tenancy by a neighbouring landowner. PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: SCOTTISH WILDLIFE TRUST The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a charity LOCAL BUY-IN What is clear is that whatever its grand that owns the wildlife So far, the reaction from the local aims and current momentum, the reserve. It seeks to raise public awareness community has been very positive, says success of the CALL project ultimately of threatened habitats and species and Viv, with several public meetings held depends on it being sold to local people manages more than 120 wildlife reserves to explain all about the project. “A lot in a tangible way. That means providing around Scotland. www.swt.org.uk of the people who came along to the social benefits – more jobs, community TANERA MÒR meetings had been involved in getting stability and attracting more visitors – The largest and only inhabited the Living Landscape set up and remain alongside ecological ones such as wildlife of the Summer Isles, owned by the very enthusiastic, but many of the others corridors and habitat restoration. If this environmentally conscious Wilder had never heard of the project and were happens, there is more likelihood that family, who run holiday cottages, a just coming along to find out more.” additional landowners and communities sailing school, cafe and residential will get involved and the CALL project’s And while there is still work to do in courses on the island. reach within Assynt and Coigach will terms of getting more people involved, www.summer-isles.com she feels that word is definitely getting grow further. around and the aims of the project are hitting home. “I think people are seeing that the project will make a real difference to the area.”

About the author Taking stock: recording data during a Rory Syme is the Trust’s Press and CALL seedling survey (above left); Communications Officer. He can be Suilven from (above right) contacted at [email protected] Inspiring adventures testimonial 19

Gold corporate member Wilderness Scotland is renowned not just for providing memorable adventure travel experiences, but also the emphasis it places on conserving

Wilderness Scotland is an award-winning year. Most recently, staff donated time Set in the context of growth in the adventure travel and ecotourism company in autumn 2011 when they headed to adventure tourism market and travellers based in the heart of the Cairngorms the beautiful, yet vulnerable slopes who are increasingly looking to explore National Park. Throughout all levels of of Schiehallion in Perthshire. There, a connective experience with the places the business, from guides to office staff, the team carried out path and trail they visit, Wilderness Scotland is privileged the company is extremely passionate maintenance on this popular hill – an to partner with the John Muir Trust. about the outdoors and knows the wild experience that helped those involved places of Scotland better than anyone. develop a greater appreciation of the As a founding principle, Wilderness pressures that high walking traffic and Scotland is wholly committed to erosion place on our upland landscape. supporting nature conservation efforts As a core value, Wilderness Scotland is in the wilderness regions in which holidays completely committed to sustainability are offered. The company is pleased that and responsibility. The company’s its Conservation Contribution Scheme mission is to provide inspiring and provides financial support to the John memorable adventure travel experiences Muir Trust. The scheme sees each holiday of the highest calibre and which benefit booked with Wilderness Scotland include the local environments and communities the option of a small voluntary payment in which it works. Wilderness Scotland (£5/person) that contributes to an annual operates a ‘leave no trace’ policy on trips donation made to the John Muir Trust to to ensure that it does not damage these support its invaluable conservation work fragile landscapes. Continuous research and campaigning to protect Scotland’s and implementation of new policies wild places. ensures that it operates to the highest

In addition, Wilderness Scotland also environmental standards – efforts that FARNBANK SCOTLAND/MYLES WILDERNESS supports the John Muir Trust with a have resulted in numerous awards that company-funded financial donation, recognise an innovative approach to plus ten staff volunteering days each sustainable adventure tourism. PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

The John Muir Trust would like to thank the Ben Nevis Distillery and all our Corporate Members and Supporters, as well as those other companies who provide support such as payroll giving schemes

GOLD CORPORATE MEMBERS BRONZE CORPORATE MEMBERS SUPPORTERS Anatom® Alpine Exploratory Aspect Capital Ltd Berghaus Beyond the Glens BP Employee Matching Fund Dandy Collective Charles Taylor Woodwork Corrour Estate Graham Tiso Limited Dewar’s World of Whisky Image Scotland Ltd Highlander (Scotland Ltd) Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival Northern Light Mountain Equipment Four Seasons Hotel, Loch Earn Profitmaster Systems Ltd Wilderness Scotland Kings Manor Hotel, Edinburgh Serco Northshots SILVER CORPORATE MEMBERS RSP Consulting Engineers LLP Ben Nevis Distillery The Watermill, Aberfeldy HF Holidays Walk Wild Scotland Fergus MacFarlane Pharmacy Webducate Radical Travel Group The Ski and Snowboard School

We value the contribution of the growing number of companies that support the Trust through membership, donations, promotional initiatives and in-kind support. If your business would like to help our business of protecting wild land and wild places, please contact Fiona Mackintosh KEITH BRAME on 01796 484 970 or email [email protected] PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: 20 HERITAGE Inspiration and escape on JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL the road to Loch Lomond SPRING 2012

Ring of fire

A potent symbol of freedom and belonging, the Craigallian fire was a beacon of hope for many young Glaswegians looking to escape the urban squalor of the early twentieth century. It also represents an important part of Scotland’s outdoor heritage, discovers Richard Rowe IAIN GRIEVE PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: IAIN GRIEVE IAIN GRIEVE PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

There is something very special about a campfire. It provides The Fellowship’s work did not go unnoticed by the sympathetic warmth, of course, and a means by which to cook or boil water, estate owner who allowed the development of several hutted but the appeal goes far deeper. There is something welcoming, areas for use by ex-servicemen, the unemployed and working nurturing and deeply primal about a campfire, and the ritual of men and their families from around the Clyde basin. The area gathering around it. It’s a place to share stories at the end of a became well-used and at some point – whether by hutters, long day, or just to sit and listen or reflect while watching the walkers or travellers, no one can be sure – the Craigallian fire flames lick and climb into the night sky. was first lit. And there can be no more powerful example of how a simple Whoever struck the first match had chosen the site well: it campfire can bind people together – and stand for something – was sheltered, with plenty of fuel available in the nearby wood, than one that was said to have first been lit in the 1920s and a burn that ran close by and views over the loch. Those first whose flames barely went out for much of the next decade. fire-lighters could not have imagined what they had started. Situated on the west side of Craigallian Loch on the Carbeth Offering warmth, company, lively discussion and no small Estate north of Milngavie, just off what is now the West amount of inspiration, the fire became a staging post, a gateway Highland Way, the Craigallian fire became a meeting place through which so many would pass. Those who sat around it for an assortment of young walkers, climbers, adventurers found an unspoken welcome, an ever-boiling drum of tea, and and wanderers. Most came to sit and talk for a while. Others joined in endless tales of adventure and songs that were sung would sleep by the fire before taking off again at first light long into the night. to continue a life on ‘the road’. OPENING UP THE COUNTRYSIDE SOCIAL UPHEAVAL The fire became a symbol of comradeship, togetherness, a love The fire was very much a product of its time and place, its of the outdoors and its lore, and an education and escape from origins set against the urban deprivation of the 1920s and the the poverty of the city. Perhaps not surprisingly given the social Great Depression years of the 1930s. For many of the industrial unrest of the time, its flames were fanned by something of a working class in Glasgow and Clydebank, this was a time of revolutionary air. The talk was not just of the outdoors, but widespread unemployment, terrible poverty and appalling also of social topics, philosophy and changing ‘the system’. living conditions. No surprise then that this period saw a While many of the older fire-sitters simply provided inspiration growing interest in walking, climbing and enjoyment of the for the younger generation, some became pioneers in the outdoors – all means to escape the hardships of urban life. movement to open up Scotland’s countryside for the benefit With hills and wild countryside less than 20 miles from Glasgow of all. One such man was Robert (Bob) Grieve, a ‘weekender’ city centre, the possibilities must have seemed endless and from Maryhill, who become a civil engineer then a prominent intoxicating. For those who could afford the fare, it was a one- town planner and Chair of Town & Regional Planning at penny tram ride from the centre of Glasgow almost as far as Glasgow University before being appointed the first Chairman leafy Milngavie. Craigallian Loch lay just two miles further of the Highlands and Islands Development Board in 1965. In north and beyond that the Campsie Fells, Loch Lomond addition to various public honours, including a knighthood, and the wild lands of the north. he served as President of the Scottish Mountaineering Club It was around this time that the socialist-inspired Clarion and Mountaineering Council, the Scottish Countryside and Holiday Fellowship established a camp on the Carbeth Estate, Rangers Association, and the Scottish Rights of Way Society. close to what would become the fire site. Developed to spread “I was very aware of the fire when growing up,” recalls one socialist ideals while giving the working class a chance to of his two sons, Willie Grieve. “It was a feature of my father’s experience fresh air rather than city grime, the Fellowship’s conversations about the outdoors. For him, growing up in presence in the area grew to include a series of tented campsites. Glasgow in relatively poor circumstances, the fire was a great At nearby Craigallian Bridge, there was also said to have been discovery. His uncle used to take him out on walks to the a traveller’s camp. Campsie Fells and that, and the discovery of the fire, really represented freedom to him.” Part of the fire’s appeal was the chance to meet with like- minded people, and it was in its warming embrace that famous mountaineering clubs such as the Creagh Dhu, Lomond and Ptarmigan were born. Many an adolescent schoolboy would listen to the ‘old timers’, who would sit closest to the fire telling Gone but not forgotten (clockwise from opposite): passing the fire fantastical tales about their adventures further north. The lines site on the West Highland Way; between truth and fiction were often blurred in the telling, a fire ‘reunion’ held as part of but that only added to the mystique and appeal. a photoshoot for the Herald in December 2011; the fire site from the east side of Craigallian Loch > continued IAIN GRIEVE IAIN GRIEVE PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

As Willie explains, the conversations “Established some time earlier, the fire Gateway to adventure: walkers on the were often radical and quite political, had become a magnet for all the outdoor West Highland Way with the fire site copse and Drumgoyne ahead (left); although given the context of the time it types escaping from the smoke and In 2008, the ‘Friends’ were put in touch would have been unusual had they not grime of the Clyde basin. Already it with Tom McGuinness (one of the later been. “It was the time of the Left Book had a mystique, a glow which drew fire-sitters) who, with Jack Williamson, Club, of Jack London and other radical the cauldrife into community, and the led a group to the site. Pictured are (from writers. That was the culture they grew other fires that were soon to glow in the left to right) Jack Williamson (back), Tom McGuinness, Willie Grieve, David Graham up in. One time, our father spoke about woods and howffs of the Highlands were and Iain Grieve two canoes built by the Creagh Dhu which projections of this parent; shrines of the were left at Balmaha boatyard for the free heat-worshippers.” use of everyone. The canoes, I think, were It is almost certain that none of the There is great momentum behind called May Day and Revolution – names original fire-sitters are alive today, for the move, not least from the current that were very much in keeping with they would have to be aged at least 95, landowner who has set aside a patch their radical politics.” but there are recollections to be enjoyed of woodland and also made a generous Another vivid recollection was of men by others who sat around the fire when contribution towards the sculpture itself. returning home from the Spanish Civil very young. Willie Grieve recently The John Muir Trust, too, has made a War, some still with their weapons which received a letter from one lady, now 87, donation. Once in place later this year, they used to kill deer on the slopes of who retains strong memories of nights the sculpture will serve as a fitting tribute to feed their families in by the fire – times that greatly influenced to those early pioneers whose spirit Clydebank. This was typical of what her own love of the outdoors. “I was only lives on in all those who love the went on, says Willie. “There were seven when I used to sit with my family outdoors today. amazing stories of men back from and my mother and father, a billy can on fighting Franco, hunting deer, irate the boil and my parents enjoying some landowners and running battles with very interesting conversations,” she local gamekeepers. Whether true or not, wrote. “This lore of the outdoors was I don’t know, but I’d like to think so.” the opening up of the great outdoors to Another famous ‘son’ of the fire was us and because of this I am still grateful Jock Nimlin, a renowned climber of the to my parents.” day. A hammerhead-crane driver in the MEMORIAL PLANNING Clyde shipyards for 30 years, he went on The story of the fire and the tales that to become the first Field Officer for the were told represent an important part National Trust for Scotland and set in of our outdoor heritage – one that could train what would become the present- so easily be lost forever with the passing day ranger system. of time. It is this fear that has prompted Reminiscing in an article, May the Willie, his brother Iain and David Fire Be Always Lit, that appeared in the Campbell, who owns an Edinburgh Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal company that designs and installs in 1963, Jock wrote: “The fire and the interpretive exhibits for museums and people who were drawn into its glow cultural heritage sites, to come together could provide a long tale. The setting, to form ‘The Friends of the Craigallian the wooded hollow with its ranks of Fire’. The Friends plan to commemorate varied trees reflecting the changing the legacy of those pioneering fire-sitters Further info colours of the year on the sheltered and weekenders, who contributed so For many more fire stories and information about the memorial project, including donating, visit loch and the double echo, sensitive to much to our own ability to enjoy www.craigallianfire.org.uk the lightest bird call, epitomised the unlimited access to the countryside, About the author wonder of the wide Scottish landscapes by marking the site of the fire with an Richard Rowe is editor of the John Muir Trust beyond the treetops. interpretive memorial. Journal. He can be contacted at [email protected] Sgor Gaoith, Cairngorm (photo: Anne Pinney)

... the UK’s largest and most active ski touring and ski mountaineering club offers a range of tours every year, as well as training courses and social activities. www.eagleskiclub.org.uk 4th British Ski-Mountaineering Symposium Join us on 10 –11 December 2011 in Snowdonia for a weekend of expert speakers, mountain skills sessions and equipment sales, with guest speaker Stephen Venables. www.skisymposium.co.uk Eagles ski tour in Scotland Membership Secretary, Eagle Ski Club, www.eagleskiclub.org.uk 5 Fitzgerald Road, London SW14 8HA 24 AWARD A profile of a truly JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL inspirational figure SPRING 2012

Against all odds Julie McElroy has refused to let disability get in the way of

MYLES FARNBANK adventure and impresses Rory Syme with her commitment to experiencing all that the outdoors has to offer PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

Julie McElroy’s love for the outdoors Julie’s award is not just exceptional started when she was ten years old. because of her personal circumstances: Born with cerebral palsy which limits of the 130,000 Awards that have been her mobility, she is also profoundly achieved since 1997, just two per cent deaf. Growing up with an able-bodied have been at Conserver level. twin sister and friends, Julie felt singled out. She wanted to take part in outdoor INSPIRATIONS AND INFLUENCES activities like hill walking but it seemed In 2008, Julie was one of ten young people virtually impossible. selected for a four-week expedition in South America led by ex-SAS commando But when her Dad gave her the Ken Hames – a challenging and emotional opportunity to climb Ben Lomond, journey captured in the television series Julie struggled her way to the summit Beyond Boundaries: Across the Andes with characteristic determination. “I did that aired on BBC2 the same year. everything possible, from walking and crawling to even moving on my bottom,” Julie says that Ken was the first of two she recalls. “It was tough getting to the major influences that led her to undertake top, but also amazing fun and I was the John Muir Award. “He always put ecstatic. I guess that’s when my buzz pressure on me, asking ‘what are you for the outdoors first began.” going to do next?’ He wanted me to take on outdoor leadership. I promised Ken And there has been no stopping her I would spend more time in the outdoors since. In November 2011, Julie achieved after I had finished studying, so he her John Muir Conserver Award having was the first person behind my completed an impressive array of John Muir Award.” challenges over two years, including joining the Loch Lomond Mountain The second person was Bill Kidd, Julie’s Rescue Team on manoeuvres, paddling MSP, who sent her a report by the Glasgow Grit and determination (left to right the length of Loch Shiel, scaling , Centre for Population Health looking from top): Julie paddling on Loch trekking in the Himalayas and leading at the health impacts of the John Muir Shiel; taking a breather; Julie with fellow members of the Sirius Award a group of disabled people in outdoor Award. “Bill Kidd opened the door to paddling group activities on the Isle of Arran. the John Muir Trust for me,” she explains. ABOUT JULIE’S AWARD Julie McElroy received her John Muir Conserver Award (below) from presenter and broadcaster Dougie Vipond at the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park headquarters in Balloch. These are some of the messages of congratulations she received: “By getting involved in the John Muir Award, Julie McElroy has set an example for us all. Not only has she refused to see her disability as a barrier to experiencing and caring for wild places, but she has actively encouraged others to do the same … I’m pleased that Julie’s John Muir Conserver Award helps recognise and celebrate her own spirit of adventure and challenge.” John Hutchison, chairman, John Muir Trust “[Julie’s] outstanding achievements and leadership are inspiring not only for disabled people but for all society… I look forward to hearing more about what [she] takes on in the future,

MYLES FARNBANK especially in manifesting opportunities to improve the lives of disabled children and adults, and demonstrating what can be achieved with the drive and PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: determination to succeed.” Stewart Stevenson MSP, Scottish minister for environment and “I thought what was really missing from people when it comes to enjoying the climate change that report was disability, and how the outdoors. As part of that commitment, outdoors impacts on people like myself. she has worked with both Forestry “Adventure is important, it challenges I guess that really got the ball rolling Commission Scotland and the National and stimulates us, and it can lead us to for what I wanted to achieve with my Trust for Scotland to develop the wonderful wild places we perhaps wouldn’t Conserver Award. I really wanted to aim ‘Wilderness Weekend’, a project designed normally visit. Julie’s achievements are high, make some noise, and hopefully to encourage more people with disabilities a reminder to us all that experiencing inspire people in the process.” to access woodlands and green space. adventure and challenge in Scotland, and further afield, should be open to all, The first weekend, held on the Isle of PADDLE JOURNEY regardless of age, ability or background.” It would be hard to cover everything Arran, saw six disabled people take part Dougie Vipond, presenter and that was incorporated in Julie’s Award, in outdoor activities including arts and broadcaster but she says a paddle journey down Loch crafts and woodland walks. They also Shiel on the west coast of Scotland was learned basic survival skills such as a particularly life-changing experience. lighting fires from sparks. Julie was taking part in the Wilderness “I want to unleash opportunities where Foundation’s Sirius Award – a scholarship disabled people can climb a mountain, for future environmental leaders. The get involved in taking responsibility programme aims, amongst other things, for the natural environment and, most to encourage personal growth through importantly, enjoy the fun and adventure reflection and challenge and to provide of exploring the wild,” says Julie. an opportunity to explore radical and new “There are many more opportunities to thinking with other like-minded people. raise awareness and inspire those with It was an immense challenge, says Julie. disabilities to get into Scotland’s great “Five days paddling down the loch was outdoors to come. My experience has really tough. There were times where had a considerable impact on me as a I struggled, but everyone in the group person and I’ve seen a wide range of had their own personal difficulties. physical, intellectual and emotional Sometimes I just wanted to jump in effects. I will continue to draw on these the water and say ‘I can’t do it’.” as I strive to achieve equality for all.” The camaraderie formed within the Achieving her Conserver Award seems group, inspirational words from guide like more of a beginning than an end Myles Farnbank, plus an improvised for Julie. If there’s one thing for certain, seat made from a fold-up camping chair, there’s more to come. got her through it and gave her higher aspirations. “The programme was a great start and really opened my eyes to what I could achieve on my wilderness leadership journey,” she says. One of Julie’s main passions lies in About the author Rory Syme is the Trust’s Press and ensuring that other disabled people have Communications Officer. He can be the same opportunities as able-bodied contacted at [email protected] PHOTOGRAPH: ROSIE WATSON 26 Commission purchased thevalley and of protest inthe1920swhenForestry 1992, amuch talked olderfamily friend When Icame tolive inthevalley in passed meby. horseshoe over that twice timeprobably I metontheway whowaswalking the greater beinghad experience by afriend gave itasenseofscale, althoughthe tiredness aftersevenhoursofexertion itwasaroutefell runner tobeticked. My round Ennerdale’s skyline. For ayoung It must have been1987whenIfirstran and fieldcentre. continue today through thelocal school ago, familyconnectionsthat andwith worked inthevalley adecade orso a placeIknow well,having livedand to ayouthhostelandfieldcentre. It’s work vehiclesandvisitors permitted footorbyis on bike, exceptforsome no tarmacroad andtheonlyaccess in thecentral fells. It isavalley with edge ofthemountains toGreat Gable eponymous lake footonthewestern stretches 10milesorsofrom its NationalLake District Park, Ennerdale Lying westernedgeofthe onthenorth REGENERATION spent herchildhood. it asthe“bestplacepossible” tohave floor andmy daughter oncedescribed tobehadof wildness evenonthevalley felt remote There andwild. wasplenty The highcoves were littlefrequented, cliffs, arctic char andancient woodland. heather, rough hillsides, spectacular revealed magnificent coves wild ofdeep However, exploration further soon ofsitkaspruce, devoidofviews.corridor were firstexperiences ofalong,dark own having beendestroyed’. my Certainly, forgive, charmofthevalley theformer knewEnnerdale ofoldcan ever who of foreign trees, anintrusionthat nobody wrote of‘… adark andfunereal shroud began planting. In 1965,Wainwright wild landrestorationwild projects intheUK valleyLake that District is hometooneofthelongestrunning Graham Watson Ennerdale reborn a tranquil valley Lake District How isreturning wildness to physical boundaries. would inturnenable theremoval of remove that thepolitical boundaries as oneentityasingleplan andto with it wouldbeforthevalleyto managed Jeremy Barlow, whotalked ofhow great the thennewNational Warden, Trust the mostremote ofLakeland crags, with In May 2000,Iclimbed onPillarRock, EARLY PLANNING offers apersonal reflection onEnnerdale –a seemed slow at first, seven years on and, althoughthe paceofprogress By 2005,aStewardship Planwasinplace didn’t like theidea ofchange at all. it andsaw opportunities, whileothers someembracedbusinesses? Certainly, practice, our difficultyinrunning access, achange from current farming vehicle would itmeanforus?Restrictive sceptical. Questions were asked. What Initially, somelocal residents were human intervention. as anear-natural area minimum with diverse androbust ecosystemfunctioning In sodoing,theaspiration isforamore working thenatural with processes. it at alower and levelofintervention, about abandoning thevalleybutmanaging points outtoday, Wild Ennerdale isnot landscape andecology. Asthepartnership more onnatural processes toshape its valley forthebenefitofall,relyingwild of avisiontoseeEnnerdale evolveasa and United Utilities –onethat wasborn the National Trust,Forestry Commission betweenthethreeformed landowners – Ennerdale. But, was in2003,apartnership At thetimeIknewnothingofWild SPRING 2012 JOHN MUIRTRUSTJOURNAL GRAHAM WATSON ROSIE WATSON PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: GRAHAM WATSON PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH:

Return to the wild (clockwise from opposite) a lone walker in Ennerdale; the valley in winter; the author ROSIE WATSON planting oak saplings; views across the lake PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: the changes are remarkable in many valley with at least one involved with the ways. The harvesting of sitka spruce has John Muir Award on a long-term project. opened up the views, while regeneration of broadleaves has been assisted by MEMBERS’ GATHERING strategic planting as a seed source. In June 2011, Ennerdale was the scene Where possible, fences and boundaries of one of the John Muir Trust Members’ have been removed, while forestry tracks Gathering visits. We were lucky to be have been decommissioned and are joined by Simon Webb from Natural now growing back into the hillsides. England, Gareth Browning from the Forestry Commission as well as Admiral Three small herds of resident Galloway Sir John Kerr, a former Deputy Chair cattle are also busy breaking up the of the Lake District National Park, ground to aid natural regeneration, and and enjoyed an informative day. sheep numbers have been reduced. The valley feels a wilder and more natural Members had clearly been inspired place. Water quality in the lake has – “a very progressive project full of imagination”, commented one when improved, the once dwindling population Further info of arctic char appears to be recovering asked for feedback – and many thought Ennerdale is one of the few Lakeland valleys and salmon are once again spawning in there was good learning for the Trust with no public road and very few inhabitants. tributaries not visited for many years. in terms of community involvement, Today, the land is owned by just two parties: management of a formerly heavily- the Forestry Commission, with a large amount In another positive sign, the local leased to the National Trust, and United Utilities. community has become heavily engaged, forested valley and partnership working. In the valley itself, residents are mainly youth hostel and field centre wardens and so tend with a thriving volunteer workforce, The stewardship plan is currently to be fairly transient, while the main parish regular meetings and public events, plus under review and it will be interesting population lives to the west of the valley close interaction through the village school to see what the partners themselves where it exits onto the coastal lowlands. and an involvement with the local pub have learned from their first seven www.wildennerdale.co.uk and planning for a community hub. And years. I think Wainwright would be About the author Graham Watson is the John Muir Award Regional it’s not just Ennerdale school – three other most encouraged by the changes Manager for Cumbria. He can be contacted at local schools make regular use of the now taking place. [email protected] 28 CONSERVATION A Patagonian adventure full JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL of parallels with back home SPRING 2012

Paving the way

The Trust’s Sarah Lewis recently swapped her usual beat in Glen Nevis for a stint in southern Chile helping with plans to create the future Patagonia National Park – billed as the ‘Yellowstone of South America’. As Sarah details here, it was an experience of a lifetime

For anyone who finds pleasure in the The park’s plentiful natural resources, preferred habitats, so encouraging harshness and remoteness of wild places, including the Baker, Chile’s longest river, natural management of the ecosystem. then I would challenge you not to fall in have long proved attractive for exploitation We used old mountain gaucho camps love with the extreme beauty of Chilean – as became apparent during my first as bases, as they were often in the best Patagonia – my home for six weeks in night in Coyhaique, capital of the Aysen locations, with the cleanest running water autumn 2011. region in which the park is situated. That and shelter from the constant winds. The seeds of the adventure were sown night saw a Conservación Patagonica- We would often watch as different when I read an article in Issue 48 of the backed protest outside the government weather fronts chased their way across Journal detailing how Conservación offices as part of a coalition campaign the landscape, sometimes only minutes Patagonica, a California-based for ‘Patagonia Chilena ¡sin represas!’ apart; it was a little like Scotland, albeit conservation body, was working to (Chilean Patagonia without Dams). on a far grander scale and with winds establish a future national park for It was a response to plans by a multi- that were frequently ferocious. It was Patagonia in southern Chile. With its national conglomerate to create large- nature at its most raw and invigorating. borders now established, the park is scale dams in the area, complete with I loved it. opening in stages, with an eco-lodge, a line of transmission pylons that would range over a distance of some 1,200 miles. The bulk of our time was spent in the campground and a variety of trails transition zone of deciduous southern If the plan goes ahead, the transmission already available for visitors, but beech forests, where native lenga beech, lines will pass through large areas of the wider habitat restoration and often covered in drooping old man’s untouched and ecologically-sensitive infrastructure development will likely beard lichen and an interesting parasite wild land, principally that of the Rio continue for several years yet. Once called Darwin’s bread mistletoe, blend Baker valley which reaches its confluence complete, the Patagonia National Park with forest-edge scrubland and areas with the Chacabuco at the border of will comprise around 750,000 hectares – of bog full of sphagnum mosses. roughly the same size as Yosemite the park. In Patagonia, it is said that spring National Park in the US. We had been greeted warmly by the starts a month late and so by the end campaign group – many the close One way to help, mentioned the article, of October (halfway through my trip) acquaintances of staff with whom I was to volunteer. My imagination had the vivid colours of the season were would be working – with a firm hug been fired. I wanted to get involved. starting to show. Forest edge plant and a single kiss to the cheek. The Visiting the land of the gauchos, maybe communities included an array of vigour with which these people defended I’d even release my inner cowgirl? calafate, anemone, yellow orchid and nature provided an early insight into dog orchid, while butterflies such as SCALE OF THE TASK the type of character I was going to be the Chilean satyr and fritillaries were At the centre of the national park is working with over the coming weeks. Chacabuco Valley. It is one of the few everywhere. Legend decrees that if you east-west valleys in the region and marks BUSINESS AND PLEASURE eat the berries of the (savagely prickly) a vast, ecologically-rich transition zone It quickly became clear just what a calafate bush, you will return to Patagonia between the semi-arid steppe (grassland) bountiful time of year it was to be in this one day… we consumed them in every that extends eastwards into Argentina part of the world. With most mornings conceivable way and didn’t scrimp on where the Andes block the brutal westerly well below zero, the days often started the seasonal delight of morel mushrooms winds, and swathes of southern beech- and ended with the intoxicating smell for dinner either. dominated forest to the much of wood smoke in the air, but spring I found the birdlife particularly striking wetter west. was nonetheless on its way, with buds with various species of humming bird, Much of the area was previously used appearing on trees and shoots peeping small parrots, flamingoes, Andean as a working ‘estancia’ which saw sheep through the ground. Muir would have condors, the spectacularly large black- and cattle introduced to the grasslands. revelled in the vastness of nature here chested buzzard eagle and forest-dwelling As a result, heavy grazing and more and the solitude. megallinic woodpeckers all on show. than a century of poorly-managed, I was part of a dozen-strong team of Meanwhile, the extremely cheeky austral short-sighted land use have taken their volunteers whose work mainly involved negrito, an inquisitive red-caped little toll. Today, one area of the park retains the removal of hundreds of kilometres of bird, was a constant companion on sheep farming as a sustainable food old fence line that ran from the flatlands many a road trip. resource for those living within the park high up into the hills to contain grazing as well as visitors. Gauchos can still be cattle. Removing the fences would seen riding out on night watches with allow guanacos (a relative of the lama), Pyrenean sheep dogs to help guard pumas and the endangered huemules their flocks from hungry pumas. (Patagonian deer) to range over their > continued gaucho style Patagonian deer;volunteers living work; theendangered huemule, or top): Sarah inactionduringfence Repairing paradise (clockwise from

PHOTOGRAPHY: SARAH LEWIS Some of our work involved back-breaking SUSTAINABLE FUTURE from a local store. The driver who picked days spent in Valle de vacas – valley of Staff and volunteers are working hard to us up, a young engineer, was no friend of the cows – spending hours with our hoes create an energy-independent national the project and informed us of his belief ridding the flats of invasive plant species park. While I was there, volunteers were that most of the endangered species had such as sheep’s ear and dandelion. We’d installing a new energy monitoring system been imported to support the project’s finish the day sharing a quenching gourd to help the park run entirely from local, cause and that huemules and pumas of ‘mate’ – a drink made from the bitter, small-scale sources of renewable energy. had never existed there in the first place. caffeinated leaves of the native yerbe In addition to constructing buildings that His feeling – put forcefully and translated mate. Although not to everyone’s taste, benefit from advanced insulation, solar by my companion – was that the project it is gaucho tradition to share, so we panels and a micro-hydro station, the was dressing itself up as a conservation continued this practice within our long-term plan is to utilise wind power initiative and that (unspecified) dark own small tribe. and store it through a hydrogen system forces were behind it. that in time will provide power for both I was keen (some might say pushy) It was a striking example of some of the buildings and vehicles. to take to horseback and help track local opposition to the project. The land huemules with a local gaucho who has There appears to be a huge amount is no longer capable of providing for the committed his life to safeguarding the of interest in the project, not least from cattle industry and its workers, but as species and their habitat. For four days overseas. During my stay alone, we can be the case the world over, some and three nights, I followed and learnt were joined by Japanese businessmen, in the local community fear change. from this non-English speaking devotee. a writer from Cumbria and a former Little wonder then that those behind the The majority of the remaining deer Secretary of State under Bill Clinton. park want to be as transparent as possible that live within the park are collared Some, like me, came to volunteer their about their aims. School groups from and tracked daily to monitor their time, while others were looking to offer the local area come to learn more about development and better understand financial support and promote what the project, while construction is well they consider to be a hugely meaningful the reasons behind their decline. underway on the Aysen Natural History undertaking. Although endangered, huemules do and Education Centre, which will be a not yet see humans as a threat and But not everyone is behind it, as was central component of the park facilities. so one day I was able to sit for over made clear when, on a day off, I hitched Educating local schoolchildren and an hour while a female grazed in to a nearby town with another Latin engaging neighbouring communities the sun just a couple of feet away. American volunteer to collect supplies will, it is hoped, build a foundation of support that will enable the park to Flavours of Patagonia: the River flourish long into the future. Ultimately, Baker, Chile’s longest (left); native the goal is to donate a fully functional fire tongue (below) new park to the Chilean state – one with healthy ecosystems, thriving wildlife and excellent visitor facilities. Establishing a new national park from

SARAH LEWIS scratch is a massive challenge and it was a pleasure to play a small part in the development of what will hopefully be seen as a major conservation success

PHOTOGRAPHY: PHOTOGRAPHY: story. The specialised knowledge of those behind it and the enthusiasm of volunteers have given the project the kind of momentum needed to overcome its many challenges and ultimately succeed.

Further info For much more on the creation of the Patagonia National Park, visit www.conservacionpatagonica.org About the author Sarah Lewis is the Trust’s Nevis Conservation Officer. She can be contacted at [email protected] let your legacy allow the wild land and wild places you love to flourish, forever.

forever wild

time for reflection please consider including a gift in your will to the john muir trust. for more information visit our website or contact adam pinder for a legacy information pack. www.jmt.org/legacy [email protected] / 0131 554 0114 KEITH BRAME lochan dubha in the heart of the cuillin, , cared for by the john muir trust. PHOTOGRAPH: PHOTOGRAPH: 32 CLASSIC TEXTS A formidable text that JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL continues to grow with age SPRING 2012

water-bugs detectable a quarter-mile off; or the different layers of ice as the pond freezes in winter. And he then slides effortlessly into abstract thought: “Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature... Let us settle ourselves, and work... through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, ... through poetry and philosophy and religion, till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality.” His friends, including Emerson, criticised him for not being more engaged with society. But, as Thoreau was very aware, Walden: or Life in the his thoughts would bear fruit in their own time. His life in the hut he built Woods, Henry David near Walden Pond was interrupted Thoreau by a night in jail, for refusing to pay taxes that implicitly supported slavery. Denis Mollison is enchanted This episode led to his essay Civil all over again by the simplicity Disobedience, later to inspire Tolstoy, of life presented in this classic Gandhi and Martin Luther King. of American literature He never travelled far, preferring close observation of the world at hand, and to travel in his mind: “There are continents and seas in the moral world, to which “Say what you have to say, not what you

every man is an isthmus or an inlet, yet DENIS MOLLISON ought.” That is why Thoreau took so long unexplored by him, but that it is easier to be understood, but it is also why his to sail many thousand miles... than it is work just grows as time passes. Walden to explore the private sea, the Atlantic is the account of a two-year experiment and Pacific Ocean of one’s being alone.” PHOTOGRAPH: of living in nature in 1845–7: “I went to the woods because I wished to live But his writings, especially Walden and deliberately, to front only the essential the essay Walking that was one of John facts of life, and see if I could not learn Muir’s favourites, set the stage for wild what it had to teach, and not, when I came land conservation. What the wild means to die, discover that I had not lived.” to us has not been better described than in the passage used as preface to the The narrative is tied loosely to the John Muir Trust’s first Management changes of nature through the seasons, Plan in 1987: interspersed with long digressions on how men live and ought to live. In this, “Our village life would stagnate if it he was following transcendentalism, were not for the unexplored forests a movement founded by his mentor and meadows which surround it. We Emerson, that believed that humans need the tonic of wildness – to wade are inherently good, and live as part sometimes in marshes where the bittern of nature. To this Thoreau added and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the a conviction that reform of society booming of the snipe... At the same time could only come through reform of that we are earnest to explore and learn the individual. all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land He begins with a plea to simplify: we and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed waste our lives acquiring things that and unfathomed by us because stand in the way of real happiness. unfathomable. We can never have He reckoned that six weeks’ labouring enough of Nature.” could earn him enough to live for a year, giving time to live as he wished: to enjoy Book details nature and to think. Walden is as widely available as it His descriptions of nature are wonderfully should be: free from Project Gutenberg rounded, including precise observations, (www.gutenberg.org) or for not much ecology, history, and his own and other more, as Walden and other writings, people’s responses to nature, whether with an excellent introduction by Joseph describing the whip-poor-wills singing Wood Krutch (paperback or e-book). Amazon is your best bet. The reviewer at a fixed time before sunset; the surface Denis Mollison is one of the founders of the pond on a calm day, with the of the Trust and a current Trustee. From outdoor skills to the BOOKS 33 fabled Great Wood of Caledon

The Great Wood, Jim Crumley There are Other Rivers, Alastair Skimming Stones and other ways Reviewed by Lester Standen Humphreys. Mappazine edition of being in the wild, Rob Cowen Reviewed by Graham Watson and Leo Critchley In 5,000 years time, will future Brazilians Reviewed by Richard Rowe occasionally refer to the great wood of Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer, Amazonia of myth and legend? Will they blogger, author, motivational speaker, This is a book for anyone who debate whether or not it really existed film maker and photographer. More than remembers a childhood full of endless and whether or not their country could anything he’s a ‘Go and Do It’ person summer holidays spent outside building actually be anything other than a desert? hoping to encourage others and in this dens, damming rivers and climbing It seems to me that this is the same mappazine he’s typically stepped out trees, only returning home when hunger context in which Jim Crumley is grappling of the mould with something different. (or parents) called. It is probably also for people who wish they could still do with the concept of the Great Wood of Subtitled On foot in India this is the such things – and a reminder of why they Caledon – the historic native forest of story of a journey across India following should – even when they are supposed Scotland that once covered large tracts the course of a holy river. And, perhaps to be ‘too old for that kind of thing’. of the country. as befits a journey, it is produced in map His book begins with a visit to the style. That is to say, a folded sheet rather With a blend of story-telling, informative ancient Fortingall yew that is possibly than a book full of chapters. Actually ‘how to’ sections on anything from tracking 5,000 years old and may well have stood There are Other Rivers exists in several animals and making a kite to that ultimate within the Great Wood. He finds it in a formats but the idea of a mappazine outdoor skill, lighting a fire, and accounts churchyard all alone, languishing behind appeals to me and perhaps to you too of how their own experiences of such bars and bereft of the forest that once if, like mine, your maps have as much pleasures help them reconnect with surrounded it. He begins to imagine the prominence on your shelves as books. the wildness that is all around, it is hard not to be carried along by the authors’ tree in its un-walled stance on a south- As with a map, you can unfold it fully exuberance. They are also skilled artists, facing slope before the church-builders and look at the big picture, taking in the with simple line drawings accompanying set to. Searching for that forest, he images of landscapes, people, events and the pages. journeys through the tattered remains curiosities (but curiously no actual map). of Highland woods and gradually paints Or you can dip in and read Alastair’s From an opening chapter that explores a picture of that woodland today. thoughts on travelling presented as short the (for some) lost art of stone skimming Asking what that Great Wood was like, sections on each fold. He writes of freedom to a final chapter on the invigorating he applies what he sees during quiet and being alone, quest and adventure, and effects of a simple walk in the wild, the observation and interweaves this picture about his own philosophy of exploring pages within offer a reminder that, like with visions of how the landscape and rather than the journey itself. all animals, humans are hardwired to have a connection with the natural world its flora and fauna may have appeared He’s not concerned with a chronological – sadly one that is so often stretched in the past. description of the whole journey – instead, to breaking point by our fast-paced, it tells the story of the whole walk through Highland woodland reached a nadir urban-centred existence. during the 20th century, but has an account of a single day. There are many increased in extent in the recent past, interesting illustrations around the text In its introduction, the authors invite with commercial plantations and new but I would have liked both a map of the us to dip in and out, picking chapters native woodlands adding to the picture. journey and some captions for the photos depending on time and mood. And that’s Time spent in woodland observing and to give reference points to the author’s exactly what I did. It’s a lovely way to thinking becomes a basis for the author’s stories. Read the words straight through enjoy this mellow, thoughtful book. advocacy of a newer picture, an optimistic and you’ll be done in an hour, but I am Coronet, 2012. £12.99 vision for the future of the Great Wood, enjoying this mappazine greatly, just www.hodder.co.uk unfolding it now and again to catch a whatever it was in the past. ISBN 978 1 444 73598 7 snippet. Birlinn, 2012, £9.99 www.birlinn.co.uk 100 photographs, 9,400 words. £5.00 + p&p www.alastairhumphreys.com/books/ ISBN 978 1 84158 973 2 thereareotherrivers 34 PROPERTIES A glimpse at some of JOHN MUIR TRUST JOURNAL the fascinating wildlife SPRING 2012 found on Trust land

Ring ouzel, Quinag

John Muir Trust biodiversity officer Liz Auty looks at the ring ouzel – an upland blackbird found at Quinag and other properties

The ring ouzel is the normally shy, white-chested blackbird of the scree slopes. It prefers a grass and heather mosaic for feeding, with small crags and taller heather for nesting. Like its garden-dwelling cousin, the bird also likes a good supply of berries in late summer. In Britain, the birds are associated with upland areas and we are lucky to have several on Quinag where they can sometimes be seen – or more commonly heard – in the upper corries and rocky places.

Ring ouzels spend the winter in Southern Spain and North KEITH BRAME Africa, before returning to Northern Europe to breed. In Britain, the population has declined since the beginning of the 20th century; between 1970 and 1990 its range has reduced by 27%. A national survey, carried out in 1999, showed that the decline PHOTOGRAPH: has continued. Although a loss of winter habitat may be a factor, the populations in continental Europe are thought to be stable, so the losses in Britain seem to relate more to their breeding habitat.

WHEN ARE THEY AT QUINAG? Ring ouzels usually arrive at their breeding grounds in late March or early April and migrate south again at the end of September. The breeding season is from April to July, with FRAN LOCKHART the birds often rearing two broods during that time. Nests are usually located among heather or in crevices in the rocks.

The young are fed on invertebrates such as earthworms, PHOTOGRAPH: leatherjackets and beetles.

HOW DO I KNOW IT’S NOT JUST A BLACKBIRD? WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? They do look similar, but ring ouzels have a white chest band The ring ouzel is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan species, which (in a crescent shape) and are easily identified by a distinctive is also on the Scottish Biodiversity list, and its conservation status chack chack call and a ‘fluty’ song. It’s true that they can be is red-listed due to its steep decline in range and numbers. It is confused with leucistic blackbirds – those with white patches also listed in the Sutherland Local Biodiversity Action Plan. or mottled feathers – although they are more commonly associated with low ground. Ring ouzels also lack the distinctive WHERE CAN I SEE THEM? yellow bill and eye of the blackbird. The male is black and the Ring ouzels are found at Quinag (which you can visit on our female dark brown, but both sport the white chest band. Wild Day on 14 September) and have also been recorded recently at Li and Coire Dhorrcail, Nevis and Skye, and historically at In 2010, Fran Lockhart, the Trust’s property manager at East Schiehallion. Quinag, had a close encounter with a male bird while carrying out habitat monitoring at Quinag and was able to take several photos of this timid bird. “I had only ever seen ring ouzels at a distance before,” she recalls. “This one was so engrossed in searching for insects amongst the short-cropped grass and boulders it seemed unaware of our presence. It was one of those magical wildlife moments and we were privileged to watch this bold bird just going about its business for several minutes.”

Wild land, wild life: Further info Quinag from Little To hear the song of the ring ouzel, visit Assynt (top); ring www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/ ouzel on the hunt for ringouzel/index.aspx insects (below) About the author Liz Auty is the Trust’s biodiversity officer. The Trust would be very interested to hear from members who spot ring ouzels on any of its properties. Please contact Liz at [email protected] with a date and location. A slice of John Muir Trust life SNAPSHOT

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1 The Coombe family from Cumbria sent in this photo from a camping holiday at Sandwood Bay. Imber the dog, Sebastian, Tricia and Edward had a fabulous time 2 Our friends at John Muir’s Birthplace celebrated their 100,000th visitor when a class of children from East Linton Primary came for a tour as 8 part of their John Muir Award 3 A lone holly bush, photographed by Fran Lockhart, Trust property manager, hangs on in sight of Quinag in Assynt despite years of relentless grazing that has removed the woodland in which it should be thriving 4 Trust conservation officer Lewis Pate found this perfectly split hazel shell in Nevis Gorge, a possible sign of the first red squirrel in the gorge 5 The forthcoming MunrOverground map offers a new perspective on 7 9 Scotland’s wild places. The John Muir Trust will receive a donation from every map sold. Look out for details at www.tubularfells.com 6 Don O’ Driscoll, Trust conservation officer, found the remains of a Leatherback Turtle washed up on a beach close to Sandwood. Leatherbacks are believed to tail their jellyfish prey along the gulfstream to the UK 7 Nearly 400 primary school children from across Lochaber entered the John Muir Trust’s Wild Poetry Competition, submitting a fantastic selection of poems in English and Gaelic 8 Trust contractor, Drew Love-Jones, captured this golden eagle on candid camera on the Isle of Skye with a remote camera trap 10 9 Sarah Lewis, Trust conservation officer, caught this fox looking for a midnight snack in Glen Nevis 10 The John Muir Award team have been indulging in simple pleasures in the outdoors. Here they are enjoying a 360 degree panorama from the top of Catbells in the Lake District 11 The People’s Postcode Lottery awarded the Trust £50,000 for its new visitor centre project in Pitlochry. The Trust’s Kate Barclay, Susan Wright, Stuart Brooks and Trustee David MacLehose accepted the cheque from Jo Bucci and Annemiek Hoogenboom of the PPL

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