Working with local people, Affric Highlands is a rewilding landscape making a long-term difference. The initiative brings together communities, businesses, and landowners to restore woodland, peatland and riverside habitats across an expansive corridor stretching from Loch Ness to the west coast. It is an ambitious effort to form a broad coalition of partners whose shared interests provide the foundation for a progressive mission: to restore nature, support local livelihoods, and deliver lasting benefits to communities.
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Along the eastern edge of the Affric Highlands, near the shores of Loch Ness, ancient wet woodlands flourish. Draped in lichens and lungworts, these forests of oak, alder, and willow weave together with winding rivers. Further west are the coastal inlets of Loch Duich and Loch Hourn, where fragments of rare temperate rainforest cling on – lush with mosses and liverworts. In the central glens, remnants of the ancient Caledonian forest endure, where towering Granny pines shelter birch, juniper, oak, and aspen beneath their boughs.
Together with local partners, we’re restoring life to these landscapes – transforming bare hillsides into thriving forests after centuries of felling and overgrazing by deer and other herbivores. Natural corridors, from riverbanks to mountain ridges, will grow greener, becoming vital links in a rich mosaic of wild forest and scrub. As trees naturally regenerate and habitats reconnect, biodiversity will return and resilience will grow.
What we do
Protecting and restoring habitats
Building on Trees for Life‘s 30 years of woodland restoration work in Glen Affric, we’re collaborating with landowners to save these woodlands. Trees are being teased out of their refuges, initially protected by fencing to enable natural regeneration – and existing exclosures connected and better protected. Where natural regeneration isn’t possible, we’re working with Trees for Life to save local species’ genetics through seed collection and tree cultivation in a specialist nursery at Dundreggan Estate.
Creating riverwoods
We’re working with landowners and local fishery boards to restore river woodlands – or ‘riverwoods’. Increasing the size and connectivity of the area’s riparian habitat will increase the landscape’s resilience to climate change, stabilising riverbanks, slowing the flow of water after heavy rainfall, and providing vital shade and shelter to the wildlife that lives in and around the water. Riverwoods can also be powerful carbon soaks during their early growth period, due to the typically nutrient and moisture-rich environment of riverbanks. They further add nutrients to the river via fallen leaves. Below the water’s surface, woody debris that enters into the river shelters young fish and diversifies stream flows, creating and protecting vital spawning beds for species such as trout and salmon.
Expert support
We help landowners and managers assess the ecological health of their land and empower them to make informed management decisions. Our field officers conduct tree surveys and herbivore impact assessments, share their findings, and provide expert advice on how to enhance natural regeneration and boost biodiversity. If you’re a landowner or manager and interested in learning more, please get in touch.
From the soaring iolaire bhuidhe (golden eagle) to the elusive taghan (pine marten), Affric Highlands supports an extraordinary range of rare and endangered wildlife, making the region a vital hotspot for biodiversity.
In recent years, species once lost or in steep decline are beginning to make a comeback. Red squirrels, absent from local woodlands for decades, have been successfully reintroduced thanks to dedicated conservation efforts by our partners at Trees for Life. Beavers are reclaiming rivers, transforming landscapes with their natural engineering behaviours and creating vibrant and dynamic wetland ecosystems. In the Beauly catchment area, populations of endangered black grouse are showing promising signs of recovery.
While this news is encouraging, habitat degradation and fragmentation continue to threaten biodiversity. We’re addressing this by restoring and connecting a wide range of habitats – giving existing wildlife the space it needs to thrive and creating the conditions for lost species to return.
What we do
Black grouse surveys
The enchanting bubbling call of the black grouse has long echoed through our landscape — a sound we believe future generations should continue to hear. In 2024, we launched a collaborative project with RSPB Scotland, Forestry and Land Scotland, and dedicated local volunteers to monitor black grouse populations in the Beauly catchment area. Data from the first year revealed a promising rise in numbers where large-scale nature recovery is taking place. Ongoing annual surveys will provide a clearer, long-term picture of the species’ status across the region, enhancing our understanding of this iconic and endangered bird.
Red deer collaring project
In collaboration with Durham University and local estates, we’ve launched a GPS tracking study of red deer in the west Highlands. This collaborative effort is generating valuable, real-time data on seasonal movement and habitat use. These insights, combined with the knowledge of those working on the ground, are helping to build a shared understanding of how red deer interact with different environments – from Glen Affric to the west coast. Learn more.
Peatlands are a defining feature of the Affric Highlands landscape. When healthy, they are among the most effective natural systems for capturing and storing carbon – locking it away for thousands of years and offering a powerful nature-based solution to climate change.
But their value goes far beyond carbon. Carpeted with rich sphagnum moss, peatlands also hold vast quantities of water. They help prevent flooding, reduce runoff from higher ground, and improve water quality—benefiting not just ecosystems, but also the people and communities downstream.
With over a third of our project area covered by peaty soils, restoring and protecting these vital habitats is a top priority. Healthy peatlands offer more than ecological benefits — they provide economic and cultural opportunities for landowners and local communities. The scale of carbon storage these landscapes provide is remarkable, and safeguarding them is something we can all take pride in.
What We Do
We work with landowners and managers to survey and restore damaged peatlands—rewetting the land by blocking drains, re-shaping eroded areas, and stabilising bare peat through revegetation. Though peat forms slowly—just a millimetre a year—benefits like improved carbon storage, water quality, and biodiversity appear much sooner. Over time, these wetter, healthier peatlands will become increasingly nature-rich, supporting a host of life. Purple moor-grass, bog cotton, and heather return, along with dragonflies, damselflies, and insect-eating plants like sundew. The recovering peatlands will support more wading birds, hen harriers and red kites, while providing a vital breeding ground for the threatened lapwing.
Affric Highlands is a landscape shaped by people and rich in Gaelic heritage. For thousands of years, communities have lived in balance with nature, expressing their deep connection to the land through song, story, and tradition.
This cultural legacy lives on in place names and ancient practices, like the Gaelic tree alphabet once used in crofting communities. These names echo a wilder past, when aspen lined the rivers, juniper crowned the hills, and wolves and boar roamed the glens. This affinity between identity, culture and landscape is celebrated at Dundreggan Rewilding Centre in Glenmoriston – the first place of its kind dedicated to the celebration of rewilding and its cultural connections.
Rewilding also helps to create a more inclusive social landscape. With the return of nature, we hope to enable the return of more people – a process of ‘re-peopling’ in a region that has so much to offer those who make it their home. As ecosystems recover, so too does the potential for a thriving, nature-based economy — one that supports local livelihoods, boosts biodiversity, and brings lasting benefits to communities.
What we do
Glen Urquhart Farming Cluster
Formed with our support, the Glen Urquhart Farming Cluster brings together local farmers committed to integrating nature-friendly practices into their land management. In 2024, the cluster launched monthly farmers’ markets in Drumnadrochit and Cannich, celebrating seasonal local produce while strengthening ties between producers and the wider community.
The cluster recently secured a £15,000 grant from the Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation to create new ponds and wetlands across five farms and crofts, enhancing biodiversity and water management.
Engagement and events
We’re committed to sharing knowledge, building connections, and supporting others who care about nature and climate action. We work closely with dedicated local volunteers: together, we plant trees in areas where natural regeneration is slow or unlikely, and carry out important citizen science activities like our annual black grouse surveys in the Beauly catchment area.
Want to get involved or learn more about how you can support our work? Join us.
Promoting a nature-based economy
We are supporting new, innovative businesses and reinvigorating existing enterprises with wildlife tourism and sustainably harvested natural products presenting new opportunities for local business growth. The Dundreggan Rewilding Centre informs and educates people about the growing rewilding movement in Scotland – and crucially – supports new jobs. Work is underway with a wide range of stakeholders and members of the local community to create highly marketable products and services based on the land and increase local involvement in the long-term objectives of the initiative.