Against a backdrop of global biodiversity crashes and climate breakdown, a major conference in Stirling, Scotland on Saturday, September 21, 2019 will examine how Scotland can reverse its widespread depletion of nature and become a world leader in restoring its land and seas to good health, so both wildlife and human communities can flourish.
The Big Picture Conference will explore the potential for rewilding large parts of Scotland’s forests, peatlands, rivers, moorlands and seas, and the benefits this could bring for declining wildlife such as red squirrel, wildcat and capercaillie, as well as for people’s health, well-being and employment. It will take place at the at Macrobert Arts Centre of University of Stirling in Stirling, Scotland.
Glenfeshie is the heart of Cairngorms Connect, a 600 square-kilometre habitat restoration project in the Cairngorms National Park. Project Manager Jeremy Roberts will be one of the speakers at the Big Picture Conference.
Hosted by communications group SCOTLAND: The Big Picture the event will examine why rewilding—the repair and restoration of nature—matters. The conference—the only event of its kind in Scotland—will focus on solutions rather than reinforcing problems. There will be inspirational presentations and examples from around the world, delivered by leading rewilding practitioners, policy makers and storytellers.
“Scotland is blessed with awe-inspiring landscapes, but huge areas have become ecologically depleted. Woodlands, wetlands and peatlands across the country are all shadows of what they could be. But with different thinking, Scotland could become a world-leader in restoring its ecosystems to good health, for both wildlife and people,” said Peter Cairns, Director of SCOTLAND: The Big Picture.
“We’re aiming for a great day of inspiring presentations and thought-provoking discussions,” he added.
Scotland’s largest habitat restoration project—Cairngorms Connect, a land manager partnership that is enhancing habitats across a vast area of Cairngorms National Park—will feature at the event, as will Lynbreck Croft, whose owners are farming with nature.
The keynote presentation will be from the inspiring American Prairie Reserve, where three million acres of public and private lands across Montana, USA are being reconnected to benefit nature and people.
SCOTLAND: The Big Picture says rewilding could provide employment, especially in the Highlands and Islands, where otters, deer, puffins and sea eagles already support a growing nature tourism economy. Nature’s benefits also include beavers reducing flooding, trees providing food, and peatlands soaking up carbon. Increasingly, studies show how nature boosts people’s health, and is good for children.
The organizers hope to encourage debate and discussion, and also cooperation between different groups. They say rewilding can co-exist well with farming, forestry and recreational activities.
Anyone can attend the conference, which is sponsored by The Woodland Trust and Ecosulis. Ticket prices are £69, or £35 for students and those under 18.
SCOTLAND: The Big Picture is Scotland’s first organization wholly dedicated to rewilding advocacy and communications. Its mission is to help drive transformational change towards a vast network of rewilded land and sea, where wildlife and communities can flourish.
Photos are courtesy of Scotland: The Big Picture. Featured photo shows a red deer—one of Scotland’s most recognizable mammals—whose population has been soaring as a result of being managed in order to serve hunters, thus doing great damage to local biodiversity.