Protecting our most valuable asset
Land management
capacity to restore itself
The regeneration of this wilderness will demand timescales more likely to be enjoyed in our children’s lifetime than in ours, but we know that we can help create the conditions necessary to allow natural processes to gain a foothold. It’s a simple fact that many estates across the Highlands have populations of deer far beyond that which the ecosystem can support. Deer browse young saplings before they have any chance to establish themselves. On land where
our deer management is in hand, the regeneration of habitat and woodland has been nothing short of remarkable. Sounds of rivers rushing and the sight of summer swallows swooping all suggests a soul stirring with eager vitality. The heart soars when the rebirth of these lands sees wildlife return.
RESTORATION
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."John Muir
Whilst nature answered only to the changing seasons, so too did man coexist in natural balance. However, we also have to accept the harsh reality that people who once worked the land have moved away. Now though, WildLand’s fervent desire is to see local communities thrive once more and to have those that have left the Highlands come back; bringing with them all-new skills and all-new visions for the way that people can work and live here.
Today, we have taken the first few steps towards making our 200-year vision a reality
Old Growth forests
Whilst, in truth, the great Caledonian Pine Forests have been eroded – by man – over the course of the last 1,000 years, it is also the case that not much more than 200 years ago, considerable parts of the Highlands were still covered with significant expanses of pine, alder, birch and juniper and a whole ecosystem of plants and wildlife that thrived in its shelter. Our goal today, is to protect and regenerate those few remaining pockets of magnificent old growth forest and create the conditions necessary for these trees to reassert themselves across the landscape. W e are continually working to help the character of Scotland’s ancient landscapes thrive.
Preservation
Alongside our stated commitment to the preservation of the land and the human infrastructure of the WildLand estates, we increasingly find ourselves the guardian of significant parts of Scotland’s history, restoring the past for future generations to enjoy.
Across WildLand’s northern estates are some of the most striking brochs on the Scottish mainland. These 2,000-year-old archaeological structures demand not just our protection but also our care and attention. There’s more recent history too. Eriboll Estate still bears the legacy of 18th century lime kilns built by one of the old Dukes of Sutherland, while Loch Eriboll was a scene of sadness a century later when a Highland clearances ship drove into its sheltered waters to take people from the Sutherland Estates away from the land, never to return.
