Mountains and a lake - Heart of Scotland Tours

John Muir Trust

 

John Muir Trust

At Heart of Scotland Tours we’re proud to help protect Scotland’s wild land by supporting the John Muir Trust and in particular their Heart of Scotland Forest Appeal.

The John Muir Trust is a Scottish conservation charity dedicated to protecting wild places. They own and care for some of Europe’s finest wild landscapes including Ben Nevis, Schiehallion and Quinag mountains, Sandwood Bay, part of the Cuillin on the Isle of Skye and much of the remote Knoydart peninsula.

Founded in 1983, the Trust takes its inspiration from John Muir (1838-1914), the Scots-born founder of the modern conservation movement and father of the American National Park system. Like Muir, the Trust believes in protecting wild land for its own sake – and because they believe wild places are essential for people and wildlife.

The John Muir Trust works hard on the properties they own to restore and protect habitats, bring back lost species and help nature flourish. They undertake litter pick ups, beach cleans, footpath maintenance and other key tasks that help our wild places. Each year staff from Heart of Scotland Tours join the Trust on one of their volunteer work parties.

The Trust also gives wild land a voice. Following Muir’s example, they defend wild land when it comes under threat and campaign for its long-term legal protection. They help to educate people, especially youngsters, through their John Muir Award, an educational initiative that encourages everyone to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places.

The Heart of Scotland Forest Appeal aims to create a wild wood on the slopes of Schiehallion mountain (see Tour 4). Currently sparse, scattered patches are all that remains of native woodland. Without protection from grazing, these remnants of woodland cannot expand and wildlife is confined to clumps of willow and rows of non-native conifers. With your help, this spectacular mountain landscape at the heart of Scotland can be transformed. The Heart of Scotland Forest Partnership are aiming to link the John Muir Trust land at East Schiehallion with four neighbouring properties to create a thriving woodland corridor that stretches across more than 3,000 hectares. You can help us support the Heart of Scotland Forest Appeal by donating here.

On our annual volunteering days Heart of Scotland Tours help plant native trees on the slopes of East Schiehallion. In time this will turn existing patches of shrub and rows of non-native conifers into healthy forests full of birch, rowan and Scots pine, where wildlife can flourish. We then protect new and existing woodland with sensitively-sited fencing to allow trees to grow without damage by grazing animals.

You can enjoy many of the Trust’s properties by joining a Heart of Scotland tour:

Help us to support the John Muir Trust, and in doing so protect Scotland’s wild places, by visiting their website.

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