

This is a great achievement, it's about more than this wonderful location. The equivalent of Isabella Tree's excellent Wilding, but for the Scottish uplands - Scots pines, red deer, golden eagles, mountains, lochs, and a very large area. A hugely enjoyable and inspiring read' - Isabella Tree, author of 'Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm' 'Introduces a strong voice in nature writing to the world. Beautifully written, often funny, sometimes very moving, always fascinating in its historical and ecological detail, Andrew Painting has given us a gift of insight, wisdom and vaulting ambition for a wilder, richer future for the Highlands of Scotland. 'Deftly weaving through the social and political complexities of nature conservation in Scotland the Regeneration of Mar Lodge is testimony to the miracles that can happen when disparate interests come together in common cause.

In addition, it also tackles current controversies such as raptor persecution, deer management and rewilding and asks bigger questions about the nature of conservation itself: what do we see when we look at our wild places? What should we see? Regeneration is the story of this success, featuring not only the people who are protecting the land and quietly working to undo the wrongs of the past, but also the myriad creatures which inspire them to do so. The only problem was that due to centuries of abuse by human hands, the ancient Caledonian pinewoods were dying, and it would take radical measures to save them.Īfter 25 years of extremely hard work, the pinewoods, bogs, moors and mountains are returning to their former glory. Home to over 5,000 species, this vast expanse of Caledonian woodlands, subarctic mountains, bogs, moors, roaring burns and frozen lochs could be a place where environmental conservation and Highland field sports would exist in harmony. In 1995 the National Trust for Scotland acquired Mar Lodge Estate in the heart of the Cairngorms.
