25 years of conservation action celebrated at ‘lost world’ estate near Loch Ness

L-R Drew Hendry, Leader of Highland Council;  Trees for Life volunteer Tristran Dougan;
Vanessa Collingridge, Trees for Life Patron; Trees for Life volunteer Diana Sinclair;
Richard Lochhead MSP; Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Executive Director;
London cyclist Tim Judge.

A quarter century of pioneering conservation action was marked by Trees for Life on Sunday 25 May 2014, with a celebration open day held at the award-winning charity’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston, Inverness-shire.

 

Dozens of local people and Trees for Life supporters gathered at the acclaimed biodiversity hotspot near Loch Ness for a day of activities and to celebrate Trees for Life’s first 25 years of restoring the ancient but endangered Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands.

 

Moray MSP Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet

New Ltl Acorn 5310 series cameras - Standard and wide angle lenses compared

Fig 1: Ltl Acorn 5310A with standard lense

My apologies for the lack of technical posts and reviews over the last few months but I'm just emerging from what I think of as the lost winter. Late last year a nine year old hernia suddenly became much worse and prevented me from doing any more than essential tasks. Restricted walking and no heavy carrying meant I couldn't do winter camera surveying which was a great disappointment and sitting at a computer or workbench for any length of time was not possible.

I eventually had an operation in early February following which I am only now becoming properly active; and still catching up on camera repairs.

Anyway, enough of all that and on to the subject of this post which is a comparison of the standard and wide angle lenses in the new Acorn 5310 trail cameras.

The 5310 also has a larger 940nm IR LED array which doubles the night range to over 60 feet (20 metres) when compared to the 5210 and 6210 cameras at 30 feet.

Figure 1 shows the 5310A with the standard lense and Figure 2 shows the 5310WA with the wide angle lense. Apart from the

Unique community purchase go-ahead for Highlands pinewood restoration project

Loch Arkaig

Plans for a major new pinewood restoration project in the Scottish Highlands have been given the go-ahead after Forestry Commission Scotland agreed to sell 1,086 hectares of woodland at Glen Mallie and South Loch Arkaig in Lochaber to a Highland community group in partnership with conservation charity Trees for Life – marking a major milestone in efforts to restore the ecologically important but rare native Caledonian Pinewood habitat.

 

The Achnacarry, Bunarkaig and Clunes (ABC) Group and Trees for Life now have 18 months to raise £500,000 to buy the land, following which they will begin a process of native woodland restoration and of restoring the links between the local community and the wild and remote country on the south side of Loch Arkaig in the West Highlands.

 

This is believed to be the first time that a conservation charity has partnered with a community group to purchase surplus Forestry Commission land under the National Forest Land Scheme. The scheme – administered by Forestry Commission Scotland – gives communities and non-governmental organisations the opportunity to acquire state-owned forest land which has

‘Lost world’ open day near Loch Ness to celebrate 25 years of conservation action

Wild boar at Dundreggan. Photo: Alan Watson Featherstone

Moray-based conservation charity Trees for Life is celebrating its 25^th anniversary with a special celebration open day at its acclaimed Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston to the west of Loch Ness, Inverness-shire on Sunday 25 May 2014, from 10.30 am - 5.00 pm.

 

Members of the public are warmly invited to attend the free event and to join BBC presenter and Trees for Life Patron Vanessa Collingridge for a day of activities at this renowned biodiversity hotspot, as the award-winning charity marks a quarter

Hebridean expeditions to study killer whales at risk of extinction

The ‘West Coast Community’ of killer whales
– at risk of extinction

With the United Kingdom’s only known resident population of killer whales at risk of imminent extinction, securing new information about this endangered group is one of the ambitions of a new season of marine research expeditions launched by Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) this month.

 

In its 20th anniversary year, HWDT is recruiting volunteers to work alongside marine scientists in surveys running from May to October, to gather crucial data on