A Perthshire estate will be home to a 100 year long rewilding project, which will aim to revive species facing extinction such as the capercaillie.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has secured the lease for Dalnacardoch Estate, an 18,500 patch of land which sits entirely within the Cairngorms National Park, halfway between Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie.
The charity is named for famed conservationist Gerald Durrell, who wrote around 40 books on his life as an animal collector and enthusiast.
The project, which will be the trust's first in Scotland, combines hands-on species management with habitat restoration while working alongside local communities and training conservationists.
Rewilding focuses on restoring natural sites to the way ecosystems functioned before human interference.
Significant ecological audits of the Dalnacardoch Estate, to establish the geography, species and habitats, are already taking place. These surveys will be ongoing and continue to inform the long-term strategic vision for rewilding the estate in line with the interests of the wider community and the requirements of being in a national park.
It will aim to restore habitats to the way they were before human intervention, in the process helping endangered species.
One such species is the capercaillie, the population of which has been in decline in Scotland since the 1960s due to of deer fencing, predation and lack of suitable habitat.
The population of the birds was over 10,000 in the 1960s but a 2015 survey identified just 1114.
Durrell’s CEO, Dr Lesley Dickie, said: “This is a transformational moment in the Durrell story. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth with a multitude of diminished species and missing ecological functions.
Read More: World first rewilding centre near Loch Ness opens its doors to the public
"We are proud to be a British charity and we have been looking for a landscape-scale restoration project in the UK for several years."
“Leasing the Dalnacardoch estate offers an incredible opportunity to demonstrate our approach to conservation and transition this estate to a nature-positive landscape that will benefit both local people and wildlife.”
The trust says that its immediate focus will be on engaging with neighbouring estates and potential partners.
Founded by the late author and conservationist in 1959, the trust has a dodo as its symbol to emphasise its commitment to preserving wildlife for future generations.
In A Zoo in My Luggage, Durrell wrote: "To me the extirpation of an animal species is a criminal offence, just as the destruction of something else that we cannot recreate or replace, such as a Rembrandt or the Acropolis, would be."
Grant Moir, Chief Executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust on the long-term restoration of Dalnacardoch Estate.
"This collaboration will be vital in helping achieve our National Park Partnership Plan commitments, particularly around ecological restoration, net zero, woodland expansion, peatland restoration, and green skills and training.
“It’s also encouraging that Durrell plans to work so closely with neighbouring landowners and with the local community, developing a lasting vision that reflects the unique environmental and cultural heritage of the area.”
Professor Carl Jones MBE, Durrell’s Chief Scientist said: “Durrell is excited to be working on a major restoration project in Britain, bringing our six decades of experience in saving species from extinction and rebuilding ecosystems.
Read More: 'Exhilarating' new four-part BBC ALBA series to showcase Scotland’s wild side
"In a world where we are seeing major environmental changes and the loss of wildlife, we passionately believe we can address these challenges and make the world a better place.
"We look forward to restoring the plant and animal communities of Dalnacardoch so that the glens and moors are vibrant with bird song and pulsing with life.”
The world's first rewilding centre, based in Scotland, opened its doors to the public earlier this year.
The centre, located on the 10,000 acre Dundreggan Estate has been part of a rewilding project by Trees for Life since 2008, with the group allowing the forest to regenerate naturally after centuries of damage caused by sheep, goats and deer grazing.
Around 20 new jobs have been created on the site, which it is hoped will boost the local economy as people arrive to visit the rewilding centre and stay in its 40 room accomodation building.
Other notable rewilding projects in the UK include Knepp Castle in West Sussex; Broughton Hall Estate, Yorkshire; Mapperton Estate in Dorset and Sutherland's Alladale Wilderness Reserve, a private estate owned by the conservationist and philanthropist Paul Lister.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here