Saving nature

A new book tells the story of the radical measures being taken to rescue Caledonian pinewoods in the Cairngorms.

THE author, an ecologist at the Mar Lodge estate in the sensational Cairngorms, writes with great knowledge and insight about the challenges and triumphs of trying to conserve the ancient woodlands, bogs, lochs and mountains of this important region. Mar Forest, west of Braemar, rises through great glens to the high plateaux of the Cairngorms, where Eurasian Dotterel, Ptarmigan and Golden Eagle might be considering their future in an era of climate change, environmental damage and exploitation.

There are the realities of conservation in areas that have long depended on ‘sporting activities’ and with centuries of complicated social and political relationships – rich and poor, Highland and lowland, English and Scots – which inevitably colour the way that conservation and conservationists (wouldn’t it be good to be rid of some ‘ists’ and ‘isms’?) are perceived and propagated. The book is packed full of historical and ecological detail, making for a stimulating read.