Regeneration: The Rescue of a Wild Land

BY ANDREW PAINTING BIRLINN £9.99 ★★★★★

‘The challenge for conservationists, then, is to unpick the truth from the myth, to navigate the thorny questions about what consists of the reality of the Caledonian pinewood and what does not.’

Whether it was by happenstance or some odd quirk of fate, I ended up on a press trip to the Cairngorms and touring the land around Mar Lodge Estate days before I read this book. Later, I was able to take the expert knowledge of our enthusiastic tour guide who explained the lodge’s history and the regeneration effort done over the years and supplement it with social, political and ecological context thanks to Andrew Painting, Mar Lodge’s Assistant Ecologist.

Painting isn’t just an armchair ecologist, authoring the pinewood and lodge’s survival story from the comfort of his home. Instead, he tells the tale as a travel writer would, with narrations of his experiences and encounters in and around the woods over the years. Through his words, you feel the despair at the losses, anger at our own involvement in those losses, and the joy at seeing those involved in the hard work generate visible results within the forest. Painting also isn’t a one-dimensional writer, volleying for you to be swayed to a side in the debate over land use; instead, he examines it from both the conservationist and cultural sporting perspective, highlighting the nuances and responsibilities all parties have as stewards of the land.

This is an incredibly well written nature book that examines and captures each element that has previously and still impacts the Caledonian pinewoods surrounding the estate. From the fauna and flora native to the forest, to its multiple occupants and owners, to the political mechanisms that aim to govern how it’s managed, Painting deftly guides us with a little humour and a lot of both historic and contemporary insight on this beautiful success story that offers hope and inspiration to other regeneration projects.

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He tells the tale as a travel writer, with narrations of his encounters in and around the woods