sum­mer 2024

cairn

The magazine of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park

Your future here

A careers fair with a dif­fer­ence this September

Inside

With­in range

Get to know this year’s ranger team

Res­id­ents’ survey

What issues mat­ter most to you?

Cairngorms

Nation­al Park

Pàirc Nàiseanta a’

Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

sum­mer 2024

The magazine of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park

Fàilte / Welcome

Wel­come to the sum­mer edi­tion of Cairn, the magazine for res­id­ents of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.

Sum­mer is upon us, and across

the Cairngorms our towns and

vil­lages are play­ing host to visitors

from all over the world. These

guests are an import­ant part of

our loc­al eco­nomy and contribute

much to the char­ac­ter of the

Nation­al Park; how­ever, we are also

mind­ful of some of the challenges

increased num­bers can bring.

In this issue we meet the team

help­ing vis­it­ors enjoy this

spe­cial place responsibly.

This sum­mer sea­son, the Park

Author­ity has 21 countryside

rangers on the ground, working

closely with a fur­ther 28

rangers from part­ner services.

We also sup­port a team of

over 60 volun­teer rangers.

That’s over 100 people where

it really mat­ters: welcoming,

guid­ing and sup­port­ing people

to do the right thing from

the moment they arrive.

So whilst there will always be

some chal­lenges, it’s comforting

to know that there’s an expert

team in place to pre­vent issues

from arising, and to take action

on the occa­sions that they do.

We’d love to hear what you think of this

sum­mer edi­tion. You can get in touch with

us by call­ing 01479 873 535 or emailing

haveyoursay@​cairngorms.​co.​uk

This doc­u­ment is avail­able in other

formats on request.

High­lights

Peat pro­gress

Move a mussel

Res­id­ents’ survey

Rur­al careers

Nature news

Peat pro­gress

Sig­ni­fic­ant pro­gress is

being made to restore

dam­aged peat­lands in the

Cairngorms Nation­al Park

and deliv­er on our climate

change com­mit­ments. In

2023, our Peat­land ACTION

team and part­ners restored

1,345 hec­tares of peatland,

the third year in a row they

have exceeded their target.

Peat­land res­tor­a­tion is one of the

key deliv­er­ables in our Partnership

Plan and is cru­cial to capturing

car­bon, with one hec­tare of

restored peat sav­ing between two

and 14 tonnes of CO2 equivalent

each year. Res­tor­a­tion work also

improves water qual­ity and storage,

as well as provid­ing an enriched

hab­it­at for a range of species.

A cru­cial aspect of the pro­ject is

provid­ing rur­al jobs and supporting

the loc­al eco­nomy. Peatland

res­tor­a­tion requires specific

know­ledge, which is why we

cre­ated a new entrants’ scheme to

train up con­tract­ors to be able to

under­take this del­ic­ate work.

In the past three years, five local

com­pan­ies have taken on contracts

as a res­ult of the scheme and

received train­ing for 12 employees.

NatureScot also sup­por­ted the

train­ing of a new machine operator

under an appren­tice­ship scheme.

For more inform­a­tion head to

cairngorms​.co​.uk/​p​e​a​t​l​a​n​d​-​a​ction.

Farm­ing

for nature

The Park Author­ity has

com­mit­ted more than £100,000

to nature-friendly farming

activ­it­ies this year to help

deliv­er the nature tar­gets in

our Part­ner­ship Plan.

This involves work­ing with farmers,

land man­agers and part­ners to explore

ways of man­aging their grass­lands to

bene­fit nature, whilst also improving

farm prof­it­ab­il­ity. In early July, our team

delivered work­shops for farm­ers and

land man­agers inter­ested in managing

their grass­lands to bene­fit nature.

We’re also work­ing with farmers

to deliv­er wader con­ser­va­tion. This

includes sup­port­ing the work of the

Strath­spey Wet­lands and Wader

Ini­ti­at­ive and the Grampi­an Wetlands

and Wader Ini­ti­at­ive to deliv­er wader-

friendly hab­it­at.

Nature news

Move a mussel

The Park Author­ity is work­ing with

part­ners to rein­force pop­u­la­tions of

the endangered fresh­wa­ter pearl

mus­sel on the Spey next spring, and

will carry out sim­il­ar work on the

Dee once river res­tor­a­tion work

has taken place.

This fol­lows research sug­gest­ing that mussel

pop­u­la­tions on the Dee have declined by as

much as 90% as a res­ult of cli­mate change.

This work will form part of a long-term

res­tor­a­tion plan, using innov­at­ive techniques

such as envir­on­ment­al DNA for monitoring,

tri­al­ling the trans­lo­ca­tion of pearl mussels,

and research­ing the logist­ics of a captive

breed­ing programme.

Trail­blazers

A brand new beaver trail, co-

fun­ded by the Park Authority,

has opened at Rothiemurchus.

The 7km route – mostly on wide paths

with a smooth, firm sur­face – takes

vis­it­ors through the ancient forest

to Lochan Mor, where beavers were

rein­tro­duced last year. Keep your eyes

peeled for signs of beavers and lots of

enga­ging con­tent as you walk around.

The trail launch comes at the end of a

busy first year for the pro­ject, which has

seen 18 beavers released with­in the

Nation­al Park across three sites. All of

the anim­als have settled in well to their

new sur­round­ings and will con­tin­ue to

be mon­itored closely by pro­ject staff.

The team will also be work­ing with

farm­ers and land man­agers over the

next few months to deal with any

issues that might arise as a res­ult of

beaver activ­ity, talk­ing to vis­it­ors about

redu­cing the risk of dis­turb­ance, and

hope­fully look­ing out for baby beavers

(or ​‘kits’) as they begin to emerge.

Good neigh­bours

A new cam­paign is working

in part­ner­ship with Boat

of Garten res­id­ents and

Strath­spey Estate to encourage

dog own­ers to con­tin­ue to be

good caper­cail­lie neighbours.

The woods around the vil­lage now

account for around 2% of the national

pop­u­la­tion, mak­ing it espe­cially important

to reduce dis­turb­ance in key areas.

A vital part of the work is asking

dog own­ers to take care dur­ing the

caper­cail­lie breed­ing sea­son (1 April to

31 August). This includes keep­ing dogs

on the path and under close control

in the woods around the vil­lage, and

walk­ing them on a short lead where

asked to reduce the risk of capercaillie

being dis­turbed when they are mating,

nest­ing or with young.

Mean­while, the ded­ic­ated ​‘Lek It Be’

cam­paign has been a real suc­cess, with

the vast major­ity of birdwatchers,

pho­to­graph­ers and wild­life guides

choos­ing to give caper­cail­lie space this

breed­ing sea­son and not go searching

for them.

Nature news

Bear­ing fruit

Young people from across the

Nation­al Park have been getting

their hands dirty for nature.

Alford Academy and Grantown

Gram­mar stu­dents planted

fruit trees to help improve their

school grounds as part of the

Cairngorms 2030 programme.

Back in 2013, 18 com­munity orchards

were planted to cel­eb­rate 10 years

of the Nation­al Park, and these two

new orch­ards bring the total to 20

orch­ards to mark the 20^th anniversary.

Mean­while, a group from Kingussie

High School have designed and

con­struc­ted raised seed beds with

Forestry and Land Scot­land. They

har­ves­ted Scots pinecones to

extract the seeds before sowing

them in the beds — a hands-on

les­son in sus­tain­able forestry.

And, as part of the Cairngorms 2030

Cli­mate Learn­ing and Edu­ca­tion project,

staff at Kin­gussie High have cre­ated a list

of sus­tain­able actions they’d like to see

at the school. This sup­ports the national

cur­riculum ​‘learn­ing for sus­tain­ab­il­ity’ goals.

Rapt atten­tion

The Cairngorms Rap­tor Pro­ject is

car­ry­ing out a Nation­al Park-wide

sur­vey of per­eg­rine fal­cons this

year. Work­ing with loc­al rap­tor study

groups and a team of dedicated

sur­vey­ors, the aim is to estab­lish the

num­ber of breed­ing per­eg­rines to

see how the pop­u­la­tion has fared

since the last nation­al sur­vey in 2014.

The data will also help inform future

con­ser­va­tion efforts for the species.

Plant­life projects

Over the past four years, Plantlife’s

Rare Plants in the Cairngorms and Wild

Con­nec­tions pro­ject has worked with

100 volun­teers to trans­lo­cate 1,000

rare plants, includ­ing the threatened

twin­flower. The pro­ject pioneered

tech­niques for moun­tain­top fungi

iden­ti­fic­a­tion, explored new farming

prac­tices for flower-rich mead­ows and

searched for new grass­land sites for

wax­cap mush­rooms. We were delighted

to sup­port this pro­ject and look forward

to work­ing with Plant­life on next steps.

Beauty spots

The first ever release of threatened

dark bordered beauty moth eggs

has taken place as part of the Rare

Inver­teb­rates in the Cairngorms

pro­ject. 750 eggs were released

into a spe­cially-selec­ted site in the

Cairngorms, hav­ing been bred in a

ded­ic­ated facil­ity at the Highland

Wild­life Park. The team will also be

releas­ing cater­pil­lars and adults later

in the year.

In your community

Afford­able housing

Grampi­an Housing

Association’s vis­ion­ary Old

School regen­er­a­tion project

in the Bal­later conservation

area has won the best use of

empty homes to meet social /

afford­able hous­ing need award

at the 13^th Scot­tish Empty

Homes Con­fer­ence.

Organ­ised by the Scot­tish Empty

Homes Part­ner­ship and Shelter

Scot­land, the awards spot­light some

of the inspir­a­tion­al people and projects

tak­ing place through­out Scot­land to

address the empty homes issue.

The Old School devel­op­ment was

not­able for revital­ising an at-risk

build­ing and provid­ing 24 properties

for social rent: a mix of one‑, two- and

three-bed­room flats and two- and

four-bed­room fam­ily houses. The site

had been iden­ti­fied in the loc­al plan

for afford­able hous­ing giv­en the real

short­age in rur­al Ballater.

Com­munity visions

The Cairngorms Trust and

Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment, in

part­ner­ship with the Park

Author­ity, have distributed

over £600,000 to community-

led pro­jects since 2022.

In the most recent round of their

Com­munity-Led Vis­ion Fund, 22

com­munity pro­jects were awarded

a total of £364,567.

Sup­port for young people featured

heav­ily in the awards, with grants

includ­ing pre­par­ing high school

stu­dents for the world of work (IRL

Edu­ca­tion in Kin­gussie), fund­ing courses

in emer­gency first aid, bush­craft and

moun­tain lead­er­ship (Cairngorms Youth

Loc­al Action Group), and a wilderness

per­son­al devel­op­ment programme

(Wild in Mind in Carrbridge).

To see the out­comes of the pro­jects, head

to cairngorm​strust​.org​.uk/​w​h​o​-​y​o​u​-help.

Record

response to fire

con­sulta­tion

Thank you to the 1,664 people

who respon­ded to our fire

man­age­ment consultation,

includ­ing nearly 1,000 residents

with­in the Nation­al Park.

As part of the con­sulta­tion, we asked

wheth­er a fire man­age­ment byelaw

was part of the solu­tion to tackling

wild­fire risk in the Cairngorms.

79% of respond­ents said yes, 16%

said no and 5% said don’t know.

Of the three byelaw options

we put for­ward, 17% preferred

no fire byelaws, 32% a byelaw

at times of high fire risk, 44%

a year-round byelaw, and 6%

pro­posed an altern­at­ive option.

The Park Author­ity board considered

all your feed­back at a meeting

on 28 June (after this magazine

went to print). If they decide that

a byelaw is required, the final

word­ing will be con­sul­ted on for a

fur­ther 12 weeks later this year,

before being submitted

to Scot­tish Min­is­ters for

their con­sid­er­a­tion.

The earli­est a byelaw

would come into place

is 2025, but we will

con­tin­ue our education,

com­mu­nic­a­tion

and ranger activity

warn­ing of wildfire

risks in the meantime.

In your community

Your Nation­al Park, your views

18,000 people call

the Cairngorms

Nation­al Park

home, from farmers

to full-time carers,

accom­mod­a­tion

pro­viders to

man­u­fac­tur­ers,

estate work­ers

to retir­ees.

This sum­mer, we’re look­ing to hear from

as many people as pos­sible who call

the Nation­al Park home. What are your

exper­i­ences of liv­ing and work­ing here?

What issues mat­ter most to you? And

what’s your per­spect­ive on issues including

afford­able hous­ing, trans­port, tackling

cli­mate change and more?

The online sur­vey should take no more than

10 – 15 minutes to com­plete and, as a thank

you for tak­ing part, you’ll have the chance

to enter a prize draw to win £100 in

vouch­ers to spend locally.

As with our long-term vis­it­or sur­vey, we’ll

pub­lish the res­ults in full and repeat the

exer­cise every few years to see how views

and opin­ions change over time. We’ll also

use the res­ults to shape our next Partnership

Plan and gauge wheth­er our work – and the

work of part­ners – is mak­ing a difference.

To take part in

the sur­vey, and

for the chance

to win £100 in

vouch­ers, go to

cairngorms​.co​.uk/

magazine, call

01479 873 535

or scan the QR

code.

Glen­more gains

Aviemore and Glenmore

Com­munity Trust have agreed

to take over Glen­more Visitor

Centre from Forestry and

Land Scot­land after a

suc­cess­ful com­munity asset

trans­fer application.

Over a mil­lion people vis­it the Glenmore

area each year and the trans­fer enables

the com­munity to take own­er­ship of a

key asset that plays a vital role in local

tour­ism. It provides the Trust with a unique

oppor­tun­ity to con­trib­ute to sustainable

com­munity-led tour­ism and environmental

con­ser­va­tion.

In your community

Demen­tia

activ­ity

pro­gramme

The Out­door Dementia

Resource Centre at Bagaduish

has launched its summer

pro­gramme of activ­it­ies for

people liv­ing with dementia,

their fam­ily mem­bers and carers.

The centre enables people to

exper­i­ence the men­tal and physical

bene­fits of spend­ing time out­doors. The

pro­ject is part of the Cairngorms 2030

pro­gramme, led by the Park Authority

and sup­por­ted by The Nation­al Lottery

Her­it­age Fund.

Activ­it­ies on offer this year include

cyc­ling ses­sions with Able 2 Adventure,

nature edu­ca­tion ses­sions with Wild

Things, nature walks, basket-making

and out­door music.

The activ­it­ies all have a therapeutic

value, as well as being social and

offer­ing peer sup­port. The centre works

on a self-refer­ral basis, mean­ing access

is quick and straightforward.

Change for

the bet­ter

A new Chan­ging Places facility

and toi­lets are set to arrive at

Loch Garten later this season,

help­ing make the National

Nature Reserve more accessible

to res­id­ents and visitors.

The pro­ject has been fun­ded by the

Park Author­ity and

RSPB Scot­land,

and includes

invest­ment

in path

widen­ing on

the site.

Green Health Link Workers

Louise and Gavin

Green pre­scrip­tions

GPs and health­care providers

in Badenoch and Strathspey

can now pre­scribe nature-

based activ­it­ies through

the Park Authority’s nature

pre­scrip­tions project.

The pro­ject, which is part of Cairngorms

2030, sup­ports people on an individual

basis to con­nect with nature to

feel bet­ter. Pre­vi­ous tri­als of nature

pre­scrip­tions in Scot­land demonstrated

their effect­ive­ness, with 74% of patients

say­ing that they benefited and 91% of

health pro­fes­sion­als say­ing they would

con­tin­ue to offer the service.

Sup­port is avail­able on a self-referral

basis and people can be referred by

GP sur­ger­ies in Grantown-on-Spey,

Aviemore, Kin­gussie and Lag­gan. Once

referred, people are put in touch with

one of the Park Authority’s qualified

Green Health Link Workers.

If you, or someone you know, might

bene­fit from a nature prescription,

talk to your GP or vis­it your loc­al GP

practice’s web­site.

In brief

Walk this way

Keen to explore the out­doors and

meet new people? Our health

walks could be just the thing

for you. Last­ing no longer than

an hour and led by trained walk

lead­ers, health walks are a great

way to enjoy nature, con­nect with

your com­munity and enhance your

fit­ness. Head to cairngorms​.co​.uk/

health-walks to find a group

near you.

Dal­whin­nie approval

An applic­a­tion for a new touring

motorhome and cara­van site at

Dal­whin­nie was approved by

the Park Authority’s Planning

Com­mit­tee in April. The new site

will com­prise a 38-bay touring

cara­van and motorhome site, 10

overnight park­ing spaces, recycling

and waste man­age­ment facilities.

Brand bene­fits

The Cairngorms Business

Part­ner­ship has been speaking

to loc­al busi­nesses who are part

of the free Cairngorms brand

charter scheme, find­ing out about

their exper­i­ences of run­ning a

busi­ness in the area and how they

use the scheme to pro­mote their

con­nec­tion to the Nation­al Park.

View the videos at you​tube​.com/

@VisitCairngorms.

In your community

Volun­teers are

top of the range

The Park Author­ity welcomed

25 new volun­teer rangers

this sum­mer. Estab­lished in

2017 with six volun­teers, the

team is now over 60 strong

and is drawn from a wide

range of backgrounds.

Volun­teers sup­port a network

of part­ners across the National

Park, enga­ging with vis­it­ors in our

busier loc­a­tions, help­ing run events

and activ­it­ies, mon­it­or­ing wildlife,

main­tain­ing paths and much more.

They also sup­port part­ners such as

Alzheimer Scot­land at the Outdoor

Farm­ing focus

The Park Author­ity was

pleased to wel­come leaders

from the Nation­al Farmers’

Uni­on for Scot­land to a

loc­al farm in Strathspey.

The vis­it was an oppor­tun­ity to

dis­cuss shared pri­or­it­ies, issues

Demen­tia Resource Centre in

Bad­aguish, Healthy Minds activities

run by High Life High­land, and

vis­it­ing fam­il­ies as part of the work

of Home-Start East Highland.

There’s no one ​‘type’ of volunteer

ranger and mem­bers bring a range

of life exper­i­ence, from stu­dents and

retir­ees to those work­ing full-time or

with full-time caring responsibilities.

The role is flex­ible in terms of time

com­mit­ment. For more information

on how to get involved head to

cairngorms​.co​.uk/​v​o​l​u​nteer.

impact­ing farm­ers and crofters, and

our com­mit­ment to sup­port­ing people

liv­ing and work­ing in the Nation­al Park.

Mar­tin Kennedy, Pres­id­ent of NFUS,

and Jon­nie Hall, Deputy CEO, met

with our Con­vener Sandy Bremner,

Deputy Con­vener Elean­or Mackintosh,

CEO Grant Moir and oth­er key

staff. They agreed to work together

closely to sup­port farm­ers and

crofters across the Nation­al Park.

Com­ment­ing on the vis­it, Mr Kennedy

said: ​“It was a great oppor­tun­ity to

dis­cuss com­mon issues, address

mis­in­form­a­tion about the National

Park and build rela­tion­ships for

the bene­fit of our members.”

Com­munity

catch-ups

The Cairngorms 2030 team

were in Brae­mar recently to chat

about our res­tor­a­tion plans for

the Upper Dee and to showcase

some work with loc­al schools.

Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil also shared their

plans to make the vil­lage more walking,

cyc­ling and wheel­chair friendly. The

next com­munity drop-in event will take

place in Car­rbridge later this month.

What is a heal’t walk

We’d love you to join

YOUR

FUTURE

HERE

Careers in the Cairngorms

Plans devel­op

Our Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan

helps guide development

in the Nation­al Park.

This include where afford­able housing,

com­munity facil­it­ies and other

devel­op­ments will go.

To help shape the next phase of the Local

Devel­op­ment Plan pro­cess, please share

your views on our ded­ic­ated website.

Join us at Mac­Don­ald High­land Resort,

Aviemore for a careers fair with a difference.

Book your space

cairngorms​.co​.uk/

your-future-here or

scan the QR code.

Careers in the Cairngorms

YOUR

FUTURE

HERE

Careers in the Cairngorms

‘If you told me when I

was young­er that I’d

have left school and gone

straight into run­ning my

own busi­ness I’d have

laughed at you,’ says Ben

Mor­ris­on, own­er of Morrison

Lawn and Land­scape in

Grant­own-on-Spey.

Ben, 21, star­ted cut­ting grass for

cli­ents aged 15 and now employs

three people full time. ​‘A lot of folk feel

they need to leave and go down south

for work, but I nev­er really had any

inten­tion of mov­ing away.’

It’s a con­ver­sa­tion that young people

and their fam­il­ies will be famil­i­ar with

right across the Nation­al Park – and

indeed the whole of rur­al Scot­land. The

pull of the big city, the need to move

away to build a career.

How­ever, a grow­ing num­ber of young

people are buck­ing the trend and,

this Septem­ber, the Park Authority,

Coun­tryside Learn­ing Scot­land and a

range of part­ners are com­ing together

to explore what the future of rural

careers looks like.

‘There are so many pre-conceived

ideas about work­ing in rur­al areas

and this event is all about challenging

some of the ste­reo­types,’ explains

lan Robertson, Chief Exec­ut­ive of

Coun­tryside Learn­ing Scotland.

‘Rur­al careers have changed so much

in recent years, with technology

see­ing many roles evolve and many

new roles cre­ated. We wanted to

cel­eb­rate the diversity of opportunities

avail­able – from farm­ing to drone

fly­ing, hos­pit­al­ity to health­care — giving

young people a chance to hear from

people who’ve taken the leap, and to

have a go themselves.’

On 12 Septem­ber we’re host­ing ​‘Your

Future Here’ a careers fair with a

dif­fer­ence — bring­ing togeth­er young

people from across the region to

get a taste of what rur­al careers

really involve.

This won’t be your tra­di­tion­al careers

event – out are the bland corporate

stands and end­less promo materials

and bro­chures, in are practical

work­shops and demonstrations,

break­out spaces for one-to-one

chats, as well as live job and

train­ing opportunities.

“I don’t think

it’s neces­sar­ily

the case that you need

to leave home in order

to get a job: if you’ve

got your mind set on

some­thing there’s a good

chance it can be done in

the Nation­al Park.”

Lex­ie Murray,

The Cairn Distillery

There will also be a chance to hear

from young people just a few years

into their career jour­ney in the

Cairngorms. People like Lex­ie Murray,

19, of The Cairn Distillery.

‘Leav­ing school and going straight into

the whisky industry isn’t a very common

path for most people but it’s been a

great adven­ture so far,’ Lex­ie says. ​‘I

don’t think it’s neces­sar­ily the case that

you need to leave home in order to get

a job: if you’ve got your mind set on

some­thing there’s a good chance it can

be done in the Nation­al Park.’

‘Your Future Here’ a free event due

to take place at Mac­Don­ald Highland

Resort in Aviemore this autumn – will

be a chance to meet up with over

300 young people all in the same

boat, won­der­ing what a career in the

Cairngorms might look like in practice.

As lan Robertson explains:

‘We’ve heard loud and clear from young

people in the Nation­al Park that they

wanted some­thing dif­fer­ent and ​‘Your

Future Here’ is our response to that. If

you’re keen to stay in the Cairngorms

but aren’t sure what careers are

avail­able, or what role might suit you

best, this event should be the perfect

place to start.’

With thanks to our

part­ners: Cairngorms

Busi­ness Partnership,

Devel­op­ing the Young

Work­force, Growbiz,

Lantra Scot­land,

NatureScot, Scot­tish

Land and Estates,

Skills Devel­op­ment

Scot­land and the

Uni­ver­sity of the

High­lands and Islands.

Cairngorms voices

Pete Short

In con­ver­sa­tion

with our

rangers

Pete Short is one of 21

coun­tryside rangers that make

up the Park Authority’s ranger

ser­vice. The team works in

part­ner­ship with a further

28 rangers from partner

ser­vices across the Cairngorms

dur­ing the vis­it­or season.

How long have you worked

for the ranger ser­vice and

how did you get into it?

After study­ing zoology at university,

I worked as a cam­era oper­at­or and

moun­tain guide for vari­ous BBC

nat­ur­al his­tory pro­grammes. Long

term, I wanted a career in nature

con­ser­va­tion and the out­doors, so

trained to be a ranger. The Cairngorms

Nation­al Park ranger ser­vice is in its

fifth year of exist­ence – I was one of

the first sev­en rangers recruited in June

2020, just before the first lockdown

ended. It was amaz­ing to be a part

of some­thing new and there was a

huge amount of energy behind it.

What are some of your key

respons­ib­il­it­ies?

We’re often the very first point of

con­tact for vis­it­ors when they arrive.

It’s our job to provide a warm welcome

and sup­port every­one to enjoy, discover

and con­nect to the Cairngorms in a

caring and respons­ible way. We also

run events and guided walks, work

with loc­al schools, deliv­er conservation

activ­ity on the ground and much

more besides. Every day is different.

What do you enjoy most about

your job?

Part of my role involves coordinating

the Nation­al Park’s juni­or ranger

activ­ity in Badenoch and Strathspey,

which is a huge priv­ilege. It has

extremely sup­port­ive part­ners and

it’s great to meet young people

liv­ing all over the Nation­al Park

and listen to their perspectives

from grow­ing up in this area.

I love this job as, whatever you’re

work­ing on that day, it feels like

you’re out there mak­ing a real

dif­fer­ence in the community.

George Pat­ter­son is a countryside

ranger for Angus Alive, one

of 14 part­ner ranger services

that work closely with the Park

Authority’s own ranger team.

How long have you been a countryside

ranger and how did you get into it?

I’ve been in my job for around 18

months and before that I worked here

as a coun­tryside tech­ni­cian. I really

wanted a role that included education

and being out­side and, luck­ily, a role

came up and I was able to sidestep

into my dream job as a ranger!

What do you love about what you do?

Teach­ing people how to enjoy the

envir­on­ment around us without having

an impact on it is always something

I’ve enjoyed and been good at. I also

work on a num­ber of dif­fer­ent projects

with schools, from ​‘teach the teacher’

ses­sions on how to deliv­er outdoor

edu­ca­tion activ­it­ies to work­ing with

young people who might not otherwise

get to exper­i­ence the outdoors.

What is it like to be part of the ranger

net­work in the Nation­al Park?

Work­ing with the Park Author­ity ranger

ser­vice and oth­er part­ner and volunteer

rangers I’ve seen how, together,

we can make a pos­it­ive impact

on the vis­it­or environment.

Being part of this net­work means we

have a joined-up way of delivering

import­ant mes­sages and advice to

vis­it­ors on things like camp­ing, fires and

teach­ing them about respons­ible access

and the Scot­tish Out­door Access Code.

I feel like I get a lot of sup­port and

enthu­si­asm from the part­ner­ship. I

often meet vis­it­ors who have come

here after speak­ing with a ranger

from else­where in the Nation­al Park

and I love that. We’re all passionate

about the out­doors and nature, and

import­antly we enable people to

become pas­sion­ate about it too.