Junior Ranger project review 2024

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Juni­or Ranger Pro­ject: 2024 Review

178 Juni­or Rangers

55 ses­sions

34 part­ners

16 Ranger Services

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

Juni­or rangers hik­ing out of Loch A’an © Pete Short

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Over­view

The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Juni­or Ranger Pro­ject is an excit­ing, fun and adven­tur­ous out­door learn­ing pro­gramme for young people aged 11 – 18 years based on the EURO­PARC model.

The pro­ject aims to engage young people liv­ing with­in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park catch­ment area and give them the oppor­tun­ity to act as advoc­ates for the Cairngorms. Through a wide vari­ety of activ­it­ies they devel­op skills, exper­i­ence and con­fid­ence whilst help­ing to improve our nat­ur­al environment.

Juni­or Ranger build­ing leaky dams with The River Dee Trust Will George

Juni­or Rangers at Cairngorms Con­nect Hill to Grill © Catri­ona Par­menter Photography

Juni­or Rangers with the Scot­tish First Min­is­ter ScotGov

Juni­or Rangers tree climb­ing in Glen Tanar Will George

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Pro­ject partners

The sup­port of 40+ part­ners through­out the Cairngorms Nation­al Park has been key to the suc­cess of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Juni­or Ranger Project.

We are also grate­ful to the par­ents, guard­i­ans and teach­ers of over 250 juni­or rangers that have taken part over the past three years.

In 2024, 34 com­mit­ted part­ners delivered 55 ses­sions across the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.

Spin Pro­ject Pit­lo Badenoch & Strath­spey Trail Asso­ci­ation Rothiemurchus Estate Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil RSPB Insh Marshes Forestry and Land Scot­land Spey­side High School Dry High School Glen Tanar Char­it­able Trus­tor Loch Insh Out­door Centre Bal­mor­al Castle And Estate Glen­liv­et Estate Cairngorms Con­nect Grant­own Rothes Com­munity Trust Ride In Peace Adven­tures Wild­land Ltd NTS Mar Lodge River Dee Trust NTS North East Cairngorm Moun­tain Scho. High­life High­land ram­mar School Dorenell Ranger Ser­vice Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity High­land Folk Museum Kin­gussie High School RSPB Aber­nethy Atholl Estates NatureScot Muir Of Din­net NTS North Perth­shire Alford Academy Scot­tish Coun­tryside Rangers Asso­ci­ation (SCRA) Aboyne Academy High­land Wild­life Park (RZSS)

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Schools pro­gramme

In 2024, 85 pupils from the six high schools in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park catch­ment once again took part in five-day Juni­or Ranger ​‘Dis­cov­ery Weeks’.

The Juni­or Rangers had a range of oppor­tun­it­ies to bet­ter con­nect to nature through prac­tic­al con­ser­va­tion work and adven­tur­ous activ­ity. They also got to meet a wide range of rur­al work­ers. At the end of their exper­i­ences the Juni­or Rangers all delivered a short talk or video to teach­ers, par­ents, part­ners and peers.

1. Paddle­board­ing with Pit­lo­chry High School
2. Cer­ti­fic­ate present­a­tions at the Park Author­ity office for Grant­own Gram­mar School pupils
3. Explor­ing water­falls at Burn O’Vat with Alford Academy
4. Bike trail build­ing with Kin­gussie High School
5. Moth trap­ping and iden­ti­fic­a­tion with Aboyne Academy
6. Deer­stalk­ing ses­sion with Spey­side High School

Schools

All photo cred­its Pete Short and Will George

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Monthly pro­gramme

The monthly pro­gramme in 2024 was the most var­ied yet, with 22 ses­sions and a three day exped­i­tion. In total 82 Juni­or Rangers enjoyed hav­ing a pos­it­ive impact on the nat­ur­al envir­on­ment of the Cairngorms whilst learn­ing new skills and gain­ing con­fid­ence. You can see some examples of what they got up to in the pho­tos on this page.

SCRA Juni­or Ranger Award

We were proud to con­grat­u­late five Juni­or Rangers for com­plet­ing the Scot­tish Coun­tryside Ranger Asso­ci­ation Juni­or Ranger Award.

The Award recog­nises com­mit­ment to ran­ger­ing and to achiev­ing a vari­ety of rel­ev­ant com­pet­en­cies, includ­ing get­ting to know and care for your area, help­ing vis­it­ors, inter­pret­a­tion and teamwork

Juni­or Rangers col­lect­ing row­an ber­ries for seed in Aber­nethy Forest © Pete Short

Juni­or Ranger with Land­ward Presenter Anne McAlpine © BBC

Juni­or Rangers hav­ing lunch on the Cairngorm Plat­eau Pete Short

Juni­or Rangers pick­ing up Mishmi takin poo at the High­land Wild­life Park © Will George

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Exped­i­tion

In July, 15 Juni­or Rangers embarked on a three- day exped­i­tion from Linn O’ Dee to Cairngorm Moun­tain, car­ry­ing all their own gear, nav­ig­at­ing and work­ing togeth­er while tak­ing part in con­ser­va­tion tasks along the way.

We’re already look­ing for­ward to plan­ning the next camp in 2025!

RSPB Nature of Scot­land Awards

The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Juni­or Ranger Pro­ject won the Youth Action Award at RSPB Nature of Scot­land Awards 2024. The annu­al event recog­nises indi­vidu­als and organ­isa­tions mak­ing a dif­fer­ence in com­munit­ies, schools and busi­nesses to sup­port Scotland’s wild­life and nat­ur­al environment.

It’s excit­ing to see our inspir­ing Juni­or Rangers being giv­en this nation­al recog­ni­tion. The Youth Action Award is test­a­ment to the hard work and ded­ic­a­tion of these young people, who are so pas­sion­ate about the envir­on­ment and safe­guard­ing it for the future.

Juni­or rangers reflect­ing on day one of the exped­i­tion © Will George

Juni­or rangers plant­ing wil­low sap­lings in Loch Avon Ellie Dimambro-Denson

Juni­or rangers and par­ents with the Nature of Scot­land Award Louise Took