In our latest European Conversations podcast, Kirsty Hughes visits Dundreggan, in the Highlands, to talk to Steve Micklewright, CEO of Scottish rewilding charity Trees for Life. They discuss the charity’s vital work in rewilding the Scottish highlands, especially in Glen Affric and Dundreggan, through restoring the once great Caledonian Forest.
Steve talks about their partnership with Rewilding Europe and what they learn from, and bring to, their European partners from Portugal to Ukraine; he also raises the damaging costs of Brexit. Their Affric Highlands, a 30-year project, will create a landscape of 500,000 acres, the size of a small country. This joint project brings together communities, businesses and landowners, and is focused on woodlands, peatlands and riverside habitats. But, as Steve, says, given the urgency of the twin climate and biodiversity crises, the role of government remains vital too.