The charity has launched an ambitious, hundred-year plan to restore a Scottish estate to a wild and diverse landscape.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is an international conservation charity with an urgent mission: restore ecosystems, save animals from extinction, train conservationists and connect people to nature. Together, this will help reverse the rapidly escalating global biodiversity crisis.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The International Union for Conservation of Nature says more than 46,300 species are currently at risk of becoming extinct , from the Bornean elephant to the hammerhead shark. Closer to home, even beloved garden residents like bees and butterflies may be facing a similar fate as ecosystems collapse.
The staff who work at Durrell understand one of the key drivers of environmental change: if the world is to transition to a lower-emissions economy, securing buy-in from people and their communities is absolutely essential.
As part of its global Purpose Framework – Ideas for People and Planet, and its ambition to support the transition to a net-zero economy, RBC is the exclusive supporter of the 2024 Durrell Lecture Series. Held in Edinburgh, London and Jersey in November, these events showcased the value of Durrell’s revival plans and its other proven conservation techniques.
“I work at the grassroots level, and it’s invaluable when we’re able to share our experiences with people,” says Deirdre Stewart, Durrell’s programme director for Scotland, who was the keynote speaker at the lectures.
“Our work at Durrell is all about values and inspiring people to see why we’re doing what we’re doing. But it’s also about enhancing people’s understanding of actions they can take on their own doorstep.”
Headquartered in Jersey, Durrell runs numerous projects on the ground in various countries around the world, protecting a variety of creatures, from lemurs in Madagascar to India’s pygmy hog.
It also operates a zoo in Jersey and invests heavily in scientific research and robust training in conservation. Currently, the organisation is applying its expertise in Scotland, where a sobering one-in-nine species is threatened with national extinction .
In 2023, Durrell secured the lease on Dalnacardoch, an 18,500-acre estate in the Scottish Highlands. This was thanks to the generosity of a UK-based family charitable foundation, which purchased the estate with the intention of leasing it to Durrell.
The conservation trust then launched an ambitious, 100-year land-management programme aimed at restoring the area’s natural habitat, reintroducing iconic species and reconnecting people with the environment.
Situated on the very western edge of Cairngorms National Park, halfway between Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie, Dalnacardoch is wild and remote, open and exposed. It’s a strikingly beautiful place. Yet, as a result of historic land use, the estate has lost substantial forest cover and suffered the draining of its peatlands. This has caused erosion and flooding, and compromised ecosystems and water quality in the area.
What makes this land especially important to Durrell is the scale of the programme and its location within Cairngorms National Park. Having the custodial right to be on the land for 100 years means Durrell can make meaningful change for habitats, wildlife and people, helping to establish important nature networks within the area. Durrell’s approach is always underpinned by robust science and through working closely with local communities.
“If we can restore the woodlands and peatland at Dalnacardoch, we’ll be able to store and sequester carbon, as well as reverse the degradation of species habitat over a very significant area of land,” explains Stewart.
It’s Durrell’s proactive steps to restore nature and educate the public that align with RBC’s global Purpose Framework – Ideas for People and Planet, says Andrew Craig, head of ESG at RBC Europe. “In order for society to make meaningful steps to reverse the biodiversity crisis, it’s important to recognise the value of long-term projects and collaborative efforts, like Durrell’s 100-year plan, as effective vehicles of change.”
Re-saturating Dalncardoch’s peatlands will encourage insects and dragonflies to prosper, Stewart explains. Boosting the tree cover around the two major rivers that cross the land – the Tay and the Spey – will enable otters and other species to proliferate across various fragmented habitats. Increased tree cover on river corridors will help combat rising water temperatures, supporting wider conservation efforts on the rivers to bolster Atlantic salmon and other threatened species such as freshwater pearl mussels.
The team is also looking to propagate lost or depleted woodland species, whether that’s aspen and montane willow trees, or capercaillie, the largest of the grouse family.
This work is deeply complex, and with a hundred-year timeframe, it’s also painfully slow. Yet Stewart is not daunted; instead, she’s motivated by what’s possible.
“I love a challenge,” she says. “Our contribution can help inspire the thinking about what will be really valuable to achieve at Dalnacardoch, and that will create a real legacy – for wildlife, people and the land.”
The future of Dalnacardoch will hinge on concrete ideas for management that are rooted in the here and now. But as Stewart is quick to point out: “You can’t put wildlife on a Gantt chart.” Managing this project requires a far more organic approach.
She describes a small team gathering around tables, poring over maps with Dalnacardoch’s gamekeeper, Kevin, who brings decades of local knowledge – of the routes favoured by the local deer, for example, and the nesting patterns of black grouse. Their efforts are bolstered by ecologist Sam Buckland, who has led much of the baselining work to establish the resources offered by Dalnacardoch that could help reverse the legacy of degradation.
“The real value is not in having singular conversations about each topic, whether that’s the peatland, the woodland, the river banks or the deer population,” says Stewart. “It’s when we throw it all into the mix. Our ideas sessions combine local knowledge, scientific knowledge and experience from elsewhere. All of which brings value to our efforts.”
Indeed, as we witness the combined power of collective action and a long-term perspective, we’re reminded that the actions and ideas of even the smallest teams can lead to profound changes.