John Muir Trust

Call Directions Website

John Muir Trust A UK conservation charity dedicated to the experience, protection & repair of wild places.

We're dedicated to the experience, protection and repair of wild places. We help manage over 60,000 acres of UK wild land for conservation, climate + people.

387,000 people connected to nature through the John Muir Award. We campaign to protect wild places and advocate for policy changes that benefit all life - plants, animals and humans.

Let's have a look at the creatures lurking beneath the water at Glenlude...How many species can you name that were found...
14/10/2026

Let's have a look at the creatures lurking beneath the water at Glenlude...

How many species can you name that were found by our junior rangers?

2026 is National Year of Reading 📖Each month, we're shining a spotlight on a different wild read, sharing books that exp...
11/10/2026

2026 is National Year of Reading 📖

Each month, we're shining a spotlight on a different wild read, sharing books that explore the natural world and our relationship with it.

This month, we're covering 'Peatlands' by Alys Fowler ( ), reviewed in the latest edition of our journal: https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/resources/2069-journal-81-autumnwinter-2026

This is a book that challenges us to look differently at one of our most overlooked landscapes. Blending natural history, memoir and environmental science, Fowler explores the peatlands of Britain and Ireland, revealing their biodiversity, cultural history and their importance in our environment.

We enjoyed the author's ability to combine scientific understanding with personal experience, reminding us that our relationship with nature begins through observation and curiosity.

Have you read Peatlands? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

If you haven't read this one, share your favourite wild reads in the comments and maybe we'll review them next!

Background photo: Peat restoration at Steall Falls. 🌱

Wild place in focus: Schiehallion ⛰️There is far more to this mountain than its distinctive summit. Look a little closer...
09/10/2026

Wild place in focus: Schiehallion ⛰️

There is far more to this mountain than its distinctive summit. Look a little closer and you'll find a landscape shaped by geology, climate, and the species able to live here.

Our land at East Schiehallion is home to a range of upland habitats. These range from heather moorland to montane scrub, supporting species including mountain hare, ptarmigan and black grouse.

We are working to restore these important upland habitats by reducing herbivore grazing, both through strategic fencing and through dialogue with neighbouring landowners to enable us to reduce grazing pressures.

We have planted 8 hectares of new native woodland and protected a further 72 hectares on the lower slopes, to allow young woodland to regenerate.

You can read more about our work at East Schiehallion and our other wild places on our website: https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/about-us/where-we-work/east-schiehallion

Work is underway at Glenlude for our gathering shelter 🔨🪵Thanks to the generosity of the Trust's Members and supporters ...
07/10/2026

Work is underway at Glenlude for our gathering shelter 🔨🪵

Thanks to the generosity of the Trust's Members and supporters who donated to our Glenlude Appeal, we're building a timber-framed gathering shelter to help people engage with wild places at our site in the Scottish borders. These first stages of timber preparation and preparing the foundation are now taking shape, as pictured below.

The Gathering Shelter will sit alongside our tree nursery - which is also being upgraded and extended to include accessible raised beds and footpaths - and will act as an accessible base for conservation volunteers and for outdoor learning!

More updates coming in due course 🌳🦋🪵

One of the most rewarding aspects of walking through natural landscapes is learning to read the history it reveals.On Kn...
05/10/2026

One of the most rewarding aspects of walking through natural landscapes is learning to read the history it reveals.

On Knoydart, regeneration isn't simply visible because there are more trees. It is visible because of where the parent trees are, where the regeneration is taking place and which species are doing better than others simply due to palatability.

While visiting Knoydart recently our team observed young birch, willow, rowan and aspen that have now grown above the surrounding heather and beyond browsing height – well above our tallest staff colleagues. Many of these trees have established within the last few years, demonstrating just how quickly woodland can respond when grazing pressure is sufficiently reduced.

Not every tree tells the same story though. Some older Scots pine date from earlier planting schemes, while nearby naturally regenerated woodland displays a much greater diversity of age, spacing and species composition.

That distinction is important because restoration is about enabling natural processes to allow woodland to organise itself over time, not just increasing tree numbers. The difference between planted woodland and naturally regenerating woodland becomes more and more obvious the longer you look.

Birch, oak, hazel, rowan and aspen are spreading naturally across the landscape and woodland is reconnecting. The understory is returning too, with bramble, honeysuckle and wild rose creating the complex structure that healthy woodland needs to support wildlife.

Ecological processes have been given the time and space to begin working again. Protecting wild places can sometimes feel out of step with political or funding cycles, yet restoring natural processes is the Trust’s long-term commitment. There are few shortcuts.

We’d like to shine a spotlight on a business taking action for wild places 🌿Thank you to In Cool Company, founded by wor...
02/10/2026

We’d like to shine a spotlight on a business taking action for wild places 🌿

Thank you to In Cool Company, founded by world-renowned mountaineer Kenton Cool, for supporting the John Muir Trust with a donation of over £1,000 through 1% for the Planet.

In Cool Company kindly donated to help more people experience the outdoors, supporting our work to foster meaningful connections with wild places.

We're environmental partners of 1% for the Planet, allowing us to receive support from businesses committed to giving back to environmental causes and helping us continue our work for wild places across the UK.

We're incredibly grateful to Kenton and the team at In Cool Company for choosing to support our work.

Are you a business that would like to drive environmental impact and contribute to environmental solutions? Find out more about 1% for the Planet and how to get involved here: https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/

More water voles at Nevis!Water voles have been present across the land we care for in Glen Nevis since 2007. In August,...
01/10/2026

More water voles at Nevis!

Water voles have been present across the land we care for in Glen Nevis since 2007. In August, a survey revealed clear evidence that the population was expanding.

Nevis Manager Steph was joined by members of Jahama Highland Estates team and a wildlife surveyor, who recorded new burrows and latrines along the length of the Water of Nevis and in surrounding habitat.

The team also found signs of feeding activity, finding grass stems cut at 45-degree angles and small, neatly cropped patches where the voles like to sit and feed.

Water voles are a protected and rare species in the UK, with one of their biggest threats being habitat loss and degradation. They tend to prefer habitats like streams that allow easy escape into waterways if threatened by predators.

The presence of burrows further from the waterway is positive news from a land management perspective, suggesting that the Trust’s work to give primacy to natural processes is having an impact on wildlife.

Photo: Water vole burrow at Nevis

We couldn’t agree more with The Great Outdoors magazine – avoiding developments that impact designated protected areas, ...
28/09/2026

We couldn’t agree more with The Great Outdoors magazine – avoiding developments that impact designated protected areas, such as National Scenic Areas, is critical to protecting the finite resource of our most precious wild places while meeting renewable energy targets. Galileo Empower’s proposed site would be located just north of the North-West Sutherland National Scenic Area and to the south of the Cape Wrath Wild Land Area, next to the Trust’s Sandwood property.

The proposed 15 turbines could reach heights of up to 200m and would be visible from Sandwood Bay, one of Scotland’s most remote and beautiful beaches, as well as viewpoints such as Cranstackie and Oldshoremore. We support Keep Kinlochbervie Special.

Read the article here: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/general/the-new-highlands-goldrush-just-how-green-is-the-industrial-scale-wind-turbine-business/ar-AA2d0ACP

Photo: Sandwood Bay

Guess the wild place!We hope you're out and about enjoying wild places this weekend. To get you in the mood to do some e...
26/09/2026

Guess the wild place!

We hope you're out and about enjoying wild places this weekend. To get you in the mood to do some exploring, we're asking you to guess where the sea stack below is.

You'll find this sea stack guarding one of the most remote and beautiful beaches in Scotland.

Access to the sea stack involves a 30-metre swim at low tide, and its name in English means "the shepherd" or "the herdsman".

Pop your guesses below 👇

More than 160,000 people climb Ben Nevis each year, and many aren't used to conditions of the hill. We remove hundreds o...
23/09/2026

More than 160,000 people climb Ben Nevis each year, and many aren't used to conditions of the hill. We remove hundreds of kilogrammes of litter and clear hundreds of toileting sites every year.

We have clear signage at the bottom of Ben Nevis to show where the nearest toilets and litter bins are. However, like other charities, we struggle with having enough resource and capacity to clean up after people, and to manage the detrimental impact of littering on wild places.

People really do care and want to help. A massive thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who give their time to help us protect wild places like Ben Nevis.

They carry out vital work like peatland maintenance, path repair and litter picking and we couldn't do it without them ❤️

If you'd like to join our next volunteering day, we're hosting a Ben Nevis summit clean up volunteer conservation day on Saturday 3 October! We'll be carrying out path work maintenance and litter picking on the summit. Book your place today: https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/whats-new/events/2024-nevis-conservation-days

Enjoy Ben Nevis, soak up the scenery, but leave only footprints behind. Please do your bit to keep this incredible place wild.⛰️

Address

Tower House, Station Road
Pitlochry
PH165AN

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+441796470080

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when John Muir Trust posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category