A day at Ben Lawers with the National Trust for Scotland
Recently, members of the Keela team joined content creators and journalists at Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve with the National Trust for Scotland, spending time on the hill and learning more about the work being done to protect and restore this remarkable landscape.
Ben Lawers is one of Scotland’s most distinctive mountain environments, home to rare arctic-alpine plants, extensive mountain habitats and some of the country’s best-known Munros.
One of the most interesting things we learned during the visit was the work being done to restore mountain woodland and montane scrub.
Naturally, woodland on the lower slopes would gradually transition into smaller trees and shrubs as the landscape becomes more exposed higher up. Years of heavy grazing, however, have made it difficult for young trees and shrubs to regenerate, leaving much of this habitat depleted.
The National Trust for Scotland, a conservation charity, has been working for decades to help restore these areas, protecting parts of the landscape from grazing and reintroducing native species to support natural regeneration.
As part of the visit, we had the chance to get involved by planting birch trees on the site.
It was a small contribution to a much bigger, long-term restoration project, but one that gave us a real sense of the care, time and patience involved in looking after a landscape like Ben Lawers.
The visit also highlighted the wider work that goes into protecting this special landscape, from restoring fragile habitats to maintaining paths and managing the impact of visitors.
For everyone who joined us, it was a great opportunity to see Ben Lawers from a different perspective and to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes to protect these places for the future.
A huge thank you to the National Trust for Scotland team at Ben Lawers for sharing their knowledge with us and giving us the opportunity to play a small part in the work they’re doing.
