Highland

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Highland.

News

Networks and sustainability initiatives

• Eigg community action
• Kyle & Lochalsh Community Trust, aiming to achieve the sustainable regeneration of our community, managed by the local community and organised on democratic principles, independent but seek to work in partnership with other public, private and voluntary organisations. Kyle & Lochalsh Community Trust on youtube.com, added 15:29, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
• Knoydart Foundation, Community run charity with a mission to develop a sustainable model based on Community, Climate Action and Biodiversity

From Wikipedia:Knoydart § Modern ownership

The Knoydart Foundation was established in 1997 to take ownership of the 17,500-acre (7,100 ha) Knoydart Estate which makes up much of the peninsula, including the village of Inverie. The Foundation, which is a registered charity under Scottish law, bought the estate in 1999. It is a partnership of local residents, the Highland Council, the Chris Brasher Trust, and the John Muir Trust. The foundation aim is to "manage the Knoydart Estate as an area of employment and settlement on the Knoydart Peninsula without detriment to its natural beauty and character and to seek and encourage the preservation of its landscape, wildlife, natural resources, culture and rural heritage."

• Transition Black Isle, part of the worldwide Transition movement helping Black Isle communities thrive in the face of climate change and disruption to global resources, added 16:20, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

UK and international events

UK events

UK community action events

Global or international events

2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events

Highland video

Community energy

• Highland People’s Power, "We want to create a better energy industry in the Highlands and Scotland, one that works for everyone – communities, workers, businesses and the environment." added 14:54, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
• Dingwall Wind Co-operative, link checked Philralph (talk) 12:04, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

Community resources

• Velocity, social enterprise based in Inverness since 2012, combining three worlds; a vegetarian café, bicycle workshop and range of projects to promote health, wellbeing and sustainability.

Cycling activism

• Black Isle Bicycles, part of Transition Black Isle

Biodiversity

From Wikipedia:Aigas Field Centre

Aigas Field Centre is a nature centre based at the home of naturalist and author Sir John Lister-Kaye, House of Aigas. The centre was opened in 1977 by ecologist Sir Frank Fraser Darling, and provides nature-based holidays for adults and environmental education services for school children. It is located at Aigas, next to the River Beauly, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of Beauly and 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands.

House of Aigas, once a Victorian sporting estate, was owned by the Gordon-Oswalds, who added the Victorian extensions to what was an 18th-century Tacksman's house. The house was then owned by Inverness County Council as an old people's home, before Lister-Kaye persuaded them to sell it to him.

Aigas began a beaver demonstration project in 2006. Two Eurasian beavers were released into a 200-acre enclosure, which includes a loch and surrounding woodland. The beavers have since built lodges and had a number of kits.

Aigas was host to a series of the BBC's live-action nature documentary, Autumnwatch in October 2012 and Winterwatch in January 2013.

House of Aigas and Field Centre's charitable arm, The Aigas Trust for Environmental Education, hosts over 5,000 school children a year.

• Aigas Field Centre

Rewilding

• Dundreggan Rewilding Centre, treesforlife.org.uk

In August 2008 Trees for Life purchased the 10,000 acre Dundreggan Estate in Glenmoriston, in the Scottish Highlands – one of the largest areas of land in the UK to be bought for forest restoration.

Dundreggan, lying on the north side of Glenmoriston to the west of Loch Ness, is home to declining species such as black grouse and wood ants. It contains areas of ancient woodland, including one of Scotland's best areas of juniper as well as significant areas of dwarf birch. It was previously managed as a traditional sporting estate for many years, and heavy grazing by sheep, goats, and deer has prevented the healthy growth of woodland and other natural habitats.

Trees for Life's long-term plan will see Dundreggan restored to a wild landscape of diverse natural forest cover, with the return of native wildlife. In 2020, golden eagles, a spectacular bird of prey, returned to breed at the estate for the first time in 40 years. Trees for Life also engages a larger, more diverse audience with the natural and cultural heritage of the Highlands through their Dundreggan Rewilding Centre, a world-class, environmentally sensitive facility that serves as a gateway to the wider landscape.

About Highland

From Wikipedia:Highland (council area)

Highland (Scottish Gaelic: Gàidhealtachd, pronounced [ˈkɛːəl̪ˠt̪əxk]; Scots: Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It has land borders with the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray and Perth and Kinross. The wider upland area of the Scottish Highlands after which the council area is named extends beyond the Highland council area into all the neighbouring council areas plus Angus and Stirling.

The Highland Council is based in Inverness, the area's largest settlement. The area is generally sparsely populated, with much of the inland area being mountainous with numerous lochs. The area includes Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles. Most of the area's towns lie close to the eastern coasts. Off the west coast of the mainland the council area includes some of the Inner Hebrides, notably the Isle of Skye.

From Wikipedia:Inverness

Inverness ( ; Scots: Innerness; from the Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Nis [iɲɪɾʲˈniʃ], meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands.

The population of Inverness grew from 40,969 in 2001 to 46,969 in 2012, according to World Population Review. The Greater Inverness area, including Culloden and Westhill, had a population of 56,969 in 2012. In 2016, it had a population of 63,320. Inverness is one of Europe's fastest growing cities, with a quarter of the Highland population living in or around it. In 2008, Inverness was ranked fifth out of 189 British cities for its quality of life, the highest of any Scottish city.

See also

• Topic overview: Networks, Community energy, Community resources, Cycling activism, Community action on biodiversity, Rewilding
• UK and Scotland context: Networks UK, Community energy UK, Community energy in Scotland, Community resources UK, Scotland community resources, Cycling activism UK, Community action on biodiversity UK, Rewilding UK, Rewilding Scotland