Journey for the Wild - John Muir Trust Venture
ON VISITING the offices of the John Muir Trust to meet its Director, Nigel Hawkins, Policy Manager, Helen McDade, and Head of Land Management, Andrew Campbell, MSP John Swinney: “We are very lucky to have such an excellent major environmental charity based in Pitlochry. They have a first class record on protecting key areas of wild land in Scotland through ownership and management.
The purpose of the visit, at the end of April, was to hear more about the ‘Journey for the Wild’ project, and to discuss the Trust’s overall work and other projects such as the management of Schiehallion.
“This is a very exciting project, travelling through some of the UK’s wildest places,” said the MSP. “The journey will take place on rivers, land and sea, with participants travelling light and contributing a minimal amount to the carbon footprint. The aim is to raise awareness of the value of wild places for people and nature.
|
|
|
“People of all abilities will share in the opportunity to pass a message from wild place to wild place. The journey will cover more than 2,500 miles over five months, with routes from the North, South, East and West, culminating in a celebration at Ben Nevis, before the message batons travel to the Scottish Parliament.
“I will be tabling a Parliamentary Motion in the Scottish Parliament to publicise and welcome this project and I will certainly be encouraging my colleagues to support it.”
Highland Perthshire Route Section
Westminster MP Pete Wishart, also visiting, added: “I was delighted to hear about the work of the Trust in restoring Schiehallion to its former glory by re-aligning the path and removing the ugly erosion scar of the old path. As someone who is very familiar with the mountain, I warmly welcome this work.
“This is only one project that the trust is involved in and I look forward to the Journey for the Wild programme to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Trust,” he said.
“The message baton relay by land and by water will ensure that those from all points of the compass can take part,” he added. “It is particularly pleasing to see that the batons will pass through Rannoch Station, Scheihallion, Tummel Bridge, Loch Tummel and the River Tay from Dunkeld. I hope that this will be something that the people of Perthshire can, and will, support.
|
