{"id":66341,"date":"2023-11-28T10:40:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T23:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=66341"},"modified":"2025-02-25T03:37:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T16:37:57","slug":"worlds-first-rewilding-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"The world’s first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scotland was once a nation of forests. Seven thousand years ago, 15,000 square-kilometres of woodland \u2013 known as the Caledonian Forest \u2013 covered these lands, populated by wild cattle, lynx and wolves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over centuries, humans began felling the trees to use for fuel and construction and to make way for farmland. The animals began to die out from hunting and habitat loss \u2013 the last wolf is thought to have been shot in 1743. By the 1950s, only one per cent of the original Caledonian Forest remained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s this destruction that Scotland\u2019s rewilding movement aims to reverse, and it\u2019s that movement that spurred the founding of Dundreggan Rewilding Centre in the Scottish Highlands, about an hour\u2019s drive south of Inverness. The centre is part of an ambitious mission to restore the Caledonian Forest.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It\u2019s about working with nature and not against it,’ says Laurelin Cummins-Fraser, director of the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre. ‘It\u2019s about creating a landscape that can take care of itself, with space for wildlife to flourish and communities to thrive. It will help us boost biodiversity, mitigate climate change and bring wellbeing benefits, for our own and future generations.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After so many years of degradation, however, this process cannot take place by itself. Initial human intervention is needed to restore plant and animal species that have had their numbers seriously reduced or have even gone extinct in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"green
Birch trees at Dundreggan Rewiling Centre \u00a9 Trees for Life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where charities such as Trees for Life come in. Trees for Life was founded in 1993, with the aim of restoring the Caledonian Forest. With the help of donations, they\u2019ve purchased vast swathes of Scottish land for rewilding, including primary (or old-growth) forest sites in Glen Affric. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also bought the Dundreggan estate in 2008 where they\u2019ve since been working to reverse centuries of damage caused by the grazing of sheep, deer and goats. They set up the Rewilding Centre in 2022. Over 4,000 plant and animal species now inhabit the park, including water voles, black grouse, roe deer, otters and golden eagles. It\u2019s a glorious landscape, lush with juniper and bog myrtle and criss-crossed with babbling burns (the Scottish term for streams). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just about planting trees. Trees for Life has led efforts to reintroduce the native red squirrel to forests in the North West Highlands. The population was decimated by the introduction of American grey squirrels, which carry the deadly squirrel pox virus.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve also carried out consultations on the feasibility of reintroducing beavers and lynx to Scottish woodland. Reintroducing the lynx could control Scotland\u2019s rampant population of deer, who hamper rewilding efforts by eating tree saplings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you’ll do on a visit to Dundreggan  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Intrepid\u2019s new Premium Scotland<\/a> trip includes a visit to\u00a0Dundreggan Rewilding Centre. After a morning cruise on nearby Loch Ness, you\u2019ll head to the centre for a one-hour walk and talk, followed by lunch at the cafe.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the tour, you\u2019ll meet a member of the Trees for Life team, who will give an overview of their conservation work. You\u2019ll then follow a footpath to the tree nursery, where 80,000 to 100,000 rare and native trees are grown every year. ‘These are to be planted by us and others at partner sites,’ says Laurelin. ‘We grow Scots pine, oak, birch, juniper, willow, rowan, holly, hawthorn and aspen.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Intrepid travellers can join a guided walk through the rewilding centres grounds \u00a9 Paul Campbell Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After visiting the nursery, you\u2019ll follow a different footpath back to the centre, past ancient oaks and moss-bound forests dripping with lichen. At the centre, you can view displays on the wider rewilding scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laurelin hopes that the centre will encourage travellers to engage in conservation after their visit. ‘We hope that people will leave Dundreggan feeling inspired; whether that\u2019s to support Trees for Life or other rewilding organisations, or to get involved in similar initiatives where they live and work.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s a symbiotic relationship: anyone spending time in the wilds of Scotland is sure to feel the benefit to their physical and mental health. Laurelin says, ‘We would like people to feel the benefits from being out in the landscape, encouraging them to explore and connect with nature in their daily lives, and retelling stories they have taken away from the rich cultural connections to the natural landscape here.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discover this experience and more on Intrepid’s new Premium Scotland<\/a> trip. Find out what else is new for 2024 with <\/strong>The Goods<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16318,"featured_media":66351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3105],"tags":[1147,3156,232],"class_list":["post-66341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-good-ideas","tag-scotland","tag-the-goods","tag-united-kingdom","ipf_region-united-kingdom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0 | The Good Times by Intrepid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Good Times by Intrepid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-27T23:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-24T16:37:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography-1024x683.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Gillespie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Gillespie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/\",\"name\":\"The world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0 | The Good Times by Intrepid\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-27T23:40:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-24T16:37:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/4c743e5c2fbe51c7e620449014787ebb\"},\"description\":\"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280,\"caption\":\"a red roofed conservation centre surrounded by trees\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The world’s first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\",\"name\":\"The Good Times by Intrepid\",\"description\":\"adventure news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/4c743e5c2fbe51c7e620449014787ebb\",\"name\":\"Sarah Gillespie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/217fd0f5b0d1f20e2e82988a672a364158b5714dd91a8b7828f1ded84d51203d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/217fd0f5b0d1f20e2e82988a672a364158b5714dd91a8b7828f1ded84d51203d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sarah Gillespie\"},\"description\":\"Sarah is a freelance writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. She regularly contributes to The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian and National Geographic Traveller.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/sarah-gillespie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0 | The Good Times by Intrepid","description":"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0","og_description":"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/","og_site_name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-27T23:40:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-24T16:37:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography-1024x683.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sarah Gillespie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"The world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0","twitter_description":"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png","twitter_creator":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_site":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah Gillespie","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/","name":"The world's first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0 | The Good Times by Intrepid","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png","datePublished":"2023-11-27T23:40:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-24T16:37:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/4c743e5c2fbe51c7e620449014787ebb"},"description":"On a new Intrepid trip, travellers can visit the world\u2019s first rewilding centre in the Scottish Highlands with a 250-year vision to bring wilderness back.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"caption":"a red roofed conservation centre surrounded by trees"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/worlds-first-rewilding-centre\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The world’s first rewilding centre in Scotland is tuning into nature\u2019s healing instincts\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/","name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","description":"adventure news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/4c743e5c2fbe51c7e620449014787ebb","name":"Sarah Gillespie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/217fd0f5b0d1f20e2e82988a672a364158b5714dd91a8b7828f1ded84d51203d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/217fd0f5b0d1f20e2e82988a672a364158b5714dd91a8b7828f1ded84d51203d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sarah Gillespie"},"description":"Sarah is a freelance writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. She regularly contributes to The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian and National Geographic Traveller.","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/sarah-gillespie\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dundreggan-Rewilding-Centre-exterior-3-\u00a9-Paul-Campbell-Photography.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4OQMK-hg1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16318"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66341"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81357,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66341\/revisions\/81357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}