Countryside

Almost two thirds of our countryside places can be found in the uplands, where we look after 46 Munros (mountains over 3,000ft/914m).

We’re responsible for four out of the five tallest mountains in Scotland, and we maintain 245 miles of upland paths. Our doors are open to everyone, whether you fancy an easy Sunday stroll through the woods or a challenging climb to the summit of Ben Macdui, which stands at a mighty 1,309m tall.

In 1950, Ben Lawers became the first National Trust for Scotland property to be purchased for the primary purpose of nature conservation, due to its best-known feature: the Arctic-alpine flora. Look out for globeflower and downy willow in the summer, and flowering purple saxifrage in the spring. Ben Lawers is home to the richest plant community of any mountain in Scotland.

All these plants are vulnerable to the effects of climate change – plants near the summit of a mountain, which have adapted to the cold, have nowhere to retreat if the climate warms.

It’s amazing to discover that these habitats actually help to regulate climate change themselves. Mosses and other peat bog vegetation remove carbon dioxide from the air in the same way as trees, making them crucial natural assets for combating climate change. The peat soil that covers large areas of our uplands stores great quantities of carbon, stopping it from being released into the atmosphere. In fact, we’ve estimated that the peat in our upland soils contains 27 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – that’s over 10 times more than all our woodlands put together.

Upland footpaths

Mountains are far more fragile than we realise. Our upland footpaths are well trodden and are exposed to a constantly changing climate. Rain, frost, snow, gales and the odd bit of blazing sunshine (sometimes all in the same day!) mean that our paths need dedicated care and attention, all year round.

Thankfully, we have a passionate mountain footpath team who work tirelessly to keep our paths accessible. Using the lightest of touches – working by hand or helicopter to avoid heavy machinery, and using locally sourced materials – they’ve assessed every metre of our mountain footpaths and have a rolling programme of maintenance at places like Torridon and Ben Lomond.

To keep the paths safe and accessible without the need for things like handrails or escalators, the team employs some clever techniques and structures. Stone waterbars guide rainwater into ditches and protect the surface of our paths, while ‘stone pitching’ involves burying large boulder ‘steps’ under slopes so that only a small piece of the stone is visible above the surface (a bit like an iceberg).

We’re extremely grateful for donations to our Footpath Fund, which lets people show their support for our work and ensures that our paths are maintained for everyone to enjoy.

In many cases, our woodlands are full of ancient trees that have stood for centuries. Not only do we want to protect these woodlands as a home for native wildlife, but we also want to make sure that we celebrate our unique plantlife.

The cliffs and sea stacks at places like St Kilda, Unst, Mingulay, Fair Isle, Canna, Staffa, Culzean and St Abb’s Head are renowned around the world. We care for these famous landscapes and play a vital role in the conservation of native and endangered wildlife at our coastal properties.

Almost all our coastlines and cliffs are breeding grounds for internationally important colonies of seabirds. Two of the highest sea stacs in Britain (Stac an Armin and Stac Lee) are found at St Kilda. At other places, like Rockcliffe on the Solway Firth and Montrose Basin Local Nature Reserve, there are expanses of mud flats perfect for waders and waterfowl. At Montrose, over 80,000 pink-footed geese stop over on their autumn migration, making the site crucial to their survival.

Coastal grasslands are as biologically diverse as they are beautiful. Spring squill and sea pink crown the cliff tops in many places, while the fertile, herb-rich coastal grassland on Iona and Canna, known in Gaelic as machair, grows on the crushed shells of marine creatures; in the springtime it’s home to countless wildflowers.

Cliffs provide protection for nesting seabirds, but they also protect delicate plants from grazing. Staffa, St Kilda and Canna all have vegetated cliffs, while on Mingulay, which was once extensively populated by sheep, the plants that grew safely on the cliffs are now spreading out. A colony of aspen is springing up on the east coast, and creeping and eared willows are also on the rise.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this happen – a similar trend was found at Staffa National Nature Reserve, from where sheep were removed in the 1990s. This demonstrates that careful management of grazing levels on grasslands is essential to the preservation and nurturing of vulnerable plants.

Staffa is certainly one of the most spectacular places in our care. Staffa is named after the Norse word for ‘pillar island’ due to the great basalt columns protruding from the sea, flanking deep caves. Fingal’s Cave, a 69m-long cavern, was described by Sir Walter Scott as ‘one of the most extraordinary places I have ever beheld’. After a visit to Staffa in 1829, the German composer Mendelssohn was inspired by the astonishing acoustics of Fingal’s Cave to compose his Hebrides Overture.

Protecting and promoting 76,000 hectares of countryside takes dedication and enthusiasm (and some seriously sturdy shoes).

We look after 8 National Nature Reserves and 26 sites that are recognised as being vital to internationally important nature conservation efforts. Wildlife conservation can mean anything from restricting animal grazing (in order to protect vulnerable plant species), building Scotland’s first bat reserve (as we did at Threave Estate), assisting with the Scottish Wildcat Conservation Action Plan or counting red squirrels in one of our woodlands.

Over 1 million people visit our countryside places every year, drawn to the beauty of the landscapes and wildlife. We work hard to be accessible for everyone, from bird-watchers and mountain climbers to parents with young children and those with disabilities.

We spend a vast amount of time maintaining footpaths and trails. Where possible, we make sure that these paths connect to popular attractions or nearby towns, and that they don’t disrupt the natural landscape. We’ve also built viewing hides to let visitors get closer to nature, and created orientation panels that explain what’s around them.

Community involvement

Throughout the country, the National Trust for Scotland plays an important role in local communities. We provide employment, bring in tourist income and support tenants – so when we make decisions, we involve local communities to make sure we understand what they need.

In rural areas, where we’re a major landowner, this is especially important. In places like Fair Isle, Canna, Iona and Balmacara, we undertake our heritage role while working with local communities to help improve housing, employment opportunities, services and infrastructure, with a focus on sustainable development.

Our rugged and remote landscapes have become a haven for climbers, kayakers and all kinds of adventure-seekers. Wild land can be daunting as well as physically challenging, but we encourage people to visit and see nature at its most peaceful and powerful.

We couldn’t keep our properties in such good condition without the hard work of all kinds of people, from ecologists and conservation specialists to local volunteers. And that’s not to mention our very own countryside rangers! We are one of the largest ranger employers in Scotland and ran one of the first ranger training programmes. We also work with numerous other organisations to ensure that Scotland’s landscapes and wildlife receive the best care.

What does a countryside ranger do?

It might be quicker to state what a ranger doesn’t do!

They work with wildlife, habitats, visitors and the local community. To be more specific, they take on the following roles: conserving habitats and wildlife; ecological surveying; helping people learn about natural heritage; leading guided walks; welcoming researchers, volunteers and other visitors to our places; working with people who live or work in our countryside; giving presentations; and day-to-day maintenance of our estates.

You may find them on a mountain path clearing drainage channels one day, and on a beach removing plastic waste the next. They stalk deer and they bash bracken. They count red squirrels and they show schoolchildren how a billion spores shoot out from a puffball mushroom. They plant trees and they record scientific data on rare plants. They talk to local farmers about grazing issues and they chat with passers by.

But a National Trust for Scotland ranger’s role is much greater than the sum of its parts. They spend their whole time looking after our beautiful countryside, and in doing so inspire a love of Scotland’s natural heritage in countless others.

Making sure that visitors and our wildlife are safe is vitally important, so we have plenty of staff at hand to help advise people of the best ways to enjoy the outdoors, be they walkers, climbers or cyclists. We also encourage people to visit the Scottish Outdoor Access Code website, which is a great place to find out more about everyone’s access rights and responsibilities in Scotland’s countryside.