A partnership working to help restore nature and communities across Lochaber has been awarded £249,568 of support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Loch Abar Mòr, a landscape-scale collaboration of land managers, communities and local stakeholders will use the funds to explore the scope for impactful and collaborative nature recovery and community regeneration across the region.
Convened by rewilding charity, SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, the Loch Abar Mòr partnership works across boundaries to weave together natural habitats and social opportunity in a region where nature and people have long been closely intertwined.
“The heritage of Lochaber is at risk ecologically, through habitat degradation and species loss; socially through fragile rural economies; and culturally, through the decline of societal connections to nature,” explains Loch Abar Mòr Partnership Manager, Abel McLinden. “This funding is a fantastic boost, and will allow us to continue our coordinated, landscape-scale approach to addressing these risks. The end goal is to have more connected, climate-resilient landscapes and communities across the region.”
The funding will support the exploration phase of a 50-year vision, laying the foundations for restoring Lochaber’s natural heritage with the support and participation of communities, as Abel explains: ’This phase will focus on gathering local knowledge and opinions, identifying shared objectives, opportunities and constraints, and collecting data to plan potential restoration projects.
“Nature restoration at scale depends on collaboration between land managers and communities,” continues Abel. “The Loch Abar Mòr Partnership is a thriving example of these groups doing exactly that, united in their commitment to ecological recovery as a solution to the climate and biodiversity crises.”
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said, “As a key element of our Heritage 2033 delivery plan, Landscape Connections is about realising opportunities and potential for large-scale, long-term nature recovery that connects the cultural and natural heritage of a place such as Lochaber. We want to ensure the special character and treasured landscapes of these places are valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.
“Projects on this scale require a lot of thought, understanding and planning. Thanks to National Lottery players we are supporting Loch Aber Mòr to do this critical early work hand-in-hand with the community. Our support will enable the project to work with local people, landowners and businesses to develop a clear plan for nature and for people that will, as the name says, be “Building nature networks from seabed to summit”.”