A new woodland area has been planted in East Linton near Dunbar thanks to a collaboration between a local business, a climate action group and landowners. The project was originated by Caledonia Horticulture, which, under its One Planet Pledge, plants a tree for every bag of firewood they sell. Caledonian Horticulture approached CAEL (Climate…
The Place, Alness – A field of dreams with endless possibilities
It started with a ‘For Sale’ sign spotted in a deserted field in an industrial estate, just before the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020. The Place, a youth project in Ross-shire, had previously been based in a hall nearby and was looking for a more permanent home for the services and activities it provides for…
Falkland Gardening Group – Sugar Acre: the sweet spot that brightens up the village
Falkland in Fife is famous for its stunning floral displays and planters throughout the village, and owes its thanks to the hard work of the Falkland Gardening Group. Each year, the Group’s dedicated volunteers plant and tend to planters filled with perennial, spring bulbs and bedding plants to decorate and enhance the village. At the…
Bannockburn House – a hidden gem
Bannockburn House in Stirlingshire is a fantastic example of a community working together to save listed and historically significant buildings and estate for future generations. Previously privately-owned, the 17th century A-listed mansion house and estate is steeped in history – Bonnie Prince Charlie made it his HQ in both 1745 and 1746 – but has…
Making spaces for nature and people in Crail
The Crail Community Partnership (CCP) brings together community groups across the local area and Fife to deliver its Local Place Plan and tackle the challenges and opportunities for the community. The CCP has recently taken on the South Kilminning wildlife site through asset transfer from Fife Council. Located on the coastal path between Crail and…
Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve – an inner-city oasis
Located just one mile from the hustle and bustle of Glasgow city centre lies an urban oasis – Hamiltonhill Claypits, the Dear Green Place’s only inner-city Local Nature Reserve. Running alongside the Forth and Clyde Canal, the area of the Claypits reserve was originally the home of a clay quarry used in construction of the…
Closeburn, Dumfries & Galloway – from active need to Passivhaus
A charitable trust incorporated in 2009, the Nith Valley Leaf Trust (NVLT) was set up to develop sustainable community development projects, and is based in Closeburn, Dumfries & Galloway. To address concerns in the area around the lack of affordable family-sized houses for rent and fuel poverty in the area, NVLT worked with South of…
Cumbernauld Living Landscape – volunteer-led conservation in one of Scotland’s greenest towns
With a population of around 52,000, Cumbernauld has some of the highest areas of multiple deprivation in Scotland, but it is also one of the greenest towns in the country, with over 50% of the town being greenspace. Cumbernauld Living Landscape brings different landowners in the town together to develop volunteer-led conservation. It works to…
Langholm Initiative – community nature reserve and regeneration project
The Langholm Initiative bought 5,200 acres of the Langholm Moor and Tarras Valley from Buccleuch Estates on behalf of the community, to create a vast new nature reserve and community regeneration project. Following extensive fundraising efforts by the Langholm Initiative, which received international support and hundreds of public donations, they were able to raise the…
Blackwood Community Woodland – creating an interest in nature
Blackwood Estate Community Association in Lanarkshire has secured funding to purchase 65 acres of Loch Wood in the Estate. The purchase was completed in April 2021. The group has quickly got to work carrying out essential Health and Safety works to host outdoor classes for local schoolchildren and community groups and restore the Victorian path…
