The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

dedicated to conserving the wildlife and natural environment of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Description

The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well over 35,000 members. The Scottish Wildlife Trust acquired its first wildlife reserve in 1966 and now has more than 120 reserves throughout Scotland with visitor centres at

Loch of the Lowes Loch of the Lowes is a loch near Dunkeld in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The loch and the surrounding area are designated as a wildlife reserve, run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. The loch is also a designated Site of Special Scientific Intere ...

(Perth and Kinross),

Montrose Basin Montrose Basin is a nearly circular tidal basin which makes up part of the estuary of the River South Esk and which sits just inland of the town of Montrose in Angus on the east coast of Scotland. The basin is protected by a number of designati ...

(Angus), and the Falls of Clyde (South Lanarkshire). As well as providing homes for wildlife these sites are valuable places for people to interact with and enjoy wildlife. The trust also seek to influence and challenge legislation for the benefit of wildlife. The Scottish Wildlife Trust was involved in a trial reintroduction of the

Eurasian beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survi ...

to Scotland. Begun in 2009, the trial ran at

Knapdale Knapdale ( gd, Cnapadal, IPA: �kraʰpət̪əɫ̪ forms a rural district of Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, adjoining Kintyre to the south, and divided from the rest of Argyll to the north by the Crinan Canal. It includes two parishes, ...

until 2014. The beaver was given

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

status in 2016. Another of the Scottish Wildlife Trust's major projects is the protection of the

red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...

in Scotland. With project partners, the Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels project aims to stop the advance of the grey squirrel into the North and North East of Scotland, as well as protecting pockets of red squirrel habitat in South Scotland and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs The trust is one of 46

Wildlife Trusts The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

operating in the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies.

Selected reserves

Bemersyde Moss Bemersyde Moss is a Scottish Wildlife Trust nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest at Bemersyde in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. See also * Site of Special Scientific Interest * List of Sites of Special Scientific Inte ...

Handa Island Handa Island ( gd, Eilean Shannda) or simply Handa is an island off the west coast of Sutherland, Scotland. It is and at its highest point. The island is of national importance for its birdlife and maritime vegetation, and is a Scottish Wi ...

* Falls of Clyde *

Loch Fleet Loch Fleet ( gd, Loch Fleòid) is a sea loch on the east coast of Scotland, located between Golspie and Dornoch. It forms the estuary of the River Fleet, a small spate river that rises in the hills east of Lairg. The loch was designated a Nationa ...

Pease Dean Pease Dean is a nature reserve at Pease Bay, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near the Anglo-Scottish border and Cockburnspath, Cove, and Dunglass. OS 67 NT794707. The reserve is managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and has two parts ...

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

References

External links

* * Charities based in Scotland Nature conservation in Scotland Political advocacy groups in Scotland Scottish coast and countryside Wildlife Trusts of the United Kingdom 1964 establishments in Scotland Organizations established in 1964 {{Scotland-org-stub