12th Dec 2024
2024: A Year in the Glen
As another year draws to a close, the snow begins to fall, and the mince pies reappear in the shops, we'd like to reflect on another big year in the Glen and highlight some upcoming news for 2025... test
January - May
Countryside Skills with Ranger Training 2024
Now in its fifth year, the NQ Countryside Skills with Ranger Training course took place from January to the end of May, in partnership with UHI North, West, and Hebrides and with support from our brilliant partners around Nevis and the wider area.
The 8 new students jumped enthusiastically into their packed timetable, taking on all kinds of practical conservation and habitat management tasks with our Engagement Ranger, Ellie Moore. Overall, the course was another great success with all 8 students qualified and ready to take on roles in the conservation world!
Read more: life as a trainee ranger
June
Summer Plans
June was a busy month at NLP HQ, scheming and planning for the summer months ahead. We booked in two brilliant workshops with Friends of Nevis: a herbal foraging day with West Highland Herbal set for July, and a fungi foray with field mycologist, Liz Holden in October! Both events were well attended and a big success, and we hope to repeat them again in 2025.
We also got stuck into some annual tasks in the Glen with 2024 Ranger Training Graduate, Sorcha, who helped us with our breeding Barn Owl monitoring and the Friends of Nevis Curling Ponds clear up while on work experience with us!
July
Nevis Nature Network Launch
July saw the official launch of Nevis Nature Network; Nevis Landscape Partnership's most ambitious nature restoration project yet. Led by Project Manager Ellie Corsie, we are working in partnership with the largest landowners in our management area: JAHAMA Highland Estate, John Muir Trust, Glen Nevis Estate and Forestry and Land Scotland.
Our shared vision is to restore a rich mosaic of woodland habitats, across Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis, to secure the future of our rare and vulnerable local species and to share wild places with communities near and far.
Read more: landscape scale restoration in the Glen
August
Friends of Nevis Annual Litter Picks
This year, Friends of Nevis held not one, not two, but three big litter picks in the Glen! With the new addition of the mid-season litter pick in August to tackle rising visitor impacts, we collected around 50 bags of litter overall!
A massive thank you to everyone who joined in with one of the litter picks this year and we hope to see you back in 2025!
September
Seasonal Ranger Dua
This summer, we heard that the Scottish Government's Better Places Fund, which had previously funded our seasonal ranger teams, was not available. With continuing high visitor numbers and no rangers to manage it, our landscapes and areas of natural beauty have suffered, with litter, toileting, and path erosion on the rise.
Thankfully, Friends of Nevis were able to allocate some funding from kind donations, that allowed NLP to employ one seasonal ranger for one day a week, over the busy summer months.
Dúa did a wonderful job of patrolling the Glen and the Ben, with help from her daughter Gyðja, engaging with visitors and teaching them about the area, the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and Leave No Trace. The pair collected dozens of bags of litter and worked on clearing cross drains around Paddy's Bridge, as well as keeping Lower Falls Car Park and the toilets maintained. Thank you!
October
Scotland's Pinewood Conference
We were very excited to attend this event held in Fort William with talks and workshops looking at the challenges of landscape scale pinewood restoration, the differences between the health and success of eastern and western pinewoods, the effects of climate change, and practical issues such as funding, fencing, and the ecology of western pinewoods in Scotland's Rainforest.
NLP were involved with some of the pre-conference planning, led one of the field trips to look at the pinewoods around the crags at Polldubh, and joined the Caledonian Pinewood Partnership! We also had a stand featuring our Nevis Nature Network project, which included a fun, interactive (and surprisingly popular!) ‘Stab the Rhoddy’ challenge that Ellie and Ellie devised.
November
AGMs & Team Changes
The Friends of Nevis AGM took place on the 8th of November and saw 42 people in attendance to celebrate the efforts of the organisation over the last year. We had exciting adventure talks from legendary local climber Dave MacLeod who shared stories of his trip to Norway, and our Engagement Ranger, Ellie, on a month long expedition in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia earlier this year.
The 'Volunteer of the Year' award went to to Gyðja Warmisham for over 30 hours of volunteering in the Glen and on the Ben over the summer. An honourable mention went out to Joy and Paul Biggin for all of the brilliant support they've given over the years, and a big thank you to Gavin Theobald for his hundreds of hours of path work he's done over the last 12 months. We also said thank you and goodbye to Hughie Cameron after being with FoN from the start and Claire MacLeod after a decade as a trustee and last two years as the chair. It's not all goodbyes though - a huge welcome to new trustee Elizabeth Laidler, and the new chair of Friends of Nevis, Peter Hatto!
The NLP AGM was held on the 26th of November and sparked some productive discussions around future plans. We thanked Mike Pescod for his time as chair but were relieved to know he's staying with us as a director for now. We also said goodbye to Lewis Pate, Alison Stewart, and Noel Williams, who have been incredible members of the team! We're excited to announce that 2023 Ranger Training graduate Michaela Kennedy has joined us as a director, and Bob Johnson has taken on the role as chair!
December
Volunteering & Collaboration
This month, we've been working with lots of organisations around Nevis and the wider area to carry out volunteering days and make plans for the upcoming year. We spent a productive day with the John Muir Trust on the Ben Nevis path alongside a group of brilliant, enthusiastic volunteers who cleared the cross-drains and ditches all the way from Achintee and down to the Youth Hostel.
Our final event of the year was the annual winter Curling Ponds clear up on the 11th of December, alongside Friends of Nevis volunteers and members of the Curling Club. Despite the frosty weather and frozen ground, we had 7 fantastic volunteers who helped clear away the leaves, cut back the brambles, and pick up the litter - in fact, they collected a whopping 125 glass bottles as well as 3 other bags of rubbish!
Engagement Ranger Ellie has also been busy working with UHI and the amazing organisations partnered to deliver the upcoming 2025 Ranger Training course which will begin again in January.
Coming in 2025...
We need YOU!
Neither NLP nor Friends of Nevis could do what we do without our brilliant volunteers! We'd like to end the year by saying a massive thank you to everyone who has joined us in the Glen, supported our work, and attended meetings as directors or trustees. If you'd like to get involved in 2025, here's how you can help:
Upcoming Events
Check out our website and sign up to the 2025 Friends of Nevis volunteer events! We have dates in the calendar from January, right through to June! Come along to get involved with a wide variety of tasks such as litter picking, path work, invasive species removal, and habitat monitoring!
Volunteer Directors & Trustees
Both NLP & Friends of Nevis are on the hunt for more directors and trustees! While the roles are similar, the organisations are ultimately separate so you can apply to be part of one or the other, or both! Board meetings and trustees meetings are held in the evenings on a quarterly basis at our offices in Claggan.
Please do get in touch if you have an interest in the Ben and the Glen, volunteering, conservation, and shaping the future of these brilliant organisations!
We are especially looking for people with business skills or expertise that will help us thrive, and a treasurer for NLP. We'd also love to have some young people join our ranks!
One final huge thanks to all of our volunteers, event attendees, directors, donors, trustees, advisors, rangers, and partners for all of your help and support this year!
We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and see you in 2025!