We’re in a climate emergency. Our landscape is crying out for help. We need to step up and take action.
OUR ENDOWMENT FOR NATURE
Wildland is an organisation dedicated to a 200 year vision of ecological rehabilitation in the Scottish Highlands. For centuries, some of Europe’s most diverse and special landscapes have been decimated by deforestation, species loss and the erosion of natural habitats. Mountainsides that once played host to a rich and living forest now stand denuded and empty. The rivers, lochs and seas around them hang in the balance. The peatland that punctuates the landscape and stores Scotland’s carbon has been downgraded
In the face of a climate emergency, urgent action is needed to turn the tide. Wildland’s mission is to make an active and meaningful contribution to the rebirth of Scotland’s living landscapes. Our investment in Scotland’s wild land won’t just help nature heal itself – sustainable and thriving local communities lie at the heart of our vision. By developing our natural capital, be that by planting four million trees in the Cairngorms or restoring marine habitats in Sutherland, everyone stands to gain. To that end, Wildland has also developed a series of business ventures which are designed to contribute to resilient communities and demonstrate that nature can, indeed, pay her way.
A landscape full of hope.
ANNE & ANDERS HOLCH POVLSEN
Our love for Scotland’s nature
From our home at Glenfeshie, both Anne and myself – our children and our parents too – have long enjoyed a deep connection with this magnificent landscape.
This love of the Scotland Highlands has manifested itself with ever-greater involvement over the years. Alongside, we have also grown to appreciate the breadth of issues and opportunity that we, together with our growing team, are now responsible for.
Today, as one of Scotland’s largest landowners, that responsibility has evolved to become a labour of love; a project that we are deeply passionate about. It is a project that we know cannot be realised in our lifetime, which will bear fruit not just for our own children but also for the generations of visitors who, like us, hold a deep affection the Scottish Highlands.
As the holdings have grown and our common vision for the work becomes ever clearer, we have incorporated the entirety of the project into a venture we call Wildland.
It’s a significant and lifelong commitment that we have made – not just for ourselves but for the Scottish people and Scottish nature too – a commitment which we believe in deeply. As the first initiatives take shape, it is already something that we treasure, that continues to inspire us and which we are eager to share.
And whilst the detail is complex and varied across the estates, the vision is simple:
We wish to restore our parts of the Highlands to their former magnificent natural state and repair the harm that man has inflicted on them. Not just the land itself but also both those other parts of Scotland’s rich heritage of which we are now custodians. There are many vulnerable properties across all of the holdings that we have the wonderful and privileged opportunity to rehabilitate and restore to life; there are also archeologically important structures that we have the responsibility to protect.
It’s not just land and buildings though. Anne and I have an even greater commitment to the concept of community. Our vision of Wildland is of a project that provides security and an enduring connection, not just for those that work and live on our estates but also for the greater communities of which we see ourselves a part of.
Across the estates, carefully judged land management gives nature itself the opportunity to take charge and the habitat to reawaken in entirely natural ways. The properties we’ve already restored give visitors the chance to experience this for themselves and enjoy in their own way the UK’s remaining big open spaces.
All-in-all, we are working towards an entirely sustainable model; everything in balance a project that can endure beyond what Anne and myself can ever expect to see in our own lifetime.
Whether it’s the lodge at Kinloch, the farmstead at Killiehuntly, or one of our rustic cottages – such as Foulain on the Eriboll Estate – or even a few nights enjoying the traditional splendour and opulence of Aldourie Castle – the Wildland project will continue to make more and more opportunities available for you to indulge your particular interests in a way that suits your budget.
Do get in touch and explore how Wildland can provide a home for you on your visit to the Highlands. We would love for you to support and share in our vision.
Anne & Anders
