Voluntourism
Conscious Holiday Opportunities
Scotland's Highlands are a haven for voluntourism, offering a unique opportunity to explore sustainable initiatives in action.
Voluntourism in Scotland’s Highlands is a popular way for visitors to explore stunning landscapes while making a positive impact on the local community and environment. Voluntourism opportunities in the area include conservation projects, trail maintenance, wildlife surveys, and cultural heritage preservation.
While voluntourism can have a positive impact, it’s important to ensure that the projects are sustainable, ethical, and community-driven. It’s crucial to work with local organizations and ensure that the volunteering experience is a collaborative effort that respects the local culture, traditions, and environment.
By participating in voluntourism, visitors can not only contribute to the local community but also gain a deeper understanding of the culture, history, and natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands.
Volunteer Cairngorms
You can experience the beauty of the Cairngorms and get up and close with nature in one of Cairngorm National Park's volunteer groups. From path maintenance to tree planting, to species surveying and more. There are so many opportunities to help take care of this precious natural environment.
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Covering 1,748 square miles across Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highland, Angus and Perth & Kinross, the Park contains some of Scotland’s most spectacular highland landscapes and precious natural ecosystems. Nearly half of the Park is considered “wild land” and is home to a quarter of the UK’s rare and endangered species as well as a quarter of Scotland’s native forest.
By providing leadership to all those involved in the Cairngorms and working in partnership with communities, businesses, non-government organisations and the public sector, the Cairngorms National Park Authority delivers practical solutions on the ground to conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area. Their work is coordinated through a National Park Partnership Plan, which sets out how everyone responsible for the Park can work together to tackle critical issues that relate to its people, nature and places and, ultimately, address the climate and nature emergencies.
18,000 people live within the Park and it welcomes over 2 million visitors every year and the National Park Authority summarises the inspiration for its vision with the Gaelic word, “Dùthchas”. This encapsulates the deep-rooted connection between people and nature and that vision is being realised through Heritage Horizons: Cairngorms 2030.
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this £43m programme brings together a partnership of over 45 organisations and puts the power to tackle the climate and nature crises in the hands of people who live, visit and work in the Cairngorms National Park. The programme encourages land managers to restore and enhance landscapes and is driving initiatives to make getting around the Park easier, safer, and greener. By putting local people at the centre of the decision-making process, the programme is designed to foster healthier, happier communities with well-being at their heart.
Trees for Life
Spend a week immersed in nature and helping to restore the Caledonian forest with Trees for Life.
An experienced guide will lead you in a weeklong experience growing and planting trees and monitoring wildlife.
Do something positive, empower the planet and meet like-minded people amidst the forests, rivers, and mountains of the Scottish Highlands. Transport, accommodation, tools, and safety kit provided.
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Scotland’s Caledonian forest once covered 1.5 million hectares. However, human activity has reduced this huge expanse to fragments which now amount to just 2% of the original area. Rewilding charity Trees for Life is committed not just to preserving those fragments but expanding and connecting them.
Since it became a charity in 1993, the organisation has planted nearly 2 million trees and is actively protecting large areas in Glen Affric and Dundreggan to ensure that these precious habitats can recover through natural regeneration. Trees for Life is also exploring the potential of reintroducing missing keystone species such as lynx and beavers, which were pursued to extinction, and encouraging recolonisation by red squirrels in areas where populations have disappeared.
Trees for Life has been rewilding its 10,000-acre estate at Dundreggan since 2008, which is home to more than 4,000 species of plants and animals, including many rare and protected species. Involving people is also an essential part of the rewilding process, and a new visitor experience has been developed on the estate to inspire people to explore the landscape, connect with nature and discover local Gaelic culture. Visitors will learn more about the power of rewilding and how it can play a vital role in protecting the world from climate change.
In a world first, this visitor centre is dedicated to rewilding, demonstrating its value for nature, for the climate and for people. The Dundreggan Rewilding Centre will become a gateway to this unique landscape rich in natural and cultural heritage and hopes to attract tens of thousands of visitors keen to experience rewilding in action and learn how to protect Scotland’s wild places.
Voluntourism Skye
Join the Keep Skye Beautiful team in helping to maintain and restore some of Skye's most iconic visitor attractions. You can get involved in path maintenance, tree planting or beach cleans to give something back to the communities that you are visiting.
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Outdoor Access Trust
Volunteer with the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland and play an important role in protecting and enhancing upland habitats. Get out on the mountains and discover new places whilst helping to conserve these beautiful, natural landscapes. You can meet likeminded people, take on new challenges and learn new skills alongside experienced guides.
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Scotland’s Caledonian forest once covered 1.5 million hectares. However, human activity has reduced this huge expanse to fragments which now amount to just 2% of the original area. Rewilding charity Trees for Life is committed not just to preserving those fragments but expanding and connecting them.
Since it became a charity in 1993, the organisation has planted nearly 2 million trees and is actively protecting large areas in Glen Affric and Dundreggan to ensure that these precious habitats can recover through natural regeneration. Trees for Life is also exploring the potential of reintroducing missing keystone species such as lynx and beavers, which were pursued to extinction, and encouraging recolonisation by red squirrels in areas where populations have disappeared.
Trees for Life has been rewilding its 10,000-acre estate at Dundreggan since 2008, which is home to more than 4,000 species of plants and animals, including many rare and protected species. Involving people is also an essential part of the rewilding process, and a new visitor experience has been developed on the estate to inspire people to explore the landscape, connect with nature and discover local Gaelic culture. Visitors will learn more about the power of rewilding and how it can play a vital role in protecting the world from climate change.
In a world first, this visitor centre is dedicated to rewilding, demonstrating its value for nature, for the climate and for people. The Dundreggan Rewilding Centre will become a gateway to this unique landscape rich in natural and cultural heritage and hopes to attract tens of thousands of visitors keen to experience rewilding in action and learn how to protect Scotland’s wild places.