The Findhorn Hinterland has become one of the country’s first to receive official recognition as a Nature30 site, part of a global movement to ensure that by 2030 a least 30% of the planet is effectively protected or conserved for nature.
The 20th of August 2025 was a very special day for the Findhorn Hinterland Trust charity: it became one of the first in Scotland to receive Nature30 status – a new approach by the Scottish government to help combat the worldwide biodiversity crisis.
FHT involvement came about from a casual conversation with Andy Rockall, one of the Community Woodland Association trustees during last October’s annual conference in Inverness. We were talking about the Dune Restoration Project and biodiversity work that was being carried out on the land. Months later Andy contacted me to ask if we were interested in a pilot project that has since developed into Nature30. With the expertise and enthusiasm of ecologist Sean Reed, the biodiversity work of trustee Alan Watson Featherstone and the knowledge of lichenologist Heather Paul, we got involved in the process and ended up being one of four organisations that successfully qualified for the award. Not only that, we were being asked if we wanted to host the launch of this new national conservation initiative.
The result was an award ceremony that took place at our Conservation Hub and on the new dune created as part of the Dune Restoration Project. It involved a visit from the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Energy, Gillian Martin, and Nick Halfhide, CEO of Nature Scot, the Scottish government nature conservation organisation, along with their 30 by 30 team based in Inverness that had been developing the project.
It was also good to see a fair turnout of FHT members and supporters, including Green Local Moray Councillor Draeyk van der Horn, who manages the FHT Woodland Garden, and Fabio Villiani, who now works for the Scottish Climate Action Network. Gillian Martin talked about the importance of this new Scottish initiative and how areas of land, like that held and managed by FHT, were key to Scotland delivering their commitment to the natural world that is important to all of us in so many ways. In a recent article in the Herald newspaper she was quoted as saying:
‘Findhorn Hinterland is a small group, doing something of global importance – the first in Scotland, the first in the UK, one of the first in Europe – and it was very moving to see them awarded the Nature30 accolade for their years of hard work.’
She went on to say that Nature30 is Scotland’s response to the 30 by 30 national and global movement, which is built on the target to ensure at least 30% of land and sea that is important for nature is safeguarded and effectively conserved by 2030. At its heart this global movement is about ensuring there is the space to allow nature to thrive, including essential connectivity which in Scotland will be achieved through Nature Networks. It is also about recognising that these places can have many other benefits for society. Places that are great for nature can also help us tackle climate change by boosting flood protection, capturing carbon, supporting pollinating insects that are vital for food production, and generating renewable energy. These areas can provide food and materials, recreation, enjoyment and huge benefits to our health and wellbeing.
Additional information followed saying the Nature30 recognition is designed to help Scotland achieve the 30 by 30 target by celebrating and supporting land management that does and will continue to deliver great long-term outcomes for nature and people. It will be achieved through a combination of new and existing Protected Areas as well as this new Nature30 recognition.
Nature30 sites will safeguard a diverse range of ecosystems, are bottom-up and ‘opt-in’ and, importantly, designed to recognise sites whose sole focus may not be nature conservation but where their business or service provision results in important benefits for nature. Strongly rooted in criteria created by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Nature30 sites will recognise effective stewardship of our nature-rich areas and recognise their contribution to a global commitment for biodiversity as part of 30 by 30.
It is fabulous to have such recognition of our bottom-up community work over the last 20 years, consciously managing the dunes, grassland and woodlands along with engaging so many within the community and those visiting the area in this vital work.
What will it mean to the future for the FHT? This event has certainly put us on the map as far as innovative conservation work happening in Scotland goes. There have been articles in local newspapers, like this one in the Northern Scot, and will most probably open funding opportunities by having such recognition for the work that we do.
For me it is a fitting accolade that personally rewards the special relationship I have developed for this land from early childhood to the present day. This has been a relationship where the land has given to me as I explored it in my younger days, and through this became inspired to study Ecological Science, which led me on to get involved in many land-based work experiences. Coming full circle, I have now been able to give back during my many years of teaching and retirement by setting up and giving to the charity to help others appreciate the wonders and benefits of the natural world on our doorstep.
It has been both a thoroughly rewarding and fulfilling experience and I give thanks to all those who have been involved and made it happen with me. This award is simply the icing on the cake and makes me smile and feel warm and content on the inside, knowing that small acts by individuals in seemingly insignificant places result ultimately in positive global impact.
Jonathan Caddy
FHT Chair
3rd September 2025
FHT receives Nature30 status
The 20th of August 2025 was a very special day for the Findhorn Hinterland Trust charity: it became one of the first in Scotland to receive Nature30 status – a new approach by the Scottish government to help combat the worldwide biodiversity crisis.
FHT involvement came about from a casual conversation with Andy Rockall, one of the Community Woodland Association trustees during last October’s annual conference in Inverness. We were talking about the Dune Restoration Project and biodiversity work that was being carried out on the land. Months later Andy contacted me to ask if we were interested in a pilot project that has since developed into Nature30. With the expertise and enthusiasm of ecologist Sean Reed, the biodiversity work of trustee Alan Watson Featherstone and the knowledge of lichenologist Heather Paul, we got involved in the process and ended up being one of four organisations that successfully qualified for the award. Not only that, we were being asked if we wanted to host the launch of this new national conservation initiative.
It was also good to see a fair turnout of FHT members and supporters, including Green Local Moray Councillor Draeyk van der Horn, who manages the FHT Woodland Garden, and Fabio Villiani, who now works for the Scottish Climate Action Network. Gillian Martin talked about the importance of this new Scottish initiative and how areas of land, like that held and managed by FHT, were key to Scotland delivering their commitment to the natural world that is important to all of us in so many ways. In a recent article in the Herald newspaper she was quoted as saying:
‘Findhorn Hinterland is a small group, doing something of global importance – the first in Scotland, the first in the UK, one of the first in Europe – and it was very moving to see them awarded the Nature30 accolade for their years of hard work.’
She went on to say that Nature30 is Scotland’s response to the 30 by 30 national and global movement, which is built on the target to ensure at least 30% of land and sea that is important for nature is safeguarded and effectively conserved by 2030. At its heart this global movement is about ensuring there is the space to allow nature to thrive, including essential connectivity which in Scotland will be achieved through Nature Networks. It is also about recognising that these places can have many other benefits for society. Places that are great for nature can also help us tackle climate change by boosting flood protection, capturing carbon, supporting pollinating insects that are vital for food production, and generating renewable energy. These areas can provide food and materials, recreation, enjoyment and huge benefits to our health and wellbeing.
Nature30 sites will safeguard a diverse range of ecosystems, are bottom-up and ‘opt-in’ and, importantly, designed to recognise sites whose sole focus may not be nature conservation but where their business or service provision results in important benefits for nature. Strongly rooted in criteria created by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Nature30 sites will recognise effective stewardship of our nature-rich areas and recognise their contribution to a global commitment for biodiversity as part of 30 by 30.
It is fabulous to have such recognition of our bottom-up community work over the last 20 years, consciously managing the dunes, grassland and woodlands along with engaging so many within the community and those visiting the area in this vital work.
What will it mean to the future for the FHT? This event has certainly put us on the map as far as innovative conservation work happening in Scotland goes. There have been articles in local newspapers, like this one in the Northern Scot, and will most probably open funding opportunities by having such recognition for the work that we do.
For me it is a fitting accolade that personally rewards the special relationship I have developed for this land from early childhood to the present day. This has been a relationship where the land has given to me as I explored it in my younger days, and through this became inspired to study Ecological Science, which led me on to get involved in many land-based work experiences. Coming full circle, I have now been able to give back during my many years of teaching and retirement by setting up and giving to the charity to help others appreciate the wonders and benefits of the natural world on our doorstep.
It has been both a thoroughly rewarding and fulfilling experience and I give thanks to all those who have been involved and made it happen with me. This award is simply the icing on the cake and makes me smile and feel warm and content on the inside, knowing that small acts by individuals in seemingly insignificant places result ultimately in positive global impact.
FHT Chair
3rd September 2025