2022 Winners and Shortlist

The purpose of Highlands Rewilding (HRL) is to enable ‘nature recovery and community prosperity through rewilding’. The company aims to protect and enhance nature, simultaneously boosting biodiversity, sequestering carbon, creating green jobs, and generating profit-for-purpose through an innovative financing model created by CEO Jeremy Legg.

Fifteen years ago David and Wilma Finlay began a transformation of their farm’s production to harness natural systems. Animal welfare was improved through cow-with-calf dairy, soil health and biodiversity through agroecological management, and low-energy use food production was introduced. Simultaneously addressing all their growing environmental concerns in one radical transformation. 

Find out more

The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme has been tracking the fortunes of butterfly populations across the UK for over four decades. Volunteer citizen scientists are at the heart of this effort, counting the butterflies each week of the summer at almost 150 locations in Scotland. 

Seawilding, at Loch Craignish, Argyll, is the UK’s first community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration initiative. Seawilding aims to collaboratively restore vital biodiversity and create green local jobs. This inspirational community-based organisation is pioneering low-cost, best-practice marine habitat restoration methodologies and empowering other coastal communities to do the same. 

Working with the local community, the Eddleston Water project has created and restored a huge range of river, wetland and riparian habitats across the whole catchment, whilst also building resilience to climate change. Their focus on freshwater ecosystems shows that restoring these habitats delivers multiple benefits for nature and society.

Ury Riverside Park is a 60ha community park for people and wildlife to enjoy together. The Park is being developed by the community for the community from a former barley field to create somewhere special for wildlife and people. A great place to walk, jog, volunteer to help create habitats or watch wildlife.

Tayside Swifts is a volunteer group creating “Dots on the Map” surveys, installing nest boxes and playing swift calls. They work with local communities, schools and businesses – and local authorities, purely to safeguard Scottish-born swifts. As they say “It all starts locally. We hope that includes you?” 

Find out more

A unique woodland project on the island of Bressay in Shetland, where native woodlands were a thing of the past, but are now a reality for the future. Local people are planting 3000 native trees, recreating historic woodland habitat and making a special place for biodiversity and people. 

Find out more

Thrive uses positive activities in nature to help young people improve their mental wellbeing. It is best summarised by a recent participant:

The Claypits project has transformed 17ha of post-industrial ‘Vacant and Derelict’ land into Glasgow’s only inner-city Nature Reserve. The project provides a ‘wild’ greenspace that delivers significant health and wellbeing benefits for communities that have historically suffered from poor health statistics. 

Seagrass meadows play a significant global role in supporting food security, mitigating climate change and supporting biodiversity. This highly collaborative project uses genetic data, seed storage and germination trials for eelgrass (Zostera marina) to identify the best seed sources and storage methods for scaling-up the restoration of Scotland’s seagrass meadows. 

Find out more

RSPB Scotland Abernethy are bringing cattle back into the Caledonian Pine Forest. Cattle are now in Abernethy Forest playing a key role to improve habitat for the iconic Capercaillie and other species that belong in the pine forest. 

Working for Waders is a collaborative initiative, created to help combat the critical declines in our wading bird populations. The ground-breaking aspect of the project is the bringing together of those with differing perspectives to agree common approaches to make positive, on-the-ground impacts on Scotland’s wading birds. 

Started by local people keen to keep the countryside and communities of southern Scotland alive, the charity now delivers a host of projects: golden eagle translocation; black grouse recovery; energy efficient supply chains; Recharge in Nature; SW Scotland Environmental Information Centre; Wild Land Area project; net zero carbon emissions pilot scheme. 

Find out more

The Garrell burn has been renaturalised through Dumbreck Marsh, Kilsyth, by an ambitious restoration scheme transforming the river and wetland habitats. The project has provided a lifeline for valued populations of fish, birds, amphibians and invertebrates. Local people are engaged and enthusiastic about the revitalisation of their urban edge gem. 

Find out more

For over 40 years Dave Anderson has worked at the forefront of birds of prey conservation in Scotland, pioneering new methods to study these much-loved species. His outstanding field skills, determination and sheer force of will have cemented him as one of Scotland’s best birds of prey field workers. 

Barry Prater is a champion for the northern brown argus in the Scottish Borders. His tireless efforts have inspired others to undertake hundreds of surveys to map the butterfly’s habitat across the region. Data collected by the surveys is now leading to exciting new projects to conserve the butterfly. 

Froglife’s Scottish Green Pathways scheme empowers vulnerable and disadvantaged young people to take part in positive activities linked to wildlife and conservation in their local community. The project helps young people enjoy and learn about the natural world alongside gaining new practical skills. 

The pupils at Hope and Burray Primary schools have helped RSPB Scotland over the past 6 years to protect the largest colony of little terns in Orkney. Thanks to them raising awareness, making decoys and chick shelters and doing beach cleans we have seen an increase in little terns each year! 

Find out more

• The Bay Fish and Chips - The Bay Fish and Chips, Stonehaven
• Locavore - Community Interest Company
• SSEN Transmission and The Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT) - Protecting and enhancing Argyll's Rainforest
• St Andrews Links Trust - The Home of Golf
• Highlands Rewilding Limited - Nature Recovery & Community Propsperity
• The Ethical Dairy - Agroecological Dairy Farming

• Seawilding - Community-led marine habitat restoration
• Glen Muick River & Wetlands Restoration Project
• Garrell Burn restoration - Breathing life into our wetland
• PFASfree - eliminating sources of PFAS to our waters
• Eddleston - A River Reborn

• John Harrison - Volunteer Champion
• Nature is not just for woodlands
• Bressay Community Woodland Project
• Ury Riverside Park - for people and wildlife together
• The People's Project - Working with nature, Dumfries
• Saving Our Swifts!

• Bressay - Community Woodland Project
• Protecting and Enhancing Aberdeen's Beautiful Trees and Woodlands

• Wellbeing Works - positive mental health is in our nature!
• Volunteering Matters Action Earth 2021
• Thrive - positive wellbeing in young people through nature
• Claypits - Glasgow’s Inner City Nature Reserve
• The Natural Health Award
• Ardura Well-Being Project 

• The Argaty Beaver Project
• RSPB Abernethy - Cattle Grazing for Capercaillie
• Generation restoration - supporting the scaling-up of seagrass restoration
• Learning in Local Greenspace – Connecting pupils to nature 
• Working for Waders Initiative
• MammalWeb

• Southern Uplands Partnership
• Threave Landscape Restoration Project
• Glen Muick River & Wetlands Restoration Project
• Garrell Burn restoration - Breathing life into our wetland
• Raising the Bog
• Peatland Pavilion

• Rebecca Lewis - Riverfly on the Esk and Buglife
• Barry Prater - For The Northern Brown Argus
• Patrick Stirling-Aird
• David Anderson

• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - Our Wee Garden
• Scouts Scotland - Promise to the Planet
• Barrier 4 Little Tern Project
• ‘Betty Banrigh Super-Bee’ – a Great Yellow Bumblebee storybook
• Castlemilk Explorers - Harvesting natural curiosity & nurturing community
• Froglife - Scottish Green Pathways