CONSERVATIONISTS working to save vital ecosystems in the Scottish Highlands say they are facing a multitude of long-term challenges such as depopulation and securing guaranteed sources of funding.

A growing number of local projects – from regenerative farm clusters to saving Scotland’s rainforests – are responding to the country’s nature crisis after centuries of human-driven deforestation and habitat depletion.

But fears are growing that the country will fail to meet its 2030 conservation targets, with campaigners saying the Scottish government has cut nature spending by tens of millions of pounds over the last decade.

The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) – which is used to pay for community projects – saw £5 million diverted into funding wage settlements for Scotland’s local authorities earlier this year.

Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation (HIEF) executive director Sally McNaught said: “We always have more applications than money into the kitty.

“But we definitely need to get more donors in so we can continue to do that and support more projects.”

Several leaders behind projects supported by HIEF, which funnels grants of £5,000-15,000 to community-led initiatives, said their restoration work could take years, if not decades, to yield meaningful change.

Innes MacNeil, reserve manager at Alladale, a former sporting estate turned wildlife reserve in Sutherland, said: “We’ve abused the landscape for centuries, we’re not going to fix it in 25 years.”

Scotland’s acting net zero secretary Gillian Martin said: “Restoring Scotland’s natural environment is vital to addressing the twin challenges of nature loss and climate change.”

She added that Scotland’s NRF has committed more than £50m since 2021 “to unlock the full potential that nature restoration projects can bring to communities.”