Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to tell you all about an idea I read about recently called the ‘Take 12 Trips’ challenge. Basically it is all about committing yourself to take one trip a month for a year. It can be anything from a week long holiday to a day out on your local patch. I wanted to give you some ideas of wildlife trips that you could take. The Scottish Wildlife Trust has over 120 reserves so we have plenty to offer! I have come up with a list of twelve below but you can of course look at the Scottish Wildlife Trust website and pick twelve of your own. This list covers coastland, woodland, islands and lochs and all have footpaths for you to walk along. They reach across Scotland from the far north in Orkney to Dumfries and Galloway in the south of the country. If you could only visit one of these this year than I would definitely recommend a trip to Handa Island.

1. Hill of White Hamars, Orkney
2. Handa Island, Sutherland
3. Falls of Clyde, South Lanarkshire
4. Montrose Basin, Angus
5. Loch of the Lowes, Perthshire
6. Spey Bay, Moray
7. Isle of Eigg, Highlands and Islands
8. Knapdale, Argyll and Bute
9. Carstramon Wood, Dumfries and Galloway
10. Ayr Gorge Woodlands, Ayrshire
11. Balgavies Loch, Angus
12. Ballachuan Hazel Wood, Argyll and Bute

If you don’t fancy all your trips being to Scottish Wildlife Trust reserves (God forbid!) then I suppose I could suggest you check out a few other conservation organisations such as National Trust for Scotland, John Muir Trust, Historic Scotland, Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Woodland Trust and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Laura Preston – Scottish Wildlife Trust, Falls of Clyde Ranger
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