Young Perthshire activist's rewilding mission for Scotland

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A young Perthshire activist is set to inspire people to take on the task of rewilding Scotland.Twenty-two-year-old Alasdair Worrell is to communicate the benefits of rewilding following a training programme in the Cairngorms last month.He was one of ten 18-30 year olds across Scotland selected to take part in the week-long residential training course on rewilding designed to empower and equip them with the skills and confidence to become rewilding communicators.Alasdair, from Dalguise, who studied environmental science and geography, said: “As a young person it is easy to feel disheartened at the scale of the challenge we face in tackling the impact of climate and ecological change.“I believe rewilding offers us hope to make a positive difference here, and quickly too.“I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity.“ Thanks to the skills I’ve learnt, I’m now more confident about communicating the benefits of rewilding with a variety of audiences, which I have found challenging in the past.“My ambition is to get local communities on board, secure funding, and persuade landowners to support, and actively take part in more rewilding projects across Scotland.“Without the support of local communities and landowners the challenge will be so much harder.”The training was organised and delivered by Scotland: The Big Picture, a charity focused on making rewilding happen across Scotland, and supported by donations from the DS Smith Charitable Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.DS Smith Charitable Foundation chairperson Wouter van Tol said: “The fantastic work Scotland: The Big Picture has done to empower people like Alasdair helps to inspire local action and create lasting benefits for Scotland’s landscapes, climate, and