A day of conservation on Skye

Communications Officer Natalia Barbour reports on the importance of our volunteer conservation days and joins them for a day spent removing Sitka spruce seedlings on Skye.

The Trust's volunteer conservation days have brought together supporters at Nevis and on Skye in 2026, providing opportunities to take part in practical conservation work including path maintenance, litter picking and invasive species removal.

Volunteers worked alongside Trust staff on this range of activities designed to support the long-term care and restoration of these wild places. 

Over six days from 13 -18 August, volunteers joined Skye Manager John Macrae, supporting conservation work across Strathaird. Activities included removing invasive Sitka spruce seedlings, mapping invasive non-native species and taking part in the annual Camasunary beach clean.

These tasks support the Trust's wider programme of habitat restoration in protecting peatland, encouraging native woodland regeneration and improving the condition of the landscape. 

On Skye, I joined Fundraiser Liv and Conservation Officer Julia and Skye Manager John - alongside four volunteers -on 17 August for some Sitka spruce removal. 

Working in pairs, we cut down 158 trees in one day! Removing regenerating Sitka spruce is an important part of our land management work on Skye. By removing these competing saplings, we can support the regeneration of native species across parts of the site.

The wider week of conservation work on Skye saw 321 metres of redundant fencing removed from the landscape and approximately 1.2 tonnes of plastic marine waste collected during the Camasunary Beach clean.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped care for this special wild place.

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