Celebrating Scottish nature champions

Anne McCall takes a look over our Ntaure of Scotland Awards which began in 2012. 

Celebrating Scottish nature champions

One of the highlights of my job is getting to sit down and read through all the applications we receive for the Nature of Scotland Awards each year – something I had to do fairly recently in preparation for our judging panel discussions on 31 July. Each year it becomes a bigger job, as we get more and more applications, which is just great.

When we started this venture in 2012 we had no idea if it was going to work but we did know that the sector needed a platform to promote and celebrate all the fantastic activities taking place across Scotland. I’ll admit it was a bit of a financial gamble, we didn’t know if we’d be able to attract sponsors or if people would buy tickets for the Presentation Dinner. It’s not just a relief but also a delight to find seven years on that the event is continuously growing and increasingly becoming a highly anticipated fixture in the Scottish conservation calendar.

From that first event in a modest room in the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh we’ve moved around a bit as the growing scale has demanded, including Prestonfield House, this year we’re back to the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh where the majority of celebrations have taken place, and it is a celebration in the widest sense. So many of the individuals and activities the awards are designed to highlight work in remote locations or are delivered by small teams who rarely attract the kind of publicity and profile the Nature of Scotland Awards can bring.

Our Judging Panel are very much looking forward to announcing this year’s shortlisted entries at our Parliamentary Reception on 12 September. I’m disappointed that I can’t be at this event myself but I will be represented by Lloyd Austin our Head of Conservation Policy, my fellow judges and Mike Cantlay, Chair of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). We have been very pleased to welcome SNH on board as our headline sponsor this year and it is wonderful to have the opportunity to demonstrate to our MSPs just how much work people across Scotland are carrying out for our environment.

Over the years we have been lucky enough to involve a wide range of nature personalities as our Presentation Dinner hosts. We are extremely grateful to BBC Landward’s Euan McIlwraith for his ongoing support for the project and we’ve also worked with Iolo Williams, Mike Dilger and Chris Packham. This year it will be my very great pleasure to welcome Kate Humble to Edinburgh to host our event. As a previous RSPB President I know she takes a keen interest in nature conservation right across the UK.

Kate Humble – copyright Clare Richardson

Gratifyingly we have presented more than 50 awards over the last six years so I’m sure you can imagine it’s difficult for me to pick out my favourite winners, they have all been deeply inspiring and uplifting. However the projects delivered by our young people do stand out for me. From Cramond Primary’s ‘Have You Got The Bottle?’ campaign where the issue of marine litter was brought to the fore at Parliament to Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s partnership engaging young people with local wind spaces to enhance urban greenspace, their enthusiasm and energy have given me confidence in the future of nature conservation in this country.

From Beach to Parliament; Cramond Primary have the bottle! 

Cumbernauld Living Landscape - Engaging Communities to Enhance Urban Greenspace      

With these contributions in mind I have been personally very pleased that we have been able to celebrate even more of the successes young people have achieved for nature through this year’s RSPB Young Nature Champion Award which we are running in this, the Year of Young People 2018.

The Nature of Scotland Awards is an RSPB partnership like no other, and I’m immensely proud to play my part. Good luck to all our entrants and thanks to my fellow judges, our shortlisting teams, sponsors and our huge number of supporters for their continued involvement in the project. I hope to see many of you at our Presentation Dinner on 22 November!

For more information on the awards visit: www.rspb.org.uk/natureofscotland