Completed Projects

In 2010, Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape (CALL) led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, began the ambitious task of working towards delivering one of the largest landscape restoration projects in Europe. The initiative brough community, charity and private landowners together, each bringing their own knowledge, aspirations and experiences to the table to bring positive change and improve the land for people and wildlife for generations to come.  The aim of CALL is to:

Work at multiple scales across a landscape, creating and strengthening the links between a healthy environment and healthy socioeconomic society, connecting people and wildlife for both to thrive.

The latest Partnership project, Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership or CALLP, has delivered over 30 projects, with project staff and partners working hard connecting community and landscape through conservation, events, and education ensuring natural, cultural and built heritage is enhanced, restored and protected. CALLP came to an end in 2021, with some work being carried over to 2022 due to the global pandemic, the outcomes of the CALLP project were:

  1. Ensure heritage is better managed and in better condition, identified and recorded.
  2. People have developed skills, learned about heritage and volunteered time.
  3. Communities have reduced their environmental impacts, engaged with heritage and thrive in an area that is a better place to work, live or visit

You can find out more about each of the projects below.

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33 projects found view results

Categories

CALLP projects

Land and Conservation Management

Woodland Expansion

The project area’s existing native woodland extends to approximately 4,000 hectares – 6.5% of the Living Landscape area. Much of this comprises of small, scattered fragments found along the area’s coastal fringes. Due to their small size most native woodlands are not designated, but offer considerable potential for protection and expansion to improve their connectivity and resilience. Scattered along the…
Paths and Access

Suilven Path

Suilven is one of the most dramatic and iconic hills of Assynt. Recreational access to the summit of Suilven was having an adverse effect on vegetation and soils along the established access routes. Small sections of the path deteriorated over the last few years and this process would only have  continued if the path were not consolidated and protected.  …
People Training and Wildlife

Outdoor and Woodland Learning

The Outdoor and Woodland Learning (OWL) project encouraged education about the area’s natural environment in order to nurture a legacy of understanding and respect. It is the central access point for all school activities associated with the Landscape Partnership projects delivery. The aims of this project were to: Work with schools in, and associated with, the CALLP project area to…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Clachtoll Broch

Clachtoll broch is one of the most iconic monuments in northern mainland Britain and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It was in a dilapidated state and choked with rubble debris. As a result, visitors could only access the broch by climbing over rubble to walk around the site on the wall head. This was both damaging to the broch and hazardous…
Paths and Access

A Sense of Place – Local guide to Coigach & Assynt

Explore The Local Guide to Coigach and Assynt App   Coigach and Assynt’s Local Guide uses your phone’s GPS to automatically trigger rich audio content and deliver turn -by-turn audio content and interesting information relative to your surroundings and upcoming destinations.   The Local Guide is available to download for free on Apple and Android devices from App Store or…
Paths and Access

Culag Woods and Little Assynt Paths II

This project builds on work already achieved at Culag Woods and Little Assynt through the original project. Culag Community Woodland Trust Ltd (CCWT) manages two properties on behalf of the community of Assynt: Culag Woods 40ha woodland in Lochinver and Little Assynt a 1200ha estate approximately five miles east of Lochinver.  Both properties have networks of a variety of paths…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Badentarbet Net Shed

Commercial salmon fishing was carried in Coigach for over 250 years, up to 1995. During its commercial heyday the fishery encompassed a number of buildings at the Badentarbet Fishing Station, and among the remaining buildings is the 180-year-old former Ice House building (last used as a net shed) which faced further deterioration and permanent disuse. The aims of the project…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Isle Martin Croft House

Isle Martin croft house as it was   Isle Martin is a community owned island looked after by the Isle Martin Trust. The Croft House is one of the oldest existing buildings on the island, and was recorded in the 1875 Ordinance Survey. It is a traditional drystone lime mortar building that can offer sleeping accommodation for 6-8 people, but…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Achlochan Coastal Heritage

Waymarkers will help guide visitors along the coastal walk.   The natural shelter of the Achlochan peninsula, its coastal location, the presence of inland fresh-water and readily available construction materials have sustained settlers since the Iron Age. Geologists believe the reed bed in Achlochan loch – the largest in Wester Ross, and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) –…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Artist in Residence

Over the lifetime of the project (until lockdown restrictions affected our plans) artists, selected through a process of recruitment and interview, spent time in the project area living and working alongside either a single project or possibly a number of projects, to explore how the project’s processes and outcomes can be expressed and interpreted in artistic forms. The periods of…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Music & Tales of Coigach & Assynt

A living landscape is more than just scenery; it is the interaction between people and place. Stories, music and song reflect these interactions, helping us better understand where we have come from and where we might go. Coigach and Assynt have a wonderfully rich cultural heritage – the area was Gaelic speaking until three or four generations ago and it…
Paths and Access

Coigach & Assynt Heritage Signage Project

Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape Partnership (CALLP) has several heritage projects that have increased the understanding of local heritage.  The Partnership has also created greater links between the area’s historic and natural heritage and the tourist organisations of Coigach and Assynt. This project aims to highlight this heritage for both Coigach & Assynt on a specially designed map, to be…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Assynt Fisheries Oral History Project

Lochinver, in Assynt, has been an important centre for fishing from before the Herring Station was built in 1775. This project sought to record the present status of the fisheries and the remembered history and stories associated with the development of fishing around the peninsula in living memory by local people. The project aimed to chart and record the evolution…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Clachtoll Ranger Hut

Clachtoll Broch – the ranger hut will allow us to interpret the fascinating history of this Iron Age broch for visitors     The aim of this project is to replace the ranger hut at Clachtoll with a structurally sound building with a larger display area to house a wider range and more in-depth interpretation of the natural, cultural, and built heritage of…
Paths and Access

Fox Point Path

Fox Point Path winding around the coast.   The path around Fox Point provides a recreational route from the crofting village of Polbain to the Pier of Old Dornie. The Fox Point Path improvements, which have now been completed, allow better access by residents and visitors, enabling them to appreciate the natural beauty of this part of the Coigach coastline.…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Fox Point Bothy

  This project aims to restore a beautiful old stone bothy built in the mid nineteenth century as accommodation and storage for the salmon fishers who worked all along the coast in Coigach. Commercial salmon fishing was carried in Coigach for over 300 years, up to 1995. The earliest mention has been found in the Cromartie Estate records, and refers…
Built and Cultural Heritage

Acheninver Hostel renovations

Acheninver Hostel is set in Coigach and has been an iconic part of the local landscape for a long time. It is a former 18th century croft house, owned by Scottish Wildlife Trust as part of Ben Mor Coigach Estate.  The croft house became a Scottish Youth Hostel Association (SYHA) youth hostel in 1938 when hiking and hostelling were the…
Paths and Access

Cnoc nan Each Bridge Repair and Upgrade

The beautiful setting of Cnoc nan Each Bridge, Glencanisp. c. Boyd Alexander/Scottish Wildlife Trust   The aim of this project was to repair and upgrade the bridge giving access to Cnoc nan Each to help maintain good access to parts of the Assynt Foundation estate, and its historic built heritage, and allow more woodland planting to go ahead in the…
Paths and Access

Glencanisp Nature Trail

The centre for the community owned Glencanisp Estate is the Glencanisp Lodge area which contains the office for Assynt Foundation, a Community Arts building, a pole barn, a local pottery and a walled garden.  This area also marks the start of the path to Suilven, a walk and hill climb which takes on average 9 hours to complete.  There is…
Paths and Access

Culag Woods and Little Assynt Paths

Culag Community Woodland Trust Ltd (CCWT) owns and manages, on behalf of the community, two areas of land in Assynt for amenity use: Culag Woods – a 40 hectare mixed woodland in Lochinver, and; Little Assynt – a 1,200 hectare estate approximately 5 miles east of Lochinver.     Both contain a variety of paths which have been worked on…
Paths and Access

Quinag Summit Paths

Quinag’s paths are exposed to some of the most extreme weather that the Assynt area experiences throughout the year. The paths are also extremely popular with both local and visiting hill walkers, and have predominantly evolved over time due to recreational access. They were in mixed condition as a result of this access and the harsh climate. The erosion not…
Paths and Access

Acheninver Coastal Path

The Acheninver Path has been used by walkers to access the youth hostel for at least the last 100 years. It links to a network of local paths forming a circular route that includes the core path between Achduart and Culnacraig and onwards from Culnacraig round Ben Mor Coigach to Strath Cannaird. To the north the path links to a…
Paths and Access

Postie’s Path

The Postie’s Path is a spectacular coastal walking route linking the communities of Coigach and Ullapool, passing through Ben More Coigach, Scottish Wildlife Trust’s largest wildlife reserve. It stretches for about 7 miles/11 km along the coast between Achduart and Blughasary, taking in magnificent coastal views. It is one of three traditional routes that people used to take around Ben…
People Training and Wildlife

Community Grants Scheme

The Community Grants Scheme (CGS) supported activities at a community level that complement those taking place through the wider Landscape Partnership Scheme (LPS) and provide benefit to people living within the project area. The intention was to encourage as wide a range of groups and individuals as possible to get involved with and benefit from the LPS. Small grants were…
People Training and Wildlife

Natural Heritage Data Project

The Assynt Field Club set up a website in 2009 to provide a window to Assynt’s natural heritage and landscapes for local residents, visitors to the area and the wider scientific community.  It also encourages observations to be contributed.  From 2013-14 the website received 1,441 contributions. The previous website only allowed the display and storage of limited information from these…
People Training and Wildlife

Marine Project

The culture and prosperity of Coigach and Assynt has been linked to the sea for centuries but as sea health has diminished many of those links have been lost. This project builds on previous work undertaken, particularly that of the Highland Seashore Project, to give greater prominence to the local marine environment. The project area includes the Wester Ross Marine…
People Training and Wildlife

Sustainable Deer Management

Deer management in Scotland is overseen by NatureScot, with decisions and actions at a local level undertaken by Deer Management Groups (DMGs) who co-ordinate activity between the landowners and managers within each area. The CALL area falls within the West Sutherland Deer Management Group (WSDMG) which itself is split into four sub-groups, two of which fall within the CALLP Scheme…
People Training and Wildlife

Crofting Project

Crofting is a unique social system which stems from the Highland Clearances of the nineteenth century, and has played a crucial role in shaping the landscape, natural environment, cultural heritage and social economy of all the crofting counties. In the project area there are three main areas under crofting tenure: the Coigach Peninsula, the Assynt Coast from Lochinver north to…
People Training and Wildlife

Woodland Artisan Courses

This project aimed to fulfil local demand for training courses using local timber and woodland resources to create products such as spoons, bowls, furniture, hazel hurdles, baskets and wild food products. Courses were run from the start of the Scheme in conjunction with the local learning centre at various locations throughout Coigach and Assynt. The aims of the project were…
Land and Conservation Management

Soil Fertility Research

In the rocky landscape of the North West Highlands soil is a rare and precious resource both for agriculture and woodlands. Inland, Assynt benefits from patches of limestone bedrock which provide occasional oases of fertile soil. Although the soils of this area have not been studied in detail, recent research across the North Atlantic region and Scotland has revealed that…
Land and Conservation Management

High Value Open Habitats Survey

There has been some extremely important survey work undertaken in the past of these internationally important habitats. However, in areas this survey work is incomplete and where data is available it is often not in a modern web and GIS compatible format. The aims of this project were to: Obtain more information on a range of lesser-known but both high-value…
Land and Conservation Management

Freshwater Lochan Survey

As you explore Coigach and Assynt you can’t help but notice the enormous amount of freshwater lochans; it’s no wonder that this is an important habitat for wildlife but also a large attraction for visitors and anglers. Many a photographer, artist and ecologist have flocked to the area to see the beautiful views the lochans enhance, and the wildlife they…
Land and Conservation Management

Hazel Wood Audit

The Atlantic Hazel woods are one of Scotland’s most ancient woodlands, and they are likely to have been present in the project area for over 9,500 years. People have made use of the hazel resource in Coigach and Assynt in many ways over thousands of years. They are important for a whole range of connected species but in recent years…