Planting a vision: why the secret to rewilding success is about people, not trees

How do you persuade farmers and the local community to join one of Scotland's biggest land restoration projects? Call in a psychologist

A hunter, conservationist and psychologist are working on a rewilding project. It sounds like the start of a joke, though the antics of this unlikely trio have not ended in a punchline but one of the UK's largest land restoration projects.

They have been collaborating on the Affric Highlands scheme, which covers an array of woodlands, peatlands, montane, river and coastal habitats between the west coast of Scotland and Loch Ness. The aim of the project, announced this week, is to rewild half a million acres (200,000 hectares) of land - by rewilding the people who live in it.