John Muir Trust

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The John Muir Trust (JMT), is a Scottish charity, established in 1983 to conserve and protect wild places with their indigenous animals, plants and soils for the benefit of present and future generations. The JMT is named after John Muir, the Scot who was the first person to call for practical action to safeguard and cherish the world's wild places. Building on John Muir's reputation in the USA, where he is regarded as one of the founding fathers of conservation, JMT has links with the Sierra Club, founded in California in 1892 by John Muir.

It describes itself as "United Kingdom's strongest voice for wild land and the wilderness experience". As of 2005 JMT owns and manages 59,000 acres (240 km²) of wild land in eight key areas in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It believes that sustainable conservation can only be achieved by recognising the special qualities of wild places and understanding the human factors which contribute to the landscape. The Trust works closely with local communities on and off its own properties and seeks to increase awareness and understanding of the value of wild places through the John Muir Award.

The Trust is keeping the British Isles's highest mountain, Ben Nevis wild and beautiful. As owner of the Ben Nevis Estate, it plays a key role in the Nevis Partnership, covering not only The Ben, but the wider Nevis area including Glen Nevis and the Allt a Mhuilinn leading to the North East Face. In Perthshire the Trust is restoring Schiehallion to its former glory by re-aligning the footpath and removing the ugly erosion scar of the old path. Elsewhere the Trust is bringing back beautiful native woodlands - with all their birds, animals, flowers and other vegetation, insects, mosses and fungi.

JMT helped establish the Knoydart Foundation which purchased the 17,000 acre (69 km²) Knoydart Estate in 1999. This was an historic moment for Knoydart and one which the Trust had spent 16 years trying to bring about, finally bringing the "rough bounds" into community and conservation ownership. JMT is the only external representative on the North Harris Trust which aims to manage, develop and conserve the North Harris Estate (Outer Hebrides) in a sustainable manner for the benefit of the community and the enjoyment of the wider public. In 2005 the JMT purchased the Quinag Estate in Sutherland and joined the Assynt Foundation (Lochinver) to assist them in purchasing and managing the neighbouring Glencanisp and Drumrunie Estates.

The John Muir Trust has given support to the Carrifran Wildwood project, initiated by the Borders Forest Trust. The Wildwood group purchased land in the Carrifran valley in the Moffat hills of Southern Scotland in 1999 and has started to recreate a large tract of woodland wilderness which will be used as an inspiration and an educational resource. JMT is working with the owner of two hill farms in the Cambrian Mountains of mid-Wales to maximise environmental benefit. He is responsible for the management and financing of the project, while the JMT will carry out surveys, develop detailed land management plans and offer advice and support as necessary.

Together with East Lothian Council, Dunbar's John Muir Association and Dunbar Community Council, in 1998 JMT formed the John Muir Birthplace Trust. The following year JMBT purchased the house at 126 High Street, Dunbar in which John Muir was born. They have turned it into an interpretative centre which tells the story of John Muir's early years in Dunbar, where he gained his great love of wild places and creatures.

The John Muir Award is part of the Trust's education programme. The award offers a progressive structure for learning about wilderness, nature and conservation. The JMT occasionally make a John Muir Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding work by individuals.