Our wardens, Claire and Iain, have spent the past few weeks engaging with visitors to the Outer Hebrides, encouraging them to follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code as well as the local Outer Hebrides is a Special P.L.A.C.E (Parking, Litter, Animals, Camping & Engagement) campaign, and gathering feedback on their experience as they enjoy exploring our beautiful islands.
Claire and Iain are employed by Community Land Outer Hebrides who led a consortium bid to NatureScots Better Place Fund 4 in partnership with Barvas Estate Trust, Carloway Estate trust, Galson Estate Trust, Norther Harris Trust, West Harris Trust and Uig Development trust representing Bhaltos Communtuy Trust and Gallan Head Community Trust.
Claire and Iain are pictured at Luskentyre after a beach clean, organised by West Harris Trust, at the beginning of August
The focus of this year’s project is engagement at hotspot locations identified by partner trusts, with the aim of encouraging responsible enjoyment of the Outer Hebrides and gathering the views of people visiting these trust partner areas through a survey that will help identify what is working well and where improvements can be made.
Claire and Iain have been interacting with visitors across various hotspot sites, engaging with the local community and building links with other organisations. From her experience in the role so far, Claire has found that a diverse mix of visitors from all over the world seem to have one thing in common – how special they feel these islands are. She has enjoyed providing visitors with information about how they can help keep the Outer Hebrides beautiful and give back to the local community. Although some of the local infrastructure does not support high visitor numbers at peak season, visitors have been providing really positive feedback and have generally been receptive to encouragement to behave responsibly and respectfully.
Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram accounts to hear more about what Claire and Iain are up to day to day.
Claire Fisher claire@communitylandoh.co.uk
Iain Farrell iain@communitylandoh.co.uk
This project is supported by NatureScot, through the Better Places Fund