about Us
Who we are, what we're doing and why we're doing it
Restoring
Upland Nature
home to the south of scotland
golden eagle project
About us
Hello
Restoring Upland Nature is a new charity and the new home of the award-winning South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project.
The organisation’s purposes are the advancement of environmental protection or improvement by promoting the conservation and restoration of Golden Eagles and other upland species in the UK.
The South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project has successfully reinforced the formerly small, isolated and vulnerable population of Golden Eagles in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway.
Golden Eagles have a long history in the South of Scotland. From east to west, populations were once healthy with the Golden Eagle playing an important part as an apex predator in the ecosystem. Over the last couple of centuries, human activity and changes in land use has caused populations in the south to fall as low as 3 breeding pairs.
However, through a series of translocations over a period of 5 years and greater cooperation between stakeholders, the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project has increased numbers to the highest in 300 years with around 50 Golden Eagles now calling the south of Scotland their home.
Custom-built aviaries were constructed and sited at confidential locations in the Southern Uplands with the first eaglets arriving in early summer 2018 for a short two month stay before being released into the Moffat Hills. Subsequent translocations between 2019 and 2023 further secured a place for Golden Eagles in souther skies.
Funded by Heritage Lottery and LEADER Scottish Borders and D&G, the project has brought together a diverse collection of countryside users to ensure the wellbeing and successful future of the Golden Eagle in the South of Scotland and to secure a place for this iconic symbol of wilderness and freedom for future generations to come.
Prepared for take off
Guided by the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations, the team undertook a formal assessment of habitat and other management measures to reinforce the population in the South of Scotland. These reports concluded that the South of Scotland could support up to 16 breeding pairs of Golden Eagles.
NatureScot subsequently granted a licence to the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project to undertake a translocation of Golden Eagles over a 5-year period.
For more information and to download the full commissioned report, please go to our links page.
Learning by doing together
The partnership of landowners and conservation community was critical for the successful delivery of this project. It builds on long-term, ongoing work by all concerned to improve the status of raptor species across Scotland. Our partners were:
- The Southern Upland Partnership (host partner)
- Scottish Land and Estates
- RSPB Scotland
- NatureScot
- Scottish Forestry
This unique partnership paved the way to major benefits for a range of other projects between landowners and conservationists, highlighting best practice in terms of partnership working and 'learning by doing together'. Links to all our partners and funders websites can be found on the scrolling bar at the bottom of this page.
inspiring local communities
The majority of people across the South of Scotland were unaware that Golden Eagles still inhabited territories in Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders. However, these populations were fragmented and vulnerable. We believed that there was a significant opportunity to utilise this historic and exciting presence to inspire local people and rebuild a sense of pride and guardianship in a southern population of Golden Eagles.
The project team worked tirelessly to ensure coverage across the South of Scotland. from Stranraer to St Abbs, and engaged with as many people as possible. Our Community Outreach Officers were out and about delivering talks, walks and activities as well as Eagle Schools; a curriculum-linked programme for primary schools to discover the life-cycle of a Golden Eagle as well as some of the challenges it faces and the benefits to society.
A key component of our work was to collaborate with landowners, managers and conservationists to help improve communication and ensure all stakeholders were fairly represented throughout the project.
get in touch
If you are interested in knowing more about the project you can follow our blog which will be updated regularly with all the latest news, Eagle updates and the exciting developments of the new charity, Restoring Upland Nature (RUN).
You can also reach us via email: cat@restoringuplandnature.co.uk
VISIT THE MOFFAT 2025 GOLDEN EAGLE FESTIVAL PAGE HERE
Partners
