At the Edge

In 2018, former Scottish Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing declared that the reintroduction of lynx to Scotland would happen "over my dead body."Seven years later, in 2025, First Minister John Swinney echoed that position, telling the National Farmers Union Scotland that lynx would not be reintroduced on his watch.These statements stand in stark contrast to the Scottish Government's own commitment to restore and regenerate nature by 2045.So, while scientists and conservationists continue to build an ever-stronger ecological case for bringing lynx back, the biggest barrier is no longer habitat or prey. It's politics.Additional info At the Edge is an independent media and communications platform exploring new ways for people and wildlife to thrive together.Follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee to support the production of future podcasts and other content.This episode of At The Edge is produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio and is kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Useful linksMeet the contributors from this episode on social media: Colin Murdoch, Lizzy Westman, Ruari Ormiston, John MacPherson and Ariane Burgess.My thanks to Charlotte Maddix for checking the finer political framing.Learn more about Lynx to Scotland and The Missing Lynx Project - both sites provide a wealth of information about lynx and the current conversation about their potential reintroduction.David Hetherington's book The Lynx and Us, is an excellent resource for background information about lynx.Read the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045.

Grouse shooting, sheep farming and predator control are all deeply embedded in the fabric of the British countryside. These practices, like many forms of land and wildlife management, are defended – in part at least – by tradition. But what does tradition really mean?In this episode, we explore why tradition carries such weight, whether it should be challenged, and how many of the practices we currently accept as 'traditional' would survive scrutiny if they were proposed for the first time today?Additional info At the Edge is an independent media and communications platform exploring new ways for people and wildlife to thrive together.Follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee to support the production of future podcasts and other content.This episode of At The Edge is produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio and is kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Useful linksMeet the contributors from this episode on LinkedIn: Katharine Hay, Thorsten Gieser, Dee Ward, and Jack Bamber.Read Katharine Hay's feature on the guga hunt in the Scotsman.Read the NatureScot statement on the guga hunt.Learn about Thorsten Gieser's position on wolves in Germany, and his recognition of the role of tradition.Learn about the Cairngorms Connect Predator Project.More background reading on the debate around driven grouse shooting:Environmental impacts of driven grouse shooting (published in Ibis).Sustainable driven grouse shooting by The Moorland Association.Alternatives to driven grouse shooting by Mark Avery.

At first glance, Scotland’s ‘deer problem’ appears to be an ecological issue: too many hungry mouths putting pressure on already depleted woodlands and peatlands.Beneath the surface, however, debates over deer numbers, deer impacts and deer economics, reflect a much deeper ideological divide about what the Scottish uplands are for, and who gets to shape their future.The deer problem, in other words, is really a people problem.Additional info At the Edge is an independent media and communications platform exploring how people and wildlife can thrive together.Follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee to support the production of future podcasts and other content.This episode of At The Edge is produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio and is kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Useful linksMeet the contributors from this episode on LinkedIn: Thomas MacDonnel, Donald Rowantree, Callum Leavey-Wilson, Sam Tedcastle, Nicola Williamson.Read Views from the Hill by Callum Leavey-WilsonLearn more about the work of The Common Ground ForumLearn more about the Affric Highlands red deer tracking projectLearn more about the Centre for Good RelationsLearn more about The Fiadh ProjectRead Peter Cairns' illustrated feature: "Monarch or Menace?"

Britain’s woodlands and grasslands were once shaped by vast herds of wild cattle — the now-extinct aurochs. But in a Dutch laboratory, scientists have brought these powerful herbivores back to life — in part at least.Tauros cattle share 95% of their DNA with the aurochs and have been bred to restore the natural grazing processes long lost from Europe’s ecosystems. Now roaming in increasing numbers across the Continent, could the Tauros fulfil a similar role in the UK? And if not, what’s standing in the way?Additional info At the Edge is an independent media platform that takes a deep dive into our relationship with wild nature, exploring pathways to living well with wildlife.Follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee to support the production of future podcasts and other content.This episode of At The Edge is produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio and is kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Useful linksMeet the contributors from this episode on LinkedIn:Grazelands Rewilding, Henry Dobson.Learn more about the work of Grazelands Rewilding here.Learn more about natural grazing here and here.Learn more about Tauros cattle.The availability of the excellent film 'Return of the aurochs' isn't clear, but you can contact the producers here. I have a copy myself, so let me know if you're keen to organise a screening and I'll try and help.

Wild boar are making a quiet comeback — not just in our landscapes, but in our conversations too.Attempts to hold boar captive in farms have repeatedly failed and today, pockets of these prolific digging machines can be found across the south of England and several parts of Scotland.Fans point to their ecological benefits – their rootling turns over the soil and their wallowing creates mini wetlands. They are to our woodlands what beavers are to our rivers.But this disturbance of the ground is what many people find unsettling. Wild boar strike a nerve because they not only dig in fields and forests, but in gardens, parks, golf courses… even cemeteries.And, it seems, they have a particular liking for bluebells.Additional info At the Edge is an independent media platform that takes a deep dive into our relationship with wild nature, exploring pathways to living well with wildlife.Follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee to support the production of future podcasts and other content.This episode of At The Edge is produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio and is kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Useful linksMeet the contributors on LinkedIn:Alex Davies, Calum Brown, Chantal Lyons, Toryn Whitehead, and Pete Moore.Learn more about Bunloit Estate.Order Groundbreakers, the excellent book about boar by Chantal Lyons.Read this interim policy brief on feral pigs in Scotland.Find out more about NatureScot's position on wild boar/feral pigs.Learn more about wild boar in England and view the Action Plan.

“People like you don’t understand the countryside.”It’s a sentence that ends conversations before they even begin.When it comes to disagreements on issues such as hunting, farming, rural tradition or rewilding, most of us don’t start with facts – we start with identity.Town vs country. Left vs right. Tradition vs change.Lines get drawn. Sides get chosen and suddenly, it’s not about the issue anymore, it’s personal - it's about 'people like you.'In this episode, we step beyond tribal labels, past the lazy assumptions, and into the conversations we’ve stopped having.Additional info At the Edge is an independent media platform that takes a deep dive into our relationship with wild nature, exploring pathways to living well with wildlife.Follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee to support the production of future podcasts and other content.This episode of At The Edge was produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio, and kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Useful linksVisit Colin Murdoch at Reraig Forest.Learn about the Cairngorms Crofters & Farmers Community.Learn about The Centre for Good Relations.Meet Sam Tedcastle, Matt Hay, Hugh Webster, Ruaridh Ormiston and Julius Purcell.I'd thoroughly recommend three podcasts hosted by Julius Purcell as part of the Rewilding Earth series, in which he explores the resurgence of wolf, bear and Iberian lynx in Europe.

In August 2025, a farmer from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, claimed that sea eagles had taken five of his Shetland pony foals.Whether this happened—or could happen at all—remains unproven, but the incident ignited a media storm and brought a key question back into focus: How do we balance nature recovery with the needs of rural livelihoods?In Episode #3 of At the Edge, Peter Cairns explores the complex factors shaping perceptions around the resurgence of these charismatic birds.Additional info At the Edge is an independent media platform that takes a deep dive into our relationship with wild nature, exploring pathways that allow us to live well with wildlife.Follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee to support the production of future podcasts and other content.This episode was produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio, and kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Useful linksWatch the RSPB film "The Return", a celebration of white-tailed eagles (or 'sea eagles'.)Learn about the Sea Eagle Management Scheme in Scotland.Learn about the reintroduction of sea eagles to southern England.Learn more abut the work of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation.Learn about Tom Fry's research on attitudes towards sea eagles.Thanks in this episode go to Alice Bacon, Lewis Pate and Ewan Miles of Nature Scotland. Thanks too to the many people who have offered their views on this subject.

Almost wherever they roam, wolves attract controversy.Today, Europe is home to more wolves than at any point in modern history, and although the UK remains a wolf-free zone, their growing presence on the Continent provides a valuable window into our own willingness to embrace a wildlife comeback.In Episode #2 of At the Edge, Peter Cairns speaks to author Adam Weymouth and journalist Annick Hus, about what wolves are, both in reality and in our imaginations.Additional info and useful linksThis episode was produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio.Check out Adam Weymouth's excellent book, The Lone Wolf.Meet Annick Hus and learn more about her writing on wolves.Listen to The Wide Open podcast episode about wolves (highly recommended).Read Yellowstone Wolves by Doug Smith. There are a number of other excellent books on this subject, all of which provide a fascinating insight into our complex relationship with this animal.Find out more about our supporter, Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Learn more about At the Edge and follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky. And if you like what we do, please consider Buying Me A Coffee.

The UK has lost more of its wildlife than almost any other country. So, for some, the return of sea eagles, beavers, wild boar and pine martens is a rare and uplifting conservation triumph. For others, this wildlife resurgence represents a threat to rural livelihoods and an erosion of countryside traditions.So, how much wild are we willing to live with? And who gets to decide?In Episode #1 of At the Edge, host Peter Cairns speaks to expert guests who each shine a light on the social, cultural and political barriers facing Britain's wildlife comeback.Additional info and useful linksThis episode was produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio.Check out Jonny Hanson's book Living with Lynx with Lynx.Meet David Hetherington, Darragh Hare and Kirsten Brewster.Find out more about our supporter, Ballintean Mountain Lodge.Learn more about At the Edge and follow us on Instagram, or join me, Peter Cairns, on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

Across the UK, sea eagles, beavers, wildcats and wild boar are all staging a comeback. Calls for the return of lynx grow louder each year.But as wildlife rebounds, it’s confronted by a society that has long forgotten how to live alongside wild nature – and isn’t sure it wants to try.Join Peter Cairns, host of At the Edge, as he explores the fault lines that divide opinion over nature’s place in our future.Discover more about At the Edge