Bright Green Nature is a nature restoration charity based in the Scottish Borders.
We are thrilled to launch our new website with a special gift for you – a Mindful Minute from Deer Park. Please take a moment to pause, breathe, and immerse yourself in the peace of this beautiful place. Notice how it makes you feel and let nature’s calm inspire you.
Our aim is to empower and enable communities to protect nature in the places they love and to restore and protect rare and vulnerable habitats.
We work exclusively at small scale and grass roots level, working alongside communities to restore the places that they value.
We rely on the help of our valued volunteers and partners to achieve our ambitions.
Get in touch to learn how you can join us and help to make a difference.
We restore and protect the health and resilience of natural ecosystems, by:
Restoring, protecting and connecting habitats to conserve and improve abundance and resilience of native biodiversity
Restoring and protecting ecosystem function, health and resilience
Supporting and conducting research into ecosystem restoration practices; dissemination and interpretation of results to benefit nature and people
We connect and engage people with nature, by:
Improving the connectivity of people with Nature so that they are motivated to protect it
Making nature accessible to all; reaching new audiences through using nature to connect with people in innovative ways
Connecting people with their natural and cultural heritage to understand its importance in shaping how we understand nature and how we live with nature in the future
Empowering communities and individuals to learn new nature based skills and knowledge, to improve wellbeing and employability
📣Last week, we were delighted to launch our new Climate Engagement Project in partnership with Scottish Borders Climate Action Network at The Haining.
🌿The project will help educate and engage local people on how nature restoration can support climate change mitigation, and we were so pleased to celebrate the launch with talks from Lisa, Karen and Megan. Megan then led a thoughtful climate and water walk around The Haining, giving everyone the chance to explore the landscape and reflect on the connections between climate, water and nature.
💚It was a fantastic afternoon of conversation, learning and partnership, and we’re excited to begin this new project together. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the launch such a success.
🙏This project is made possible thanks to funding from The Scottish Government's Climate Engagement Fund.
I'm delighted to share that Mark Holmes has joined Bright Green Nature as our new Chief Executive!
As Mark steps into this exciting role, I will be moving into the position of Chair of Trustees, having had the privilege of serving as Chief Executive since founding the charity in 2022. This marks an exciting new chapter for Bright Green Nature, and I couldn't be more pleased to be handing over to someone with Mark's experience, energy and vision.
It has been an incredible journey helping to build an organisation dedicated to connecting people with nature, restoring ecosystems, and empowering communities across the Scottish Borders.
I am immensely proud of what our team have achieved together – from restoring habitats and creating opportunities for young people, to supporting communities, schools and families to take action for nature. None of this would have been possible without the passion and commitment of our staff, volunteers, trustees, partners and supporters.
Leadership transitions are significant moments, but they also create opportunities for renewal, fresh ideas and new ambitions. I look forward to supporting Mark and the team as we continue our mission to restore nature for present and future generations.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey so far. I'm excited to see what the future holds for Bright Green Nature. 💚 🌿 🌍
Yesterday I attended an awards ceremony at St Peter's Primary School in Galashiels, where every child in P7 (26 children in total) was receiving their John Muir Awards Certificate. Their teacher (Richard Bramhall) had signed the class up for this, and it has clearly been a huge success. Every Monday afternoon the whole class has spent most of their time outdoors learning about nature - and they have learned a huge amount.
The children were incredibly enthusiastic sharing stories of their experiences, and talking about everything they had seen (and heard) whilst being outdoors. The confidence with which they shared their new found knowledge was striking, and there is no doubt that this is something that will stay with them, and will have an impact on them and on other family members, for many years to come.
We are proud to have supported Richard (and his P7 class), and we presented Richard with a copy of Tom Bowsers book - The Waters of Life, in recognition of his contributions to outdoor learning for the younger generation. He really did go above and beyond!
🌿🐿️🏫213 EVENTS IN JUST 6 MONTHS🌿🐿️🏫
Our brilliant engagement team has been busy connecting with communities, schools, volunteers, young people, and landowners across a fantastic mix of projects. Thank you to everyone who has been part of it — and a huge thank you to the team and our funders for making it all happen. 💚
