Organised by SCOTLAND: The Big Picture (SBP), The Big Picture Conference will bring together land managers, rewilding practitioners, community groups, policymakers, researchers, students, businesses, and nature enthusiasts from across the country.

The event’s wildfire panel will explore the relationship between rewilding and wildfire risk, and examine one of the most topical questions currently facing nature recovery: does rewilding have a wildfire problem?

The discussion will be one of the first major public conversations on the subject since the recent wildfire at Abernethy, as cross-sector calls mount for the Scottish Government to convene a Scottish Landscape Resilience Summit.

‘The Abernethy wildfire has rightly intensified the debate about how Scotland prepares for a changing climate,’ says SBP’s Chief Executive Officer, Lisa Chilton. ‘We need to move from debate to action, and a Scottish Landscape Resilience Summit, bringing together land managers, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, scientists and policymakers, is the surest route to a long-term, coordinated strategy to tackle the growing threat.

‘Our conference provides an important opportunity to keep this issue high on the agenda, hear different perspectives and explore what practical solutions might look like. There’s a huge amount we can learn from each other, and I’m looking forward to hearing from both our panellists and the audience.’

Centred around the themes of ‘Rewilding with people and place’ and ‘Coexistence in rewilded landscapes’, the conference programme will feature high-profile speakers including author and science communicator Chantal Lyons, Rewilding Europe’s Head of Upscaling Amy Duthie, and Trees for Life CEO Steve Micklewright. They will explore some of the pressing topics in Scotland, from community-led rewilding to the potential reintroduction of Eurasian lynx.

Headline sponsor, SSEN Transmission (SSEN-T), is supporting this year’s conference as part of its commitment to working with communities and partners to support a nature-positive transition across Scotland.

Alongside the diverse programme of talks in the main auditorium, attendees can choose from a range of lunchtime breakout sessions covering subjects including nature finance, careers in rewilding, ecological monitoring, woodland restoration and amphibian and reptile conservation.

‘The Big Picture Conference brings together people shaping the future of land, policy, nature and communities,’ continues Lisa. ‘It’s a chance to hear different perspectives, share experience and build connections across the growing rewilding movement. We’re really looking forward to welcoming a diverse audience from across Scotland and beyond.’

Since launching in 2019, the biennial conference has become a focal point for Scotland’s growing rewilding movement. This year’s programme reflects the increasing focus on nature recovery in Scotland and the potential for restoring healthy ecosystems to deliver benefits for biodiversity, climate, local economies and communities.

Tickets for the Big Picture Conference are available here: www.scotlandbigpicture.com/conference