A project officer has been appointed for a new Lake District nature reserve.
Isaac Johnston has been appointed at Skiddaw Forest, Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s newest nature reserve, where he will be growing trees that will form the new Atlantic rainforest.
Isaac is returning to where his career in conservation started, 10 years ago.
In 2016, he joined Cumbria Wildlife Trust as an apprentice, on the Green Futures Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust scheme.
After his two-year apprenticeship, he went on to work in two conservation roles.
At the John Muir Trust at Glenridding, he worked on several landscape-scale conservation projects, carrying out plant propagation, habitat and species monitoring, and community engagement.
He later became Thirlmere resilience project officer where, as well as running a tree nursery, carrying out moth surveys, running volunteer days and tree-growing, he also worked with groups of volunteers seed-collecting for Skiddaw Forest.
Isaac said: “Skiddaw Forest is such an iconic project – what a great opportunity!
“The work is similar to what I’ve been doing before, but opportunities like this don’t come round often – to help create a legacy for future generations – so I jumped at the chance.”
Isaac is currently busy with boundary repair work at Skiddaw Forest – making the fencing stock-proof and improving paths – and engaging with local groups and communities.
He will soon be working in the tree nurseries which are being set up to grow native seedlings, for planting on Skiddaw Forest later this year.
Isaac said: “We’re using the gold standard of trees, from locally-sourced seeds. Given the high altitude and exposed nature of the site, this is crucial, to give them the best chance to get them established.
“There are pockets of upland woodland and montane scrub left in the lakes but Skiddaw offers a unique opportunity to bring back these habitats on a landscape scale.”
In September 2024 Cumbria Wildlife Trust launched a successful fundraising appeal for Skiddaw Forest, which raised £1.25 million.
The development of Skiddaw Forest near Keswick, a 100-year vision, will see the restoration work across 3,000 acres of habitat, including just over 1,000 acres of peat bogs and the creation of 620 acres of Atlantic rainforest.
Prior to the Skiddaw Forest fundraising campaign, Cumbria Wildlife Trust had already secured £5 million, thanks to a long-term partnership between The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva and additional support from charitable funders.
With this, and the thousands of people who donated to the campaign, the charity was soon able to complete the purchase of England’s highest nature reserve.
