It has been an exceptionally hard summer for Highland. The wildfire in the Cairngorms has brought loss and disruption to communities, livelihoods, and critically important and significant ecosystems. Many people are still responding to the wildfire and living with its effects. Our sincere thanks go to everyone involved in the response.
Highland Adapts has not had a role in that response, but many of our partners have. We are grateful for all they have done and continue to do. For information about the wildfire response and recovery, including support available for residents and businesses, please visit the responding agencies’ websites, including the Highland Council, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland, and the Cairngorms National Park.
Strategy
The Highland Climate Change Risk & Opportunity Assessment (HCCROA) set out climate change risks for our region, wildfire among them. That evidence is already shaping awareness and informing decisions across Highland. The next phase of our work is about moving from evidence to delivery, supporting projects that strengthen climate across the Highlands resilience. We are more motivated than ever to work on this together.
At the start of June we published our partnership strategy for April 2026 to March 2027, setting out our shared vision, ways of working, and delivery plan for the year ahead. If you have not already, we hope you will read the strategy. It is available on our website.
Advisory Panel recruitment
Also in June, we opened recruitment for the first Highland Adapts Advisory Panel. We were pleased by the strong response, with expressions of interest from across sectors and across the region. Through July we have been speaking with prospective members individually. We are working towards the Panel’s first meeting at the end of August, and we look forward to introducing its members in a future update.
Sharing our learning
In June we joined colleagues from regional climate partnerships across Scotland to share our experience of developing the HCCROA, passing on what worked well, what was challenging, and what we would do differently as several regions begin their own assessments.
In early July we welcomed Gillian Martin, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs, to the Glen Mhor Hotel in Inverness to discuss climate resilience across the Highlands. You can read a full account of the visit and the three key messages we shared in our blog post.
As always, thank you to all our partners. We look forward to sharing further progress soon.
Photo credit: Peter Jolly/Northpix