Employees at Absolute Escapes, an award-winning tour operator based in Edinburgh, walked 1,156,671 steps this July while taking on the Step Up for Wild Places challenge.
Step Up for Wild Places is a UK wide challenge created by wild places charity the John Muir Trust, aimed at organisations keen to keep their workplace active while at the same time supporting the environment.
Participants are able to choose between four of the UK’s most iconic peaks — Ben Nevis, Schiehallion, Blà Bheinn, or Helvellyn — and collectively ‘climb’ its height in steps during the working day over one or more weeks, all while raising funds for the conservation of Britain’s wild places.
20 members of Absolute Escapes took on the challenge between Monday 7 to Friday 11 July, climbing the equivalent of Ben Nevis 38 times and raising £100.
Their funds raised will go directly towards the Trust’s vital conservation work at Ben Nevis, including peatland restoration, native tree planting, removal of invasive species and path repairs.
Beyond raising funds for wild places, the initiative also promoted wellbeing, with co-founder Andy Gabe sharing that the team reported improved mood, better concentration and lower levels of stress during the week they took on Step Up for Wild Places.
One member of Absolute Escapes told us: “We really enjoyed the competitive aspect of the challenge in the office and it absolutely got us to walk about more, even after that week.
“Our next team social involved going up Arthur’s Seat, which was definitely inspired by the challenge.”
Another participant added: “Taking part in Step Up really encouraged me to get out at lunchtime, and it made a noticeable difference to my mood and energy levels.
“It was motivating to see everyone getting involved and keeping active together.”
Ailsa Colquhoun, Corporate Partnerships Manager at the Trust, said: “We were thrilled to hear about the positive impact our Step Up for Wild Places challenge had on the wellbeing of the Absolute Escapes team and their connection to nature.
“It’s inspiring to see how a workplace challenge like Step Up can make a real difference for both wellbeing in the workplace and the conservation of the UK’s wild places.
“We’d like to thank Absolute Escapes, as well as all the other organisations who have taken part in the challenge so far, supporting our vital work on wild mountain landscapes.”
The John Muir Trust publishes three key manifesto asks for the upcoming Scottish parliamentary elections
In May 2026, voters in Scotland will head to the polls for the last time before we hit the critical 2030 deadline for nature and climate action. The next cohort of parliamentarians and the Government will have the monumental task of delivering a nationwide effort to restore nature by 2030.
Wild places are absolutely critical to the success of this national mission. Without proper protection for wild places, nature will not be able to rebound.
With so little time left, the Trust has decided to focus its advocacy efforts on three key asks.
To reach the Scottish Government’s nature restoration targets, we need a significant reduction in Scotland’s deer population. For this to happen at scale, it also needs happen at pace. The National Deer Management Plan financially rewards landowners and land workers who are being proactive and enabling nature restoration by carrying out sustainable deer management.
We are asking political parties to commit to:
The principle of a National Deer Management Plan
Funding that plan by redirecting existing subsidies to total £59 million over the first four years of its implementation
Increasing the annual deer cull from 180,000 to 250,000
Such actions will help triple Scotland’s total woodland creation target while saving £900 million in taxpayers’ money. They will enable natural regeneration and colonisation at scale – creating an additional 350,000ha of native woodland. And they will put an end to peatland degradation caused by overgrazing and trampling.
This policy is supported by all major landowning environmental charities alongside Scottish Environment LINK, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, Community Land Scotland and the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association. It is being co-developed with the Association of Deer Management Groups as part of a pilot scheme for 2025-26 announced by the Scottish Government in its last Programme for Government.
Read more about the National Deer Management Plan here.
Introduce a CELT (Carbon Emissions Land Tax) Bill
The Carbon Emissions Land Tax is a great example of a tax that enacts the key principles of Polluters Pay and Just Transition. It is a grown-up, transparent behavioural-change tax that rewards nature and climate conscious landowners and penalises those who are unwilling to manage land in the public interest.
The tax will help local communities build wealth and resilience in the face of the climate and nature crises. The tax would be implemented on a local authority level, and the proceeds would therefore also go back to the local community. Earmarked for climate and nature initiatives, this revenue would empower local councils to fuel a growing environmental sector, providing livelihoods in rural areas.
Here, we are asking political parties to commit to:
Introducing a CELT Bill by May 2026
Ensuring that the CELT Bill follows the principles of behavioural change taxes by creating an escalating system for tax rates over time
Ensuring that the CELT Bill applies to all large landowners in Scotland, defined as owning over 1,000ha.
Doing all of the above will result in three essential outcomes. It will remove 6m tonnes of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere annually by 2040. It will enable nature restoration at an unprecedented scale by positively impacting more than 60% of Scotland’s land, owned by the approximately 800 largest landowners. And it puts the Polluter Pays and Just Transition principles into action by disincentivising harmful environmental practices, while ensuring revenue from the tax is reinvested in the communities most affected by polluters.
Our Carbon Emissions Land Tax proposal is supported by over 50 organisations, community groups, trade unions, churches and businesses representing over a million people in Scotland. It is also backed by a 4-to-1 majority of Scots according to a YouGov poll.
You can find more details about the tax mechanism and answers to common questions here.
Legislate for a new Nature Restoration designation and review the planning system
In difficult times, we must make choosing nature easier. The Nature Restoration designation does just that by giving communities, private and charitable landowners the choice and autonomy to protect wild places now and into the future.
This new designation focuses on reducing the threats and pressures to nature and biodiversity, as opposed to current designations which focus on protecting the little that is left, condemning the country to work from a degraded baseline.
Rather than protecting specific characteristics, the new Nature Restoration designation focuses on combating a variety of threats, from INNS to pollution, helping us empower nature to do what it does best: grow, diversify, thrive. This is a nature designation for the 21st century that allows nimbleness in the face of changes brought on by the climate and nature crises.
In challenging times, we must make it easier to choose nature. The new Nature Restoration designation empowers communities, private landowners, and charities to protect wild places – now and for generations to come.
Unlike existing designations that focus on preserving what little remains, this forward-looking approach tackles the root causes of biodiversity loss. It shifts us away from a degraded baseline and toward a thriving future.
Rather than protecting isolated features, the Nature Restoration designation addresses a wide range of threats – from invasive species to pollution – giving nature the space and support it needs to grow, diversify, and flourish.
This is a designation built for the 21st century: adaptive, ambitious, and responsive to the twin crises of climate and biodiversity. It’s a bold step toward restoring Scotland’s natural legacy.
In this case, we are asking political parties to commit to:
Creating a new statutory designation aimed at setting aside land as areas where natural processes take the lead
Ensuring that the new designation protects land from industrial developments
Designating 10% of Scotland’s land as nature restoration areas.
Doing this will once again bring three essential outcomes. It will institutionalise the land management concepts that underpin nature restoration. It will protect areas of land of low biodiversity value from development long into the future.
And it will popularise the concept of nature restoration among the wider public, prompting people to see landscapes through a rewilding lens.
As we get closer to election day, the John Muir Trust’s policy team will be busy lobbying behind the scenes to get these commitments on party manifestos. To be successful, we will need strong public support.
Irreverent video with TikTok creator Jarad Rowan launches ahead of busy camping season
Ramblers Scotland has today launched a new short film featuring Scottish TikTok star Jarad Rowan, aimed at encouraging responsible wild camping in Scotland.
Jarad, known as @LittlestChicken to his hundreds of thousands of social media followers, discovers five ‘Rules of Wild Camping’ during a trip to Borders Forest Trust’s scenic Corehead estate near Moffat.
The light-hearted video – supported by NatureScot and John Muir Trust – shows Jarad learning where to camp, what to pack, where to go to the toilet outdoors, how to leave no trace and the importance of using stoves rather than lighting fires.
Jarad, aged 21 from Stranraer, said: “This was such a great project to be involved in and I had the best time filming! It was also really cool to be shooting in Dumfries & Galloway. There are some lovely spots here in Scotland. I’m wondering does this make me an icon in the world of wild camping now?!”
The film has been planned by Ramblers Scotland alongside a team of young adults – the target audience – who have completed Ramblers Scotland’s Out There Award, which helps 18 to 26-year-olds kick-start their journeys into the outdoors.
Ramblers Scotland director Brendan Paddy said: “Scotland has world-class landscapes for everyone to explore. Getting more people active outdoors more often will help make Scotland a happier and healthier nation.
“It can also provide valuable income for rural communities and help more people feel inspired to protect the places where we all love to walk.
“The challenge we now face is making sure that the welcome increase in people getting outdoors is backed by the support needed to ensure people have the knowledge and opportunities to enjoy the experience responsibly.
“I hope our new film will support people – especially beginners – to plan fun, responsible nights out under the stars.”
Ramblers Scotland and partners have launched the video ahead of what is expected to be a hugely busy summer for Scotland’s outdoors, particularly as many festivals, indoor parties and overseas travel remain off limits.
In fact, a recent study by the David Hume Institute (DHI) showed 36% of people in Scotland spent more time outside in nature last year than before – with 58% intending to spend more time outside in future.
It will be shown across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok throughout the summer.
Viewers are linked to a detailed new webpage at ramblers.org.uk/wildcamp that helps beginners plan safe and fun wild camps in Scotland.
The video campaign is part of a wider programme of visitor management activities led by VisitScotland and Scottish Government with public, charity and private partners.
Together the partnership aims to deliver not just communication and education activities about enjoying the outdoors responsibly but also to address issues related to infrastructure and to co-ordinate direct engagement with visitors to prevent problems arising.
Last year, antisocial and irresponsible behaviour by a small minority of visitors in some popular locations caused real issues for the environment, local people, and other visitors. This summer is expected to be even busier, so it is vital that people act responsibly.
The film was produced by Edinburgh-based video agency Heehaw.
