Alan Watson Featherstone

ECOLOGIST, NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER AND INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER
FOUNDER OF THE AWARD-WINNING CHARITY TREES FOR LIFE

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“Alan has been an inspiration for many decades, with the vision to see Scotland recover some of its forests.”
– Dr Ulrich Loenig, human ecologist

Public speaking

Writing

Photography

Image of the Week

This lichen (Cladonia coccifera agg.) with red apothecia on its podetia, found on the Findhorn Hinterland, is sometimes called 'lipstick lichen', and this example lives up to that name!

News

Rewilding workshop in Glen Affric 17-24 May 2025

A Rewilding Journey: Rewilding the World and Ourselves
A weeklong workshop with Alan Watson Featherstone & Pupak Haghighi
Glen Affric, Scottish Highlands

Birch tree & Scots pines overlooking Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin with blue sky & clouds, Glen Affric

Are you interested in Rewilding, in learning how you can take practical action yourself or in how to start up your own rewilding project? If the answer is yes then this weeklong workshop is designed for you. It will be based in a remote part of beautiful Glen Affric in the Scottish Highlands, site of a long running project to restore the Caledonian Forest. More details & bookings are here.

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About me

alan-watson-featherstoneWelcome to my web site! I am an inspirational public speaker, ecologist, nature photographer and writer based in the Findhorn Community in the northeast of Scotland.

In 1986 I founded the award-winning conservation charity, Trees for Life, which works to restore the Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands.

I care deeply about our planet, and have dedicated my life to protecting its biological diversity and sharing the beauty and wonders of the natural world through my photographs, talks and writing. Read more

My latest blog post

The abundant life of dead wood, part 3

This blog is the third in a series, and follows on from Part 1, in which I wrote about the role of fungi in helping to break down dead wood, and Part 2, which focussed on slime moulds. Here I’ll describe some of the invertebrates associated with dead wood, including springtails and mites.Springtail (Neanura muscorum) amongst common jellyspot fungi …

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