Christmas is a time to reflect on what we give to those we love, and as people who love nature and the outdoors, we ponder how we can give back to the landscapes that give us so much in return.

This year the Walkers’ Britain & Europe team found ourselves drawn to a very special corner of the English Lake District: Skiddaw Forest, a high upland area in the Cumbrian Fells, and the setting for an ambitious natural regeneration project.

This is a place many of you, our travellers, already know. The Cumbria Way runs right through the heart of Skiddaw Forest, crossing open ground shaped for centuries by grazing and grouse moor management. It is also a landscape on the cusp of remarkable ecological change, led by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, whose work we are proud to support.

About the Project

The Skiddaw Forest Restoration Project is a long-term, landscape-scale effort led by Cumbria Wildlife Trust to bring biodiversity and nature back to one of the Lake District’s most remote uplands. Ironically, despite its name, Skiddaw Forest is largely treeless today. The natural woodland was cleared in the Viking and Medieval eras, replaced by grazing and then later by grouse moors used for recreation by the local gentry and sheep farming.

The project aims to reverse centuries of decline by replanting native woodland, restoring peatlands and encouraging wildlife to return. Covering 3,000 acres and recognised for its rare habitats and species, the area will be fully regenerated through natural processes and sensitive planting, with the goal of creating a thriving, self-sustaining mosaic of heath, bog, woodland and montane grassland. There will be no plastic tree guards marching across the hillside. Instead, the Trust is taking a natural, landscape-first approach, planting native species like willow, birch, aspen, rowan and oak. 

Walkers on the Cumbria Way will see this transformation unfolding beneath their feet, as this remarkable landscape slowly recovers its natural character and biodiversity.
 

Perfect Partners

As a Cumbrian born and bred, and Walkers’ Britain & Europe Chief Product Officer, I was delighted to learn about the Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s work to regenerate a beautiful area with native species. Since April of this year, we have partnered with the Trust to help them raise funds for baseline surveys and seed propagation to play our part in giving something back to the landscape. 

A Personal Visit

Back in late September I swapped my desk for my boots and headed up to Skiddaw Forest with the team from Cumbria Wildlife Trust to learn more about the project. It was a stunning autumn day of glorious sunshine. As we hiked up to Skiddaw House, one of the most remote youth hostels in England, we learned more about the plans to reforest this area of land which has been denuded of natural species.

Seeds from the local area are being collected by volunteers, including school groups and people taking part in social-prescribing programmes. One of the Trust’s outreach officers told me how much the hands-on work means to people and it’s great to see such brilliant community involvement in my home county. 

Why It Feels Right for Walkers’ Britain & Europe

Standing there with the team and some of the supporters, I felt strongly that this is a project that fits who we are. It sits right on one of our classic routes. It is thoughtful and experimental in all the best ways. And it brings together community, conservation and research - with Cambridge and Lancaster Universities already involved - in ways that gladden our Walkers’ hearts!

How Your Support Is Already Helping

For every booking you make with us, we set aside a small sum to add to the fund. Many of our hikers kindly choose to add a further donation when they book. So far this year, thanks to you and the World Expeditions Travel Group Foundation, we have donated £2000 to the trust. This donation is helping to fund the ecological surveys now happening across the site, as well as seed propagation that will take place over the winter. Our funding target is to donate a further £4000 over the coming year! 

Thank you for walking with us this year, and for helping places like Skiddaw Forest start a hopeful new chapter. Here’s to giving a little back and to many more miles and trees in 2026.

If you would like to offer further support this project, you can donate here at our World Expeditions Donations Page.