Isaac Johnston has been appointed as Project Officer at Skiddaw Forest, our newest nature reserve, where he’ll 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, Isaac joined us as an apprentice, on the Green Futures Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust scheme. Back then, he said he was enjoying “learning how to look after nature reserves, and I’ve tried my hand at coppicing and scything.”   

His two-year apprenticeship stood him in good stead, as 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 brings a wealth of experience with him, so how does it feel to be back where it all started? 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’ll 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 £1.25m. 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, we 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, we were soon able to complete the purchase of England’s highest nature reserve.