The John Muir Trust is a membership-based conservation charity dedicated to the protection and experience of wild places.
Ben Lomond Gin was inspired by the natural beauty of Ben Lomond, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. It is a magical place, and one which only exists as we know it today due to the outstanding effort of John Muir, the founder of the National Park movement. Creating a symbiotic partnership with the Trust responsible for the creation and protection of this area was a clear choice for us.
Every element of our Gin was inspired by the mysterious sense of wilderness here… the sheer majesty of The Ben, the brilliant colours of the flowering heather on the hills and glens and the wonderful, wild Scottish berries to be found within the rich woodlands of the Trossachs. One of the unique ingredients in Ben Lomond Gin is the native Scottish rowanberry, carefully foraged from the shores of Loch Lomond.
We are committed to ensuring that we give something back to the land from which we have harvested these beautiful red berries, which is why we are so delighted to partner with the John Muir Trust and help fund their Wild Woods Campaign, dedicated to the experience, protection and repair of this wonderful, wild place.
The Trust operates in Scotland, England and Wales, and are the guardians of some of the finest wild places in the UK including Ben Nevis, Helvellyn and Schiehallion. The Trust exists to help people connect with and experience wild places; protect wild places from development that compromises their character; and work with others to enhance, repair and rewild ecosystems and landscapes.
Founded in 1983, the Trust is inspired by the life and works of John Muir (1838-1914), the Scots-born founding father of modern conservation and the inspiration behind national parks. Working with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, the Trust has engaged thousands of people with the area’s wild places through the John Muir Award.
⬥ To inspire people by encouraging them to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places and wild nature and to get involved in managing and repairing natural systems.
⬥ To protect and conserve wild places across Britain, seeking to reduce the twin threats of inappropriate development and damaging land management practices.
⬥ To repair and rewild suitable areas of land by enriching biodiversity and by working collaboratively with others to achieve landscape-scale restoration of natural processes (for example, the expansion of native woodlands).
Five thousand years ago, as much as 60% of the UK was covered with trees, but centuries of loss caused by human impact, browsing by deer and sheep, the spread of non-native plants and animals and the impacts of climate change have left us with a vastly different landscape. Forests play an essential role in providing clean air, carbon storage and soil retention, as well as providing important habitats for many of our rare and threatened species, yet today, native woodland covers just 4% of the UK , and remaining areas of ancient woodland are extremely sparse.
The Trust’s Wild Woods programme is putting a spotlight on native woodland restoration in all the wild places we care for, initially focusing on two of the wildest – Li and Coire Dhorrcail on Knoydart, and the Strathaird peninsula on Skye. Over the next three years, Trust staff and volunteers will plant 50,000 native trees on Skye and Knoydart. This will include Scots pine and birch – and also rowan, the essential botanical of Ben Lomond Gin. Long term this planting will allow nature to recover, restoring ecological balance and improving native habitats so that wildlife can thrive.
