Scotland is the only country in Europe which does not have a National Park. Almost half a century after their establishment in England and Wales, the Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, announced in September 1997 that Scotland will have National Parks, with the Loch Lomond and Trossachs area as the first. Yet, despite the fame of the district for its natural and cultural heritage, there has been no single comprehensive treatment to make knowledge of this available to the visitor. The addition of this latest regional volume on the celebrated Loch Lomonside to the New Naturalist Series is thus highly appropriate and well timed.
The district is one of the most diverse and beautiful in the Highlands, ranging from the lowland woods, farms and rivers of the gently contoured southern section, to the Loch itself with its numerous and mostly wooded islands, and the high alpine peaks of the mountains forming the northern watershed. Its natural history is rich and complex in similar measure, and no one is better qualified than the author of this book to do it justice. John Mitchell was, between 1966 and 1994, the Senior Warden of the Loch Lomond and Ben Lui National Nature Reserves established by the Nature Conservancy (now devolved in Scotland as Scottish Natural Heritage). In this role he was responsible for the care and management of the Reserves, including welcoming and informing the visiting public, which he did with great dedication. With the southern end of Loch Lomond lying within 16 km of Glasgow and its two million or so human inhabitants, the loch and its surrounds are extremely popular as a recreational area. There is a great love of the district and a demand for knowledge about it, but also a relentless pressure of people that increases the problems of nature conservation.
Besides his intimate acquaintance with the Reserves themselves, John Mitchell has gained a comprehensive knowledge of the wildlife of the whole district, together with its human history and the interactions between the two. His enthusiasm for animals and plants led him to explore the hidden corners of Loch Lomondside in his spare time, and to write extensively on his findings in the journals of both local and national societies. A natural warmth won him many friendly and helpful contacts among farmers, shepherds, foresters, gamekeepers, fishermen and other countryfolk, to whom he was the Nature Conservancy’s ambassador in this district. He continues in retirement to live within it, and to add to his 35 years’ knowledge of the area and its wildlife. This natural history, ecological insight and historical research he has admirably distilled into the writing of this book, which the Editors are pleased to welcome to the series, as in the best traditions of the New Naturalists.