Meet Abi Wylde, new Ranger for Ross of Mull and Iona

Abi Wylde joined the Mull and Iona Ranger Service team in May,as Ross of Mull and Iona Ranger.

The post is the result of a partnership between the Mull and Iona Community Trust (MICT) and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and creates a full time post based at the south of Mull (from Pennyghael  south, also covering Burg) and on Iona and Staffa.

Abi covers the National Trust for Scotland properties of Iona, Staffa National Nature Reserve and Burg three days a week and the Ross of Mull and Iona for MICT the remaining two days.

Previously Jan Dunlop (pictured below – on the right, with Abi), Ranger Manager for MICTm has covered the whole of Mull and Iona.

Jan says: ‘It’s great to have Abi joining the Ranger Service Team. For the past 11 years I have largely covered the 350 square miles which is Mull and Iona single handed.

‘Having Abi covering the South of Mull, Iona, Staffa and Burg helps the Ranger Service cover the island more efficiently and means that community aspirations can be fulfilled’. (Saying nothing about easing the pressure on Jan.)

The new ranger will play a key role in protecting and promoting the natural heritage of this remote and rugged part of Scotland, renowned for its rich plant and animal life – from Staffa’s ever popular puffins, to slender Scotch burnet moths on Burg.

The new partnership is part of a drive by the conservation charity, NTS, to work more closely with others as it strives to inspire more people to embrace Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage.

The Trust’s Group Manager for Countryside and Islands South, Chris Cassels says: ‘We are really pleased to have joined forces with the Mull and Iona Community Trust to provide  ranger services in the area. Sharing the costs and expertise will benefit the community, visitors and help ensure that both organisations are working together to protect and promote the natural heritage of this beautiful part of Scotland’.

Abi comes to the post from the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where she was working as Community Interpretation Officer, helping people to celebrate and share the special qualities of the area they live and work in. Abi  is also no stranger to the National Trust for Scotland, having worked at Glencoe as Education and Events Ranger, Mar Lodge as a seasonal ranger and having led Thistle Camps for a couple of years too.

She says: ‘I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in.  I have some fixed targets I have to achieve for both the National Trust for Scotland and MICT, but being employed by MICT means I am very much in the hands of the community and what they want from a ranger.  With an office and home in Bunessan I already feel part of the community, I’m just not taking sides when it comes to the Bunessan v Iona football match!’ (The annual Iona-Tiree match will give her no problem.)