About Us

The Aigas Ethos

Our ethos is encapsulated in the quotation from the Scottish naturalist and author Gavin Maxwell, the memory of whom Aigas Field Centre is dedicated: "Man has suffered in his separation from the soil and the other living creatures of the world; the evolution of his intellect has outrun his needs as an animal, and yet he must still, for security, look long at some portion of the earth as it was before he tampered with it".

This was written in 1959. The world has moved on since then and we now know that, as well as learning from, looking at and pondering the wonders of wildlife and the natural environment, we have to take direct action to protect what is left of it and to educate ourselves to use it more wisely in the future.

Our Land Ethic -

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, one finds it attached to the rest of the world". John Muir

At Aigas we aim to foster and encourage an understanding of what it means to be sustainable at a practical level; this involves careful use and reuse of our natural resources. In our approach to the land, we aim to think about the ecological systems and functions and the importance of biological diversity associated with a wealth of species. These functions and species make up parts of the land; but as the great American conservationist Aldo Leopald describes (in Round River), "land is one organism - its parts compete with each other and co-operate with each other.The competitions are as much a part of the inner workings as the co-operations". We believe, as he did, that every part is good, whether we undersdtand it or not. "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering".

Education for All

"In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught". Baba Dioum.