
Who we are
The people behind the Alliance
The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest is a voluntary partnership of 24 organisations all committed to collaborative working for the benefit of the rainforest. As such, we don’t have our own staff - our strategy is driven forward by the ASR Steering Group. This group is comprised of individuals from our partner organisations who lead on particular work strands, working with groups of people from ASR partner organisations and co-opted individuals from other organisations who provide the expertise, resource and capacity that we need to deliver our objectives. The Steering Group also receives support from contracted specialists. Find out more about our roles below.
-
Alistair Whyte
Alistair is Head of Plantlife Scotland and is responsible for overseeing Plantlife’s activities in Scotland. He sits on the steering group for the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, and contributes to several of the delivery groups as well.
-
Charlie Davis (contracted specialist)
Charlie is ASR’s Natural Capital Advisor. As a Partner at Sylvestris she advises rural businesses on sustainable land management, specialising in natural capital markets. She is the co-lead of the ASR Natural Capital Finance Group, and supports all aspects of ASR’s approach to natural capital, to ensure that private finance can deliver sustainable and equitable environmental and social outcomes to landscape-scale rainforest restoration.
-
Dave Beaumont
As RSPB’s Director for South Scotland, Dave oversees RSPB’s rainforest work in Loch Lomond National Park and in Morvern. He also chairs the Loch Lomond and the Trossaachs Countryside Trust. He sits on the Steering Group and provides strategic input to the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest.
-
Diane Leishman
Diane works for The Woodland Trust as the Project Development Manager for the Our Rainforest Futures project, which is about building capacity in rainforest communities. This role has overall responsibility for running and managing the two-year development phase of the project and producing a funding bid for the delivery stage. She works closely with the teams at the three hub locations (Morvern, Torridon and Argyll).
-
Erin Shott
Erin co-leads the NGO Rainforest Advocacy Group, which is made up of ASR eNGOs and Scottish Environment LINK. She is responsible for finding and co-ordinating advocacy opportunities that can help temperate rainforest restoration. Erin is the Advocacy Officer (Rainforests) for Plantlife.
-
Gordon Gray Stephens (contracted specialist)
Gordon is the Saving Scotland’s Rainforest Advisor. Born and brought up in Argyll, Gordon is a Director of Native Woods Coop and an independent woodland management consultant, and as such has decades of experience in woodland management in Scotland’s rainforest zone. As well as advising on rainforest management, he contributes to several other workstreams including advocacy, communications, community engagement and finance.
-
Jenny Bennett
Jenny co-leads the ASR Fundraising Delivery Group which co-ordinates and supports our work to find significant, long-term funding to support landscape-scale rainforest restoration. She also sits on the ASR’s Natural Capital and Landscape-scale Projects groups. She is a Development Officer for Woodland Trust Scotland, leading on fundraising for the Trust’s major rainforest projects, such as at Glen Torridon and Loch Arkaig.
-
Jenny Tweedie
Jenny is the Communications Lead for the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, working through RSPB Scotland. She leads on the creation of communication strategies and supports the delivery of communications work, such as the ASR website and social media channels. She also coordinates the ASR Communications Delivery Group, a team of partner representatives who help plan and deliver rainforest communications. She has more than 20 years of experience working in journalism and comms, most of it in the field of conservation.
-
Jill Donnachie
Jill is the ASR Communications Advisor, providing strategic input into the development and delivery of the ASR communications strategy. Jill is Head of Communications for Woodland Trust Scotland and manages the communications lead for the Our Rainforest Futures project.
-
Julie Stoneman
As Saving Scotland’s Rainforest Project Manager, Julie has overall responsibility for driving forward the collaborative strategy of the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, and chairs the ASR steering group and General meetings. She also chairs the Landscape-scale Projects group and the co-chairs the Natural Capital Finance Group as well as the steering group of The Common Ground Forum – a related project around deer management. She is supported by Gordon Gray Stephens who provides strategic advice in project development.
-
Julie Young
Julie is the CEO of Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT), and leads ASR’s Saving Scotland’s Rainforest with Natural Capital Investment project. She also sits on ASR’s Natural Capital Finance Group and Communications Group, and is on the steering group of ASR’s Our Rainforest Futures project (led by Woodland Trust). ACT works across a major area of Scotland’s rainforest zone, and is leading two of ASR’s landscape scale projects – Knapdale and West Cowal.
-
Lucy Mason
Lucy co-leads the ASR Rainforest Research Working Group, which is bringing together and building collaboration between temperate rainforest researchers to identify and answer priority knowledge gaps around rainforest restoration and management. Lucy is a Senior Conservation Scientist for the RSPB and leads on RSPB’s rainforest research in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
-
Mark Brown
Mark co-leads the ASR Fundraising Delivery Group which co-ordinates and supports our work to find significant, long-term funding to support landscape-scale rainforest restoration. He also sits on ASR’s Landscape-scale Projects groups. He is the Grants and Trusts Manager for Woodland Trust, leading on fundraising for the Trust’s major landscape-scale work over all of the UK.
-
Oliver Moore
Oliver works for Plantlife Scotland as Lichen and Bryophyte Specialist (Scotland). His role in the Saving Scotland’s Rainforest project is putting bryophytes and lichens at the heart of temperate rainforest management. Oliver is the Habitat Management Lead for the Alliance and coordinates the ASR Monitoring and Management Delivery Group (comprised of representatives from various partner organisations).
-
Simon Ritchie
Simon is Policy & Advocacy Manager at Woodland Trust Scotland. Simon has a background in policy and public affairs, including in the land management sector. He co-leads the NGO Rainforest Advocacy Group, which is made up of eNGOs from ASR, and Scottish Environment LINK. Together with co-lead Erin Shott, Simon is responsible for identifying and pursuing advocacy opportunities that enable rainforest restoration.
-
Tim Hall
Tim has been passionate about our rainforests for a long time. He is one of the founders of the Alliance and sits on the steering group and various working groups. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and has worked in native woodlands for over 30 years. He is Head of Estate and Programmes for Woodland Trust Scotland and Chair of Trustees for Future Woodlands Scotland.