As well as providing useful information about the surrounding natural area (e.g. trails, routes) and relevant information about this (e.g. routes’ terrain, length, degree of difficulty, changes in altitude), the trail centres also educate users on how to behave in nature. Codes of conduct educate users about how to respect nature while enjoying their sport/activity in a natural environment. For example, centres may provide information about how to respect nature when walking, running, or cycling on the local tracks, trails, and routes.

Some centres also provide information about the natural and cultural history on the routes, increasing users’ awareness of their natural environment.

The Trail Centres act as physical spaces that increase and improve access to physical activities in nature, contributing to physical and mental well-being.

Their carefully chosen locations in proximity to nature (forests, water, and trails) help establish freely accessible, round-the-clock meeting places and start-points for outdoor sporting activities. As some are located close to urban areas, they also provide a gateway from urban to natural environments. 

Their combination as an all-in-one clubhouse, provider of service facilities, and meeting and training space, makes them ideal sites for local sports associations to use, as well as un-affiliated groups or individuals. This provides a space for socialising within, and between, sports and promotes relationship-building amongst users and with local sports associations.

Providing access to service facilities participation in outdoor sports activities (e.g. bicycle pumps and cleaning stations; covered training space; functional training equipment (stairs, monkey bars, TRX, etc.); storage space for equipment; and changing rooms/showers/toilets). As sites for borrowing equipment (e.g. map and compass, roller skis, SUP boards, etc.), the centres also encourage people to try new activities in nature in an affordable manner. 

The trail centre project was built on cross-sectorial cooperation. The five trail centres that are being built have all been developed and built in close collaboration with stakeholders across different sectors. These included the local municipalities where the centres would be built, the local sports associations who would be using the sites, local citizens and would-be users, as well as other interested parties. 

The participatory approach included holding 4 to 5 workshops with stakeholders to understand user needs, ideas, etc. This both enabled and ensured dialogue between the architects involved in the planning and design processes of the trail centres and the users/interested parties. Dialogue with architects also ensured that the buildings’ aesthetics, as well as functions, met stakeholders’ wishes.

The activities provided, or facilitated, by the trail centres were developed in collaboration with the local actors and associations. A participatory approach to planning also gives the users and local community a greater sense of ownership and helps ensure a sense of community between actors and across their respective sports.

Additionally, the development of the minimum criteria for determining the location and functions of the trail centres arose through cross-sectorial collaboration between project members.

To ensure the success of trail centres, the project members developed a number of minimum criteria for the location and design of the trail centres. Criteria was also established regarding the minimum service functions that the trail centres need to accommodate as well as the information that centres need to present. 

Minimum criteria:

• located at the centre of a varied range of trails, routes, and tracks that are preferably marked
• situated in an interesting park area, terrain, landscape or natural area
• information about e.g. the routes’ terrain, length, degree of difficulty, changes in altitude
• parking spaces
• a common room that all sports associations can use
• a covered area for e.g. gatherings, warm-up stretches, abdominal exercises
• a good range of relevant service functions

Each of the centres that have been, or are being, developed adhere to these minimum criteria. They are all located in or near natural environments that provide access to different outdoor sporting activities. Core service functions are integral to the architectural designs of each centre. 

The purpose of this block was to assess how successful the reinforcement was. Field sign surveys of all water bodies and waterways in Knapdale were conducted every six months alongside camera trapping. Additionally, there was an intensive capture and sampling effort in 2019 to help establish breeding success and, in 2020, a survey to investigate any potential expansion by the beavers outside of Knapdale. The RZSS WildGenes team measured genetic diversity in the Knapdale population post-release, comparing it to the pre-release genetic diversity. 

The purpose of this block was to ensure each beaver was released according to best practice, maximising welfare and survival chances. Beavers to be released were given individual identification numbers, received a full health screening by the RZSS vet team and had blood samples taken to genetically confirm they were Eurasian (Castor fiber) and not North American (C. canadensis). The beavers were released into lochs known to be vacant either alone, in pairs, or in family groups. After each release, the location was checked 24 hours later and then a field sign survey conducted six weeks post-release. Each release loch was also monitored for six weeks between release and field sign monitoring with camera traps.