In recognition of Scotland’s rich history of storytelling the Scottish Wildlife Trust launched the Words of the Wild campaign in 2024.

This year, we are once again asking you to tell us your stories of Scotland’s wildlife and wild places within the theme: From source to sea.

Whether it’s a memorable moment on a riverside walk, an amazing experience at one of Scotland’s seabird colonies or an epic encounter on one of our snorkel trails, we would love to hear about it.

Submissions can be in English, Scots or Gaelic up to 1,000 words long and written in any form: poem, letter, short story, essay, song lyrics – whichever works best to tell your story.

This year’s competition is in association with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and supported by the Riverwoods Blueprint Project and Sea the Connection, both led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

A winner from each age and language category will be selected by our panel of judges and will receive an amazing prize bundle:

Adult winners (18 years and over)

• A pair of Badger binoculars from Viking Optical
• A £100 NHBS wildlife equipment voucher
• A selection of 5x nature books from Canongate
• A copy of Snorkelling Britain from Wild Things Publishing
• A 1-year subscription to British Wildlife magazine
• A bottle of the Trust’s 60th anniversary Connell’s Wild Scotland gin from Selkirk Distillers
• A year’s membership to the Trust or one of our wildlife adoptions