Recently I have attended both the Spey Bay Really Wild Fest and the Knockando Woolmill Youth Education Event to raise awareness about trout ecology and the threats they face.

The Really Wild Fest was a great success with lots of visitors coming out down to Spey Bay to see the range of activities and stalls on offer. The MFTI stall was inundated with families trying to identify the sample of freshwater invertebrates from a local burn that included mayflies, stone flies, shrimps and many other exciting beasties. Many families also had a go at the trout habitat game.

The Knockando Youth Education day was more structured with groups of children circulating round a broad range of pre selected activities. The MFTI ran 3 sessions for 10+ year olds learning about the trout lifecycle and habitat requirements before conducting a habitat survey in the local burn