I suspect John Muir, the father figure of the worldwide conservation movement, would have been delighted to know a long-distance walking route, a coast-to-coast route to boot (pardon the pun), had been created in his name across the land of his birth.

On face value a route between Dunbar and Helensburgh has as much appeal as diving with sharks but in reality it passes through some delightful landscapes, as I discovered on a walk which followed the Union and Forth and Clyde canals between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The great advantage of this walking route is that it is close to the large conurbations of Scotland and I've no doubt that many thousands of people will use it.

My real hope is that people will remember John Muir and his legacy. It was through his campaigning and writing that the USA gave national park protection to many of the nation's landscapes.

Here in Scotland, his homeland, we are losing our wild lands at a rate that will have John Muir turning in his grave, largely at the expense of a burgeoning onshore wind industry and a proliferation of bulldozed tracks. Our politicians should remember Muir's words: "In wildness is the preservation of the world."

l Cameron McNeish is editor-at-large of TGO magazine