The conservation of two significant Scottish landscapes and efforts to encourage more people to find their place in them are being supported by grants of more than £3 million.
The distinctive volcanic landscape of the Lomond Hills in Fife has been awarded £1.71m, and the "silvery" Tay near Perth has received £1.43m through Heritage Lottery Fund's (HLF) Landscape Partnership (LP) programme.
The Living Lomonds Partnership focuses on 34,100 acres of Fife taking in the Lomond Hills and contrasting communities to the north and south of them, including Falkland, Scotland's first conservation village and historic mining communities such as Benarty.
The hills, dominated by two volcanic plugs and a lowland plain, are home to a variety of wildlife such as ospreys, peregrine falcons, hen harriers, red squirrels and green tiger beetles.
The area also tracks the history of mining with some of the oldest examples from medieval times through to the deep pits of the 19th Century. Channelled water from Loch Leven fed many of the area's other industries such as flax spinning, weaving, bleaching, grain milling, distilling and papermaking.
Led by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, the LP aims to reconnect people with the hills so "they can understand, enjoy and celebrate the built and natural heritage that they share."
Woodlands, dry-stone walls and historic walking routes will be restored and new access paths created.
Meanwhile, the Landscape Partnership Scheme, led by Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, will involve more than 40 organisations in delivering 29 projects from across a 61,776 acre from archaeological excavations to the enhancement of the distinctive clay buildings of the Carse of Gowrie. The surviving historic orchards will be protected.
Access to the Tay will be improved with new path networks.
Colin McLean, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said the body was "delighted to support work bringing real cohesion to the natural and built heritage and reconnecting people with what often lies overlooked on their doorstep".
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