Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival
Conservation storytelling in action.
2026 tour dates will be announced soon
ECFF26 Trailer
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About our festival
The Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival showcases powerful, well-crafted films about conservation in practice.
We highlight the people, places, and projects actively working to restore, protect, and reimagine the natural world. Rather than focusing solely on environmental challenges, ECFF is dedicated to stories of action, progress, and meaningful change already underway.
Our goal is simple:
To celebrate conservation storytelling that informs, connects, and inspires.
The festival aims to show people the importance of biodiversity conservation for all of us, and to give agency to individuals to make positive impacts on global biodiversity. Each film select for the programme must convey a positive message of what we can achieve for the benefit of biodiversity conservation and our shared society, highlighting humanity’s links with the natural world.
The Festival Experience
ECFF is a one-day film festival held in Edinburgh, bringing together filmmakers, conservation organisations, and audiences interested in the future of the natural world.
Each edition includes:
• A curated programme of conservation films
• A live panel discussion with conservation and storytelling experts
• A networking session for filmmakers, organisations, and attendees
• Featured conservation partners showcasing real-world projects
• Audience awards and partner prizes, including industry-supported recognition
The festival takes place at the National Museum of Scotland, creating a unique space where storytelling, science, and public engagement meet.
Featured Conservation Partners
ECFF brings together conservation organisations working on the front lines of environmental change.
Our featured partners showcase real-world projects in biodiversity conservation, habitat restoration, wildlife protection, rewilding, climate action and community-led environmental initiatives
These organisations are an integral part of the festival experience, connecting audiences directly with conservation in action.
Supported by
ECFF is made possible through collaboration with partners across conservation, culture, and industry.
This Year’s Films
The Detectorists
The Detectorists is a coming-of-age story about Cariad, a young detection dog learning to use her powerful nose to help protect wildlife. Set on the riverbanks of rural Wales, Cariad teams up with her owner Lee and seasoned sniffer dog Neo on a mission to uncover signs of otters—an elusive, protected species.
But learning to read the land isn’t easy, and Cariad has a lot to prove. With every scent trail and muddy pawprint, she edges closer to becoming a vital part of the conservation team.
It’s a story of instinct, training, and finding your place—one sniff at a time.
Sarah-Jane Walsh, Natalie Clements
The Land Remembers
In 1969, during South Africa's apartheid era, the Makuleke people were forcibly removed from their ancestral land to create a protected area. But in a landmark 1998 legal decision, they were given the title deed to their territory, an event hailed as a world-class conservation agreement.
The film serves as an inspirational look at how combining human rights with conservation can lead to a more sustainable future for both people and the environment. It demonstrates how a community's enduring connection to its land can drive global solutions to sustainability challenges.
Nathan Rice
Paul LavoldHorses and High Water: Restoring Tincup Creek
Horses and Highwater is about the Western way of life: community, conservation, and collaboration. Trout Unlimited’s ongoing restoration efforts at Tincup Creek exemplify all of these traits, as they work closely with Caribou-Targhee National Forest – by hand, foot, hoof, and helicopter – to bring these restoration projects to life in the Salt River watershed.
Oliver James CouchThe Living Layer
Beneath the wild moorlands of Southwest England lies a broken system. "The Living Layer" follows the dedicated team racing to restore Britain's damaged peatlands before it's too late—rewetting ancient bogs, rebuilding habitats, and locking away carbon that's been escaping for centuries. The work of several lifetimes begins now.
The Collection is Alive
The role of volunteers in conservation often goes unnoticed, but this short documentary brings their vital work into focus. Inside the vivarium at Manchester Museum, volunteers work alongside scientists and curators to protect and care for rare and endangered amphibians, forming a deep connection with these often-overlooked, wonderfully quirky animals.
Fleur Cartwright
SOS Puffin
This short film, narrated by Megan McCubbin, celebrates the incredible community effort of the SOS Puffin project to restore puffin numbers on North Berwick’s local islands, in the Firth of Forth. Hear from those involved in the beginnings of this amazing project, and those who continue to carry on this vital conservation work now.
This is a story of community, connection, and hope in the face of the major challenges that Scotland's marine environment faces today.
Jamie McDermaid, Emily Burton
An annual running event on the River Exe in Devon from early morning to dusk empathising with the migrating critically endangered Atlantic salmon as they undertake their epic journey from sea to spawning grounds on the river Exe in Devon.
John Salter, Anne-Marie Culhane, Pip PiperSalmon Run
James AppletonUllapool Sea Savers
The Ullapool Sea Savers explain what the sea means to them and why it is so important to protect it.
