The John Muir Trust has launched a campaign to save Wild Land Area 34 in Sutherland, which has been targeted by three separate energy companies for large scale onshore wind farms. Together, the three applications potentially threaten the Reay-Cassley Wild Land Area with a total of 65 turbines, each three times the height of the Skye Bridge, along with tens of miles of access roads and other infrastructure. The Trust fears that if these developments are given the go-ahead, the entire Wild Land Areas map, agreed by the Scottish Government in June 2014, could be undermined. Two of the applications…

A photography project with a difference was launched during the weekend at the Cairngorms Nature Festival and walkers are being asked to help. Cairngorms Scenic Photo Posts have popped up all over the Cairngorms National Park and anyone with a camera, tablet or smartphone can get involved in this new project to look at how our landscape changes over time. The wooden posts are at 14 stunning locations across the Cairngorms National Park and set up so that the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CPNA) can monitor woodland regeneration, land use change, settlement change, the pattern of snow lie, the processes…

Scots are being urged to report any sightings of one of Britain’s rarest and most threatened birds of prey, the hen harrier. Hen harriers are large birds of prey found mainly in moorland areas throughout Scotland. The male performs a spectacular, acrobatic courtship display which, together with the graceful and seemingly effortless flight of the birds, have earned them the nickname, ‘Sky Dancer’. Hen harriers used to be a familiar sight on Scottish moorlands, but the latest numbers indicate there are only around 500 pairs. Factors affecting the birds’ survival include illegal persecution, a loss of nesting habitat and feeding…