RSPB Scotland has issued an appeal for information after a young hen harrier, fitted with a satellite tag as part of the charity’s EU-funded Hen Harrier LIFE project, disappeared on an Aberdeenshire grouse moor. “Calluna”, a female harrier, was tagged this summer at a nest on the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge estate, near Braemar. Her transmitter’s data was being monitored by RSPB Scotland and showed that the bird fledged from the nest in July. She left the area in early August, with the data showing her gradually heading east over the Deeside moors. However, while the tag data…

Mountaineering Scotland and the John Muir Trust are both calling for full protection for wild land in planning policy – mirroring the protection given to National Parks and National Scenic Areas – following the outcome of a judicial review which upheld Ministerial approval for a wind farm on a wild land area in one of Scotland’s most valued landscapes. In October last year Scottish Ministers gave permission for the development to go ahead, but Danish businessman and landowner Anders Povlsen, whose Wildland Ltd owns the neighbouring Ben Loyal, Kinloch and Hope & Melness estates, raised a judicial review to examine…

New research released by one of the UK’s leading conservation charities has highlighted the potential benefits for Scotland’s tourism industry of protecting the country’s unique Wild Land Areas from industrial-scale development. A survey carried out by YouGov on behalf of the John Muir Trust reveals that the majority of Scottish adults – 55 per cent – are “less likely” to visit scenic areas in Scotland if they contain large scale infrastructure, like commercial wind farms, electricity transmission and super-quarries. Just three per cent said they were “more likely” to visit such areas, while 26 per cent said that the existence…

A family of beavers found living on a river in the Beauly area in the Scottish Highlands are to be trapped and put into captivity following a decision by Scottish Government Ministers. Trees for Life, the charity which discovered the group, says the family should either stay where they are or be relocated locally. Film from camera traps set by the conservation experts from the charity in mid-June clearly show the presence of a mother and at least two young kits swimming and playing with their mum. Trees for Life shared news of the discovery with Scottish Natural Heritage and…