Shortly after buying Mar Lodge Estate in the late 1990’s, the National Trust for Scotland set about removing the bulldozed Land-Rover track which was a very visible scar up Beinn a’ Bhuird. The NTS ecology team have recently been out monitoring the re-vegetation which has followed the ground-breaking restoration work. These fixed point photos show that the re-vegetation is progressing nicely and you can see a huge difference between 2002 and 2016, which has greatly reduced the visual impact on the landscape.
Nature
Report finds slow growth for red kites in Northern Scotland
Reintroduced red kite numbers are on the rise throughout much of Scotland, with at least 283 pairs in 2015, but a new Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) report has found the population in the North Scotland continues to grow more slowly than other reintroduced populations. The report updates earlier work and suggests that illegal killing is still considered to be the main reason red kite numbers are not higher in North Scotland. The report, commissioned by SNH and carried out by RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science, found that, although not at risk of decline, the red kite population in North Scotland…
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Trust concerned as Scottish Government approves first wind turbines on wild land
The John Muir Trust has expressed concern over today’s decision by Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse to consent the application for the Creag Riabhach wind farm at Altnaharra estate near Lairg in Sutherland. The development will mean the construction of 22 turbines, up to 125 metres high – roughly the height of Scotland’s tallest structure, the Glasgow Tower – in north west Sutherland. Five of the turbines will fall within the boundary of Wild Land Area 37 (Foinaven-Ben Hee). Stuart Brooks, Chief Executive of the John Muir Trust said: “Naturally, we are very disappointed and concerned. This is the first such…
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The State of Nature and the Sixth Great Extinction
On 14th September the national TV stations, airwaves and social media were buzzing, obsessed with just one massive headline. The story had broken two days earlier but every subsequent day brought new earth-shaking revelations that required still more analysis and discussion as to the potential impacts on the nation. This was, after all, something major and something serious, something that affected millions of people. Yep, a weekly marquee-based show about cakes was moving from BBC1 to Channel 4!! <faints> Little else got a look-in that week. Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union address got a passing glance, as did the…
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Paddling the Scottish Everglades
David Lintern makes an amphibious journey to the wild woods of Knapdale, on the trail of a real amphibian – the Eurasian beaver. We arrived late and set up our not so stealthy camp in the dark, a little too close to the single-track road. No matter, we’d be gone early in the morning. The waters of Caol Scotnish were absolutely flat calm, and to our surprise given the lack of a breeze, there was only a solitary midge, looking a little lost and lazy. We made a late night brew and stayed up for a while, enjoying the tranquillity.…
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Helicopter warning for Sligachan footpath repair
Walkers are being warned that, weather permitting, helicopter lifts will take in place in Glen Sligachan on Skye. on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd September as part of the John Muir Trust’s ongoing programme of path repairs. Following the first phase of restoration work on the Druim Hain path that was carried out last winter, phase two starts in September. It includes further work on the Druim Hain path from Glen Sligachan to Loch Coruisk, plus pre-emptive work on Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach where the steep path is in danger of becoming badly eroded. The helicopter lift will bring stone into…
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Report shows Scotland’s seal numbers rise
Harbour seal numbers around Scotland’s coast have increased over the last five years following years of decline, according to survey results published today by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). However, the latest counts continue to show a clear east – west divide in fortunes for the protected species. Scotland-wide August seal surveys are carried out over an approximate five-year cycle on behalf of SNH by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of St Andrews. The latest report presents results of 2015 surveys carried out in Shetland, the Moray Firth, the Firth of Tay and on Scotland’s southern coasts,…
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Mark Avery: The Inglorious 12th
With the grouse shooting season upon us once more, environmental campaigner Dr Mark Avery asks for support from walkers. We all head into the hills to get away from it all, to refresh our souls and to get back to nature. But the hills of much of east and south Scotland and the north of England, even in National Parks such as the Cairngorms National Park and the Yorkshire Dales National Park, are landscapes subjugated to the interests of one narrow land use: intensive grouse shooting. Concern, alarm and anger are growing over grouse shooting, and there are things that…
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UK’s smallest butterfly boosted by Ayrshire golf courses
Habitat for the UK’s smallest butterfly is expanding along the Ayrshire coast thanks to a project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership with Butterfly Conservation Scotland and local links golf courses. The small blue butterfly had been completely absent from Ayrshire since the 1980s. The species bred successfully for the third year in a row on the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Gailes Marsh reserve and neighbouring Dundonald Links this summer after work to create large areas of kidney vetch (the butterfly’s only food plant), and a carefully managed translocation in 2013. Greenkeepers on a number of links courses south…
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A remarkable walk: Beinn Eighe Mountain Trail
David Lintern is woo’ed by the Beinn Eighe woodlands. This visit to Coille na Glas Letire – ‘the wood of the grey slope’ – was something of a pilgrimage for me; it’s where British Conservation stopped being theoretical and became physical. In 1951, Beinn Eighe and its surrounds became the UK’s first National Nature Reserve. At the start, there was much disagreement and debate about how best to care for the rare and beautiful fragment of Alpine rainforest that sits between Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree – after all, there was no precedent. Over the decades since, a range of…
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