Nature

Trust concerned as Scottish Government approves first wind turbines on wild land

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Paul Webster

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

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Ben Dolphin

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

Posted on October 9, 2016 by David Lintern

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

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Helen Webster

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

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Paul Webster

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

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Mark Avery

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

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Helen Webster

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

Posted on August 1, 2016 by David Lintern

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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Judges overturn judicial review decision on Stronelairg wind farm

Posted on July 23, 2016 by Paul Webster

A huge and highly controversial windfarm in the Monadhliath mountains looks set to go ahead once more after judges overturned the decision of last years’ judicial review following an appeal. The windfarm had originally been given planning consent by the Scottish Government in 2014, but wild land conservation charity the John Muir Trust had challenged the decision, and a judicial review last December judges had found that the government’s decision had been “defective”, overturning the plans. However SSE and the Scottish Government appealed against the ruling, and judges have now overturned the judicial review. The original decision to grant consent…

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Hen Harriers return to Mar Lodge

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Helen Webster

A male hen harrier chick was satellite tagged today at the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge Estate, following the first successful breeding attempt on the estate by this iconic raptor species in several decades. Four chicks were produced in total and one of these has been tagged as part of the RSPB’s Hen Harrier LIFE project, which is part-funded by the European LIFE scheme and cosmetics company, LUSH. David Frew, Property Manager at Mar Lodge Estate said “It is fantastic news and really exciting to see these birds returning to the estate for the first time in living memory.…

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