Conservation charity Trees for Life is offering people in Moray and Inverness-shire the chance to help restore the Caledonian Forest, learn new skills and enjoy time in the wild Highlands through a new scheme of volunteer day trips called Green Days Out. The charity is running 47 free Green Days Out this year, allowing volunteers to take part in practical conservation and forest restoration work in several glens to the west of Inverness. Locations include Glen Affric, home to one of the largest and least disturbed remnants of the Caledonian Forest, and Glen Moriston, where Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Estate…

Mark Beaumont, the renowned Scottish cyclist and ambassador of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, made a visit to Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve and Visitor Centre yesterday (Wednesday 2 March) to see the home of the UK’s oldest known breeding osprey, a bird which is hoped to return to Scotland in less than one month. Beginning the countdown to see whether the famous bird will return for its 20th breeding season, Beaumont learnt more about the remarkable history of this individual osprey, which, at around 24 years of age, has lived over three times longer than an average osprey and…

An order to trap escaped beavers in Tayside may be challenged in the courts by a newly-formed campaign group. The Scottish Wild Beaver Group, formed in January 2011 to lobby for the survival in the wild of beavers in East Perthshire, said the order by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to re-capture the beavers could breach EU law. SNH ordered the trapping of beavers in the Tay river system last November after up to 20 beavers were believed to have escaped from private collections in Angus and Perthshire and have been living and breeding in the wild. SNH told the BBC…

The fight against wildlife crime has been strengthened by a dedicated grant scheme which has seen a range of projects supported. Funding under the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland have been used for new and innovative schemes based on prevention, intelligence, and enforcement to tackle wildlife crime throughout Scotland Three of the successful projects are set to be discussed at the Scottish police wildlife crime conference at the Scottish Police College, Tulliallan, Perthshire, today (Wed 23 February). Examples under the £169,924 committed so far include: ● The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland received £20,000 towards a wildlife…

New figures released by Scottish Natural Heritage have added urgency to the John Muir Trust’s call for better protection of Scotland’s wild land. The ‘area without visual influence of built development’, one of Scottish Natural Heritage’s key indicators of the state of the Scottish environment, fell from 31 per cent in January 2008 to 28 per cent in December 2009. This drop represents an area around 14 times the size of Glasgow. Previous SNH figures showed the area without visual influence of built development had declined from 41 per cent to 31 per cent between 2002 and 2008. Helen McDade,…

A proposed extension to a wind development on the Isle of Lewis will further spoil one of Scotland’s most remote areas of wild land, according to conservation charity, the John Muir Trust (JMT) Visualisations prepared by the developer show some of the impact the full development will have on one of Scotland’s wildest areas. However, a key viewpoint from the summit of Uisinis, which would show the impact of the six-turbine extension, has not been fully examined due to health and safety reasons, according to the developer Crionaig Power. The JMT is objecting to the extension of the Muaitheabhal scheme,…

A new report by the UK’s nature conservation co-ordinator on hen harriers in the UK says that persecution is a significant factor limiting growth of the hen harrier population. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) report, released today by Scottish Natural Heritage, considered scientific evidence on the distribution and nesting success of this bird of prey across all four home countries. Scientists writing the Hen Harrier Conservation Framework, to be published this Friday, looked at a range of factors affecting the distribution of hen harriers throughout the UK. The report’s authors looked at eight factors which could affect the hen…

When The National Trust for Scotland and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh took steps to re-introduce rare upland ferns at the Trust’s Grey Mares Tail Nature Reserve two years ago, they did all the right things. And today, all 59 of the original plants are still alive and very healthy, and growing strong. Property Manager and naturalist Richard Clarkson said: “We’re delighted with the progress of the rare and diminutive Oblong Woodsia. We set up the project in partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, where they grew the endangered species of upland ferns from samples in its…

Fife Police are investigating the suspected poisoning of a buzzard, reports the Fife Partnership against Wildlife Crime, which includes Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The raptor was found by a member of the public close to Lewes Wood on the Montquhanie Estate near Cupar. Fife Police has confirmed that the bird has been sent for post-mortem examination to confirm the cause of death and identify the nature of any poison that may have been used. PC Ian Laing, Wildlife and Environmental Crime Co-ordinator, said: “Fortunately, Fife has not experienced raptor poisoning as much as other areas, but this case is a…