The Nature of ScotlandNàdar na h-Alba

Scottish Natural HeritageDualchas Nàdair na h-Alba

Autumn / Winter 2016Foghar / Geamhradh 2016

www.snh.gov.uk 1

Contents

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62

Features 10 Mapping Scotland’s machair An exciting new project gathers momentum

12 Change in Glen Feshie Patricia Macdonald’s photographic records capture changes in a Highland glen over 30 years

18 You are here The Curator of Maps at the National Library of Scotland reveals the value of maps as a resource for naturalists

26 What is green infrastructure? We demonstrate that it is more than the sum of its parts

30 Improving the view Two new projects that lessen the impact of power infrastructure

40 Cycling the Hebridean Way Becky Shaw explores Scotland’s newest major bike route

44 ReRoute to action Scotland’s youth biodiversity panel

58 Committed to sustainability How the Scotch whisky industry is winning environmental plaudits

60 Poles apart? Neil Mitchell looks at conservation in Poland

62 Making connections Kittie Jones lifts the lid on her artistic influences

Regulars2 Where we are SNH contact details

3 Welcome

4 Wild calendar What to see this autumn and

winter

22 News

34 Scotland’s Great Trails The Fife Coastal Path

48 Area news Reports from around the country

56 Dualchas coitcheann /Common heritage Linking language and environment

64 Keep in touch

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Scotland’s Nature blogOur Scotland’s Nature blog covers a wide range of subjects, and recent posts have featured a catalogue of Scotland’s Priority Marine Features, a look at working on Beinn Eighe, and a celebration of young birds on the Isle of May. Follow the blog using the link near the foot of the homepage on our website

Welcome

Ian JardineChief ExecutiveScottish Natural Heritage

This edition of The Nature of Scotland is, as usual, filled with a variety of different articles on a diversity of subjects. It serves to show the wide range of activities in which SNH has an interest and that in turn is because of the importance of our natural heritage in many aspects of our lives.

What this issue also serves to show is that most of our work is about looking forward. It may look like a contradiction in terms but caring for our natural heritage is about planning for the future, not studying the past. Nevertheless the articles in this edition that look at the lessons we learn from mapping and photography over the years show that understanding what has happened in the past is often a fundamental part of planning for the future.

The article on our Youth Biodiversity Panel (ReRoute) is of course firmly looking to the future. I am very grateful to Young Scot for enthusiastically enabling and supporting this work and to the members of ReRoute for their work to date. They will have to live for longer than me with the consequences of decisions we take today about our environment, so it seems common sense that they play a strategic role in conversations and contributions to these decisions.

Our Green Infrastructure feature is highly topical and concerns the future of our major towns and cities and the quality of life their citizens enjoy. The impact of poor environments on health and wellbeing is well known but we seem less keen to accept that giving a bit of land and resources to greening our cities will be an excellent investment in our future as well as an important contribution to biodiversity. This really is preventative spend. The launch of the Green Infrastructure Fund, managed by SNH and using European Structure Funds, is a new step for us with huge potential to benefit a lot of people and a lot of nature.

The articles on the VISTA project and on Scotch whisky illustrate how the private sector can, and does, help to improve the prospects for Scottish nature and landscapes. The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy looks to increase and expand this kind of contribution.

Finally, a word on the article about environmental landscapes in Poland – a reminder perhaps that whatever the future of the EU and Scotland’s relationship with it, we have much in common with, and much to learn from, our European neighbours.

Credits

The Nature of ScotlandThe magazine of Scottish Natural HeritageIssue Number 24— Autumn / Winter 2016

Published twice per year© SNH 2016ISSN 1350 309X

Editor: Jim Jeffrey Tel. 01738 458528

Cover photographer: Mark Hamblin

Inside cover photographer: © Mark Hamblin/2020VISION

Welcome page photographer: Lorne Gill/SNH

Photography – all images by Lorne Gill/SNH other than

Photography – all images by Lorne Gill/SNH other than Laurie Campbell/SNH, p6 strip right; Laurie Campbell p7, p9 second in strip; Neil McIntyre p9 left in strip; Patricia & Angus Macdonald/Aerographica p12-17; National Library of Scotland p18-21; Ian Talboys (Aberdeen City Council) p21 left; Peter Cairns p27 right; George Stoyle/SNH p23; David Whitaker p24; Nevis Landscape Partnership p25 right; Becky Duncan/SNH p26, 28; Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc p30-33; Fife Coast & Countryside Trust p 34-36, p38; Richard Barrett p40-43; Young Scot p44-47; Danny Green/2020VISION p48; Jane Dodd p50; Scotch Whisky Association p58-59,Neil Mitchell p60-61; Kittie Jones p62-63

The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of SNH.

Printed by: 21 Colour, GlasgowTwentyOneColour15.5k1016

When you’ve finished with this magazine, please recycle it. Pass it to another reader or dispose of it at your local waste-collection point.

Where we are…

You can contact SNH by letter, telephone or email. The following details should enable you to find your nearest main office, but bear in mind that we also have a number of offices smaller than those listed.

A full list of our offices appears on the SNH website: www.snh.gov.uk

Corporate headquarters

Great Glen House, Leachkin Road, Inverness IV3 8NWTel. 01463 725 000 Email: enquiries@snh.gov.uk

Other offices

Battleby, Redgorton, Perth PH1 3EW Tel. 01738 444 177

Silvan House, 3rd Floor East, 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 7ATTel. 0131 316 2600

Caspian House, Mariner Court, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank G81 2NR Tel. 0141 951 4488

Area offices

Argyll & Outer Hebrides32 Francis Street, Stornoway,Isle of Lewis HS1 2NDTel. 01851 705 258

Argyll & Outer HebridesCameron House, Albany Street,Oban PA34 4AETel. 0300 244 9360

ForthSilvan House, 3rd Floor East,231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 7ATTel. 0131 316 2600

ForthStrathallan House, Castle Business Park, Stirling FK9 4TZTel. 01786 450 362

Northern Isles & North HighlandThe Links,Golspie Business Park,Golspie,Sutherland KW10 6UBTel. 01408 634 063

Northern Isles & North HighlandGround Floor, Stewart Building, Alexandra Wharf, Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0LLTel. 01595 693 345

South HighlandFodderty Way, Dingwall Business Park,Dingwall IV15 9XBTel. 01349 865 333

South HighlandTorlundy,Fort William PH33 6SWTel. 01397 704 716

Southern ScotlandGreystone Park, 55/57 Moffat Road,Dumfries DG1 1NPTel. 0300 067 3200

Strathclyde & Ayrshire Caspian House, Mariner Court, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank G81 2NR Tel. 0141 951 4488

Tayside & GrampianBattleby, Redgorton, Perth PH1 3EW Tel. 01738 444 177

Tayside & GrampianInverdee House,Baxter Street, Torry,Aberdeen AB11 9QATel. 01224 266 500

2 The Nature of Scotland

Editor’s note: This is the final issue of The Nature of Scotland. The ways in which we communicate are constantly evolving and it is with these opportunities in mind that we have decided to no longer print and distribute The Nature of Scotland. Instead we shall be publishing future articles through the many digital communications avenues available to us. You can read more about those options on page 64 of this issue. Thank you very much for supporting our magazine over the past eight years.

4 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 5

In coves hidden from most human eyes, grey seals are hauling out to pup and mate on beaches of cobbled stone. Their calls rise and fall through the sea mist. Over glens and island heaths roars of stags shake the air, while, elsewhere, goat horns clash like stone against stone. Autumn is a time of both drawing in, as the fruits of this year ripen, and a time of setting store for seasons yet to come. You can hear it.

Kenny Taylor gives some seasonal tips for savouring Scottish wildlife and landscapes

Aut

umn

Wild calendar

Here’s looking at you, kidSome call them wild. Others say ‘feral’. I call them fascinating.

Free-ranging goats – the shaggy-coated ones, not the white or brown domestic varieties – are now very scarce in Scotland, perhaps numbering only a few hundred animals. No-one can pinpoint their origins with certainty. Some might have come here millennia ago with Neolithic settlers. Others may descend from herds that couldn’t be gathered-in at the time of mass evictions in the Highland Clearances.

What is indisputable is that encountering a group of wild goats is seldom predictable, always impressive. Gimlet-eyed, with a stare that seems to hold your own gaze, as if waiting to see who blinks first. Tousle-haired to blanket them against storm and gale. And for the ‘billies’, upswept horns, down-twisting beards and a stench like reeking cheese as badges of masculinity.

Early autumn is when males vie for access to females during the annual rut. Extravagance of beard, horn and scent can both impress the nanny goats and deter rival males. But if push comes (literally) to shove, the horns become weapons as the billies butt and thrust.

Primal. That’s a better word for them.Click this: http://www.

scotlandmag.com/magazine/issue24/12006698.html

Coul Blush and Juicy JamesApples that dapple orchard grass or sit suspended on curving boughs, ripe and tempting, hold something of the essence of autumn. Such sights have been enjoyed in Scotland since the first large orchards were planted here beside abbeys and monasteries in the twelfth century.

Much later, the orchards of the Carse of Gowrie and Clydesdale thrived until refrigerated shipping made competition difficult with imported foreign varieties that cope well with long-distance transport. That’s why you’ll have no problem finding a French Golden Delicious in many supermarkets, but would struggle to source the juicy but easily bruised old Scottish apple, James Grieve.

Community orchards are now being planted in many places. So apple enthusiasts can once again sample local fruit and compare notes on the likes of a Cambusnethan Pippin or a Tam Montgomery. But spare a thought for the Bloody Ploughman. This red-and-pink-fleshed variety is said to have been named for a farmworker shot by a gamekeeper when trying to steal some.

In safer contrast, why not help to maintain an old tradition by using mouth, not hands, to ‘dook’ and grab apples floating in a bowl next Halloween?

Click this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_bobbing

Weather cones

Crunch across fresh-fallen cones in a forest and you most likely won’t think about their sex. But every one of them is – or now was – female.

These were fertilised in an earlier spring or summer by wind-borne pollen from much smaller, softer-bodied male cones. In pines, the resulting seeds take up to two years to mature, held close under some of the woody scales whose spirals give a female cone its shape.

Cones open their scales to release ripe seeds on fairly dry days and tend to stay shut in wetter weather. This boosts the chances of warm breezes helping to disperse the seeds, which have a single wing to help them twirl and stay airborne. A cone can open and close this way many times, and will continue to do this after it has fallen, even though it may no longer hold seeds (some do).

That means you can use fallen cones as a very rough indicator of how wet or dry it is on the woodland floor, with closed cones indicating dampness and open ones dry conditions.

6 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 7

Aut

umn Winter

Some other things to look for in autumn:Shapes of dry grasses; flocks of grey geese; galls on oak leaves; roaring red deer.

Where grey sky meets grey shore and grey sea, a flock of waders flicks past and is gone. Next day, the mountain is white after snow. No sign of hares, but one raven calls. Across the park, later, frosted leaves are locked to path and grass in flecks of red and yellow, brown and green. Each detail is important now, in the shortest days and longest nights: each colour counts, each sound in nature special. Hear the robin’s song, silver-bright, ring through the still of evening.

Blue-ray discovery

Walk a winter strandline along a rocky coast and you may find swags of kelp washed up. Look closely at the foot of the seaweed stems to where the ‘holdfast’ spreads like a lattice of roots. Then peer within the holdfast crannies.

If you’re lucky, you might see some small molluscs clamped there. Blue-rayed limpets are fingernail-sized. Their glory is a translucent shell with bright blue spots running down it, vibrant as freeze-framed neon.

Very recently, US-based scientists discovered that these blue patterns are produced from how layers of calcium carbonate – the main building-block of shells – are arranged within the shell. Spheres and zigzags of the mineral reflect

Vintage gannetScotland is famous as a global hub for that Olympic-standard plunge diver, the northern gannet. The Bass Rock is the largest gannetry on earth, with some 75,000 nest sites.

But even a lone gannet can be an impressive sight, including now, when both adult and juvenile gannets are migrating south. This can offer a chance to hone your skills in identifying gannets of different ages.

When it finally flies from its nest in autumn, a juvenile gannet is similar in broad wingspan and massive beak to an adult, but chubbier with chick fat to help fuel it through the early days of learning how to fish. Its feathering is very different: dark grey-brown, freckled with white spots. During the next few years, the youngster will progressively lose the dark feathering (though develop jet-black outer wings) and grow the white plumage that makes adult gannets visible from miles away, even in grey Atlantic weather.

Sit yourself on a headland and scan the air lanes above the waves to see if you can sample some different year classes of gannet this autumn.

Click this: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/SAS_gannet_and_fulmar_plumage_chart.pdf

blue and green light and absorb other wavelengths. This might allow the little blue-ray to mimic the colours of more poisonous sea snails.

It’s the first time that a mineral structure has been found to work in this way in a living creature. It could also lead to development of controllable, transparent displays within windows, glasses and other screens. No wonder these tiny kelp-dwellers look a bit high-tech.

Click this: http://news.mit.edu/2015/optical-structures-in-limpet-shell-0226

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Win

ter

Some other things to look for in winter:Hooting tawny owls; foxes barking; moss colours on tree trunks; the northern lights.

Savour the symboldropsSome plants are tokens of spring, but snowdrops signify something earlier and more subtle. They bloom from late winter, sometimes for weeks, so that their drifts seem to link the seasons. What snowdrops signify is the gradually lengthening hours of daylight.

They can use the hard, white tips of their pointed leaves to push through ice and snow, blossoming soon after. Their first appearance seems to at least raise the possibility, in the words of poet Robert Tannahill, that ‘gloomy winter’s noo awa’.

The Catholic Church views snowdrops as symbolic of Candlemas – feast of the purification of the Virgin Mary. This could be a reason why old monasteries and churchyards are often prime places for snowdrops. Candlemas falls on 2 February, which in turn is linked to (and perhaps derives from) the pagan festival of Imbolc the previous day, honouring the purity and fertility of the goddess Brigid at the end of winter.

In a more down-to-earth way, you can simply enjoy snowdrops in many Scottish gardens and woods, including during an annual ‘Snowdrop Festival’ with special garden openings and events.

Click this: http://www.scotlandsgardens.org/news/snowdrop-festival-2016

Purple passagesMidwinter is a prime time to keep watch for some small wading birds that could have flown across half the northern world to be here. Purple sandpipers – or ‘purps’ as many birdwatchers know them – have dark blue-grey plumage and an orange-red beak.

Although not obvious in casual viewing, purps that winter in Scotland have different beak sizes that indicate both their sex and their breeding area. The shorter-billed ones nest in Norway. But, until recently, the nesting grounds of the longer-billed purps were unknown.

Now a team of bird ringers led by Ron Summers is helping to solve the mystery. By fitting small ‘geolocators’ to the backs of purps caught here in winter, and recapturing the birds the following year, the team can download data on sandpiper movements.

This shows that the longer-billed birds fly huge distances, leaving Scotland and Ireland in early summer to fly by way of Iceland and Greenland to Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. After nesting, they can cross the Atlantic in less than three days to return here, often to the same part of the coast they used before.

Click this: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273927290

Soft rock rhythmsSandstones are fundamental to the look of both land and sea in a large part of north-east Scotland, including Caithness, Orkney, some of Shetland and around the Moray Firth. Much of the rock in these areas is sandstone formed in the Devonian period, 416 to 359 million years ago, when sediments washed down mountain rivers to settle in lakes that sat in a vast plain.

Incredibly, patterns in those rocks still hold evidence of both rainfall and winds all those eons ago, and of slow rhythms pulsed in the earth’s movement around the sun. Clues to some of these things come from layers within the beds of sandstone.

The smallest of these, less than a millimetre thick in grey mudstone sections, can show a single year of settled sediment. Variations in thickness of these and other layers reflect differences in climate, including in 100,000-year variations in how the earth tilts and orbits the sun.

So a section of sandstone cliff can be like a book whose leaves face outwards. And we’re only just beginning to understand what treasures of knowledge are set within those pages of stone.

Click this: http://www.landforms.eu/orkney/geology.htm

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1

Professor Stewart Angus, SNH Coastal Ecologist, looks at how we are mapping a special feature of Scotland’s coastal environment – machair.Only two countries in the world have machair, the shell-rich dune grassland that can be so spectacular in summer, with swathes of coloured wild flowers that change as the season progresses. On a warm summer day, with a vivid blue sea and dazzling beach sand, some of us feel there are few better places to be. They also have machair in Ireland, and in places it can be almost as fine as it is in Scotland!

However in the real world, it also rains occasionally, and SNH requires rather more of its scientists than admiration of the scenery, and inevitably there was an increased demand for a map of machair. Unfortunately this did not involve more trips to machair, but sitting in front of a computer analysing vegetation maps, landscape situation, and cross-referring documents, including endless spreadsheets. Then there were successive versions of the machair map to be checked.

As a contribution towards the 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity we are producing a detailed Habitat Map of Scotland (HabMoS). The other ‘soft’ coastal habitats – sand dunes, saltmarsh and shingle – had already been mapped, so machair was the only remaining gap. SNH needs this information in order to meet our legal obligations. We decided to use a habitat classification called EUNIS – the European Nature Information System – for compatibility with reports from other countries across Europe. Machair is

a single EUNIS habitat which makes the task significantly easier.

Many hours of analysis later, we have a machair map, and it is now possible to say that there are over 13,000 hectares of machair in Scotland, mainly in the Outer Hebrides, Tiree and Coll, with smaller amounts in the Northern Isles and the west coast mainland. There are always challenges with such maps. They represent a ‘snapshot’ in time of a dynamic habitat, so might have changed since they were last surveyed.

Different surveyors have different opinions, and the reality is that the environment is a continuum and does not always slot into neatly-separated boxes. Furthermore, the environment seems to behave a bit erratically. The type of vegetation found only on steep slopes alongside machair in most of Scotland, where the sand is thin and the alkaline effect of the shell fragments in the sand begins to be offset

Mapping Scotland’s machair

by the run-off of acid water from above, occurred on ‘core’ machair at sites in Lewis, on thick sand with no evidence of acid influence. We don’t know why these anomalies happen, but their presence means an element of judgement must be applied to the task. Of course it could be argued that these circumstances require the map to be checked on the ground...but that isn’t always feasible.

As long as certain limitations are accepted, this map is an invaluable aid to the assessment of change on our coasts, with a ‘time-stamped’ baseline of habitat distribution we can use to inform the impact of rising sea levels, as well as other impacts on a special feature of Scotland’s coastal environment.

You can view our machair map on the Habitat Map of Scotland web page at http://www.snh.gov.uk/about-scotlands-nature/habitat-map-of-scotland/

Over the following 12 pages we introduce three articles looking at the valuable role mapping and recording play in how we interpret, document and manage our natural heritage.

It is becoming increasingly important that we know where our special habitats are so that we can take this into account when planning for the future. It is also important that we can look back and learn lessons from the past as to how our countryside has changed in response to different management regimes.

For the record

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Change in Glen FeshieDr Patricia Macdonald, researcher in cultural landscape at the University of Edinburgh, looks at environmental change in a dynamic Cairngorms landscape.

1 Extensive recent natural regeneration of pine in Glen Feshie.

14 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 15

Rapid change and the river

A dramatically braided river runs through Glen Feshie in the Cairngorms. In several sections the powerful flow of the River Feshie divides into a changing network of channels and moving gravel banks. To stand on one of those spindle-shaped islands with the dark, gemstone-coloured water flashing past all around is to experience directly the endless flux of the natural world.

The river alone makes this celebrated landscape highly dynamic. It drains the rainfall, snowmelt and gravel sediment from an enormous catchment of some of the highest and wildest land in Scotland. Water levels may rise and fall markedly within an hour at some times of year, with flash-floods common, and huge trees (and a well-known bridge) torn from the eroding banks and carried downstream, or beached, contributing to a build-up of new islands.

Slow time and the trees

But other even more significant environmental changes – more gradual and less immediately obvious than those caused by the river – have also taken place in Glen Feshie over a long period. Human action, or inaction, in recent centuries has markedly affected the ecology of the glen, and particularly another of its famous features: its marvellous remnant of ancient Caledonian pinewood.

Historically, across Highland Scotland – this tale is now well-known – grazing livestock and timber-felling reduced the extent of the original woodland. Woods can regenerate naturally if the conditions are right, but this was far from the case in Glen Feshie.

As elsewhere, since the rise of the nineteenth-century phenomenon of the Highland ‘sporting’ estate, much higher numbers of deer were maintained for recreational shooting than are compatible with the natural regeneration of trees: a herd of deer can destroy a forest more comprehensively than a raging river.

Falling one by one

From the mid-twentieth century onwards, ecologists drew attention to the increasingly urgent threat from deer to the important pinewood in Glen Feshie.

The huge, ‘granny’ pines were approaching the end of their centuries-long lives, but the ground between them was almost completely bare of descendants to continue the woodland. Although the veteran trees still stood, they were falling one by one, and any seedlings which took root were browsed out by deer. This remained the situation until about ten years ago.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, a team of government-agency scientists carried out the Range Ecology Research Programme in the glen. Their purpose was to gather information and to explore possible management strategies (including the use of fenced exclosures or cages

on various scales around individual or groups of trees) that might enable the co-existence of high deer numbers and natural woodland.

The scientists produced a large amount of useful data but they concluded that the browsing problem would probably only be solved by much lower occupation of the woodland by both hinds and stags, a solution that was unacceptable to the then owner.

In the following decades, several attempts to bring the glen into conservation management in perpetuity, in either public or non-government ownership, controversially failed. Meanwhile, a rapid succession of private owners, some with apparently the best of conservation intentions, achieved little obvious change.

A turning-point

However the latest chapter in this tale looks towards a happy ending – or at least a period of greater diversity and richness in the endless flux that is ecological change.

The vision of Glenfeshie Estate’s present owner, Anders Holch Povlsen, and of its Director of Conservation, Thomas MacDonell, imagines a future landscape in which a mosaic

of pine and birch woodland at lower levels extends up the hillsides and merges into mountain woodland and shrub vegetation below the high summits.

This long-term thinking is inspired by, and also forms a valuable contribution to, the recent rise of ecological restoration initiatives. Other examples are those at nearby Creag Meagaidh (by Scottish Natural Heritage) and Abernethy (by the RSPB), and, farther afield in Scotland, a range of exciting projects by the John Muir Trust, Trees for Life, the Borders Forest Trust, the Woodland Trust and Forestry Commission Scotland.

The vision at Glen Feshie – as well as the demanding methods required to bring it about – was described in the Winter 2010 issue of this magazine (pages 26 to 31).

In the last few years, due mainly to a continued, substantial reduction in deer numbers, that vision has begun to take shape on the ground.

A strong pulse of natural regeneration of pine, birch, rowan, alder, aspen, willows, juniper and other trees and shrubs, and also an increasingly diverse herb layer, has become well-established. Birds, such as black grouse, and fish, including salmon, are returning, further strengthening the ecology. And this conservation success has been

2 3 4

2 –4 The same braided section of the River Feshie seen from the air in [left to right] 1988, 1995 and 2015, showing the large changes continually taking place in the channels and gravel banks or braid bars, and, in 2015, dense natural regeneration of pine on the bars at the right of the view.

16 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 17

5 Glen Feshie in 1992 – no visible natural regeneration of pine, birch or other trees due to high deer-browsing pressure.

6 The same view as that above, in 2016 – natural regeneration of pine, birch and other species well established after reduction in deer numbers.

7 & 8 Two views at Ruigh-aiteachain: [left] in 1992, showing minimal natural regeneration (a lone pine sapling in a cage) and [right] in 2016, with good regeneration, but (typically) only slow recovery of what may be the older, browsed pine sapling.

5 6

7 8 achieved while maintaining employment levels and income from traditional stalking, providing an example of good practice in the sector.

A complex ecology

It is possible – as, for example, research in Yellowstone National Park, USA, has recently suggested – that even the behaviour of the river may eventually be changed by the strengthening ecology of the glen, stabilising the banks and reducing braiding and unpredictable flash-flooding. The renowned American conservationist Aldo Leopold famously stated, “…just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer”. And in Yellowstone the reintroduction of wolves does indeed appear to be playing a useful role in ecological restoration.

In Scotland people currently perform the role of top predator in the ‘trophic cascade’. However, due to recent changes in land management, the increasingly robust and diversifying web of life in Glen Feshie now has a much wider range of possible futures.

Dr Patricia Macdonald is a biologist, artist-photographer, Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, researcher in cultural landscape, and former Member of the Board and of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Scottish Natural Heritage.

Her aerial work is made in collaboration, through the Aerographica partnership, with Angus Macdonald, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh.

Find out more about their work at: www.aerographica.org www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-home/patricia-macdonald www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-home/angus-macdonald and https://nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/m/artist/patricia-macdonald

18 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 19

You are herePaula Williams, Curator of Maps, Mountaineering & Polar Collections at the National Library of Scotland, takes a look at mapping through the years, revealing that maps are an invaluable resource for the naturalist.

Maps are crucial to a good understanding of nature, both in terms of distribution and process. This plant grows there, and here; that animal lives here, but not there; that stream runs downhill from there to this pond here. And, of course, many of us use maps to explore the natural world, whether to find a site in the field or to examine the distribution of an individual species.

While a good up-to-date map is essential for finding your way, some elements of the landscape can change very quickly, leading to navigational challenges. This is particularly true in forests where clear-felling, or a new access track can dramatically change the landscape and its habitats. City environments can also change very quickly.

An exhibition at the National Library

of Scotland, You are here. A journey through maps, seeks to explore our use and understanding of maps. It poses questions about how maps are made and about how we interpret them. It challenges our acceptance of the ‘truth’ of maps.

Distribution maps

Amongst the exhibits is The Naturalist’s Map of Scotland by J.A. Harvie-Brown and John George Bartholomew. It is also available to view on the Library’s website. (http://maps.nls.uk/view/74414125 ) This map was an attempt by Harvie-Brown, nicknamed ‘John Always Hunting Birds’ due to his initials, to subdivide Scotland into faunal regions, based on the river basins. He also categorised the type of land into cultivated, woodland, moorland, hill pastures and other uncultivated land, deer forest and seashore.

This is beautifully rendered into an appealing map by John George Bartholomew. In the Bartholomew

Archive, also held at the Library, is some correspondence between the two men, where Harvie-Brown states his long-term wish to produce larger-scale maps of each individual faunal region. He also asks for uncoloured versions of the map on which he intended to plot bird migration routes.

To us today a thematic map like this seems quite commonplace.

When identifying a bird, moth or plant that you have found in the field, the little distribution maps that often appear beside their photograph or description in a field guide can be most helpful. The first thematic maps showing botanical or population distributions were produced in the 1840s after the explorations of Alexander von Humboldt. The physical atlas: a series of maps & notes illustrating the geographical distribution of natural phenomena by Alexander Keith Johnston was the first English-language thematic atlas, published in Edinburgh by Blackwoods in 1849.

1

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Treat with care

In using maps as historical sources there are a number of factors to consider.

The maps you use have to be at a scale appropriate to your research area: the less land shown, the more detail will be included. Maps at a smaller scale will be generalised. Older maps may not be geographically accurate.

The type of map used is also crucial. Some maps show planned developments that never happened, or that may have happened and then been lost through the passage of time. Many estates would have drawn up plans of their land, either for rental purposes or with a view to agricultural improvement or development. Whilst many of these plans are publicly available, for instance through the Library, or the National Records of Scotland, a number are still in private ownership. They can provide a valuable resource for anyone wishing to study changes in the landscape from large estates to small gardens.

Maps of many kinds are relevant to the study of the natural world. Get out there, to the Web, to libraries and archives and go exploring!

You are here. A journey through maps is a free exhibition at the National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW until 2 April, 2017.

1 The naturalist’s map of Scotland by J.A. Harvie Brown and J.G. Bartholomew.

2 Ordnance Survey Map of Deeside 1900.

3 A bathymetrical map of Loch Kinord.

Historical resource

As we have already established, an old map may lead you astray in the field, but as a paper exercise it can be fascinating to compare that old map with a more modern one. Maps are an invaluable historical resource for the naturalist. They can show how towns have grown, how land-use has changed and how habitats have altered.

There are more than 200,000 map sheets available to view on the Library’s website, with the facility to compare them with each other and modern satellite imagery. As a resource to study environmental change in Scotland it is invaluable.

The first complete survey of the Scottish mainland, led by William Roy in the 1750s, gives an impression of the land pre-enclosure and agricultural improvement. However, it was created as a military sketch and so should be used with care for any other purpose, such as land-use identification. Fields can appear on it as parallel lines, easily mistaken with a run-rig system, but really it is only a symbol for cultivated land. This is an example of how maps should be used with caution; they are always subjective and selective!

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Priority marine life catalogued

We have published a colourful and intriguing catalogue of some of Scotland’s most important marine wildlife. Illustrated with photos and maps, the catalogue describes Scotland’s 81 Priority Marine Features.

Priority Marine Features are the habitats and species considered to be conservation priorities in Scottish waters, many of which are star attractions for thousands of wildlife tourists that visit Scotland each year.

Our coasts and seas are home to around 8,000 animal and plant species and the Priority Marine Features list is used to help focus marine conservation work. The list includes 55 species, ranging from small and relatively stationary creatures, such as the heart cockle, fireworks anemone and northern featherstar, to large and highly mobile animals such as the minke whale, Risso’s dolphin and common skate.

The 26 habitat types on the list include maerl and flame shell beds, serpulid worms aggregations, cold-water coral reefs and seamount communities.

Morven Carruthers, who managed the project, said that “This publication is aimed at anyone who wants to know more about our Priority Marine Features, from specialists to students and enthusiastic amateurs. Scotland’s seas are amongst the most biologically productive in the world and the catalogue gives a real flavour of the extraordinary diversity of life they support. It’s also a reminder of how vulnerable marine life can be and the importance of balancing human activities at sea.”

The catalogue features a rich mix of sea life. There are some surprisingly unfamiliar species, such as the leafscale gulper shark and the round-nose grenadier; as well as plenty of well-known animals, such as otters, bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic salmon, sperm whales, basking sharks and cod, which make Scotland such an attractive destination for wildlife tourists.

Produced in partnership with Marine Scotland and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Descriptions of Scottish Priority Marine Features can be downloaded free of charge from our website @ http://www.snh.gov.uk/publications-data-and-research/publications/search-the-catalogue/publication-detail/?id=2428

Seaton surprises

It’s easy to think of landscapes as permanent, but the closer we look the more we can identify the changes that occur over time. Often this process is aided by the evidence we find left behind when works are in progress, and that was certainly the case in Aberdeen earlier this year.

Contractors working on a £90,000 wetlands project at the city’s Seaton Park unearthed two major surprises.

First up was an erratic, and this was quickly followed by the discovery of a buried ancient tree trunk.

The erratic differed significantly from the rest of the rock in the area and was clearly carried there thousands of years ago.

Soon afterwards, beneath a former playing pitch, contractors discovered a very old and large tree trunk. Experts at Aberdeen University were called upon to identify the species and age of this ancient specimen.

It required substantial equipment to move the two items, but their discovery won’t be forgotten. The glacial rock and tree will be central to an information panel explaining the history of the park and its surrounds.

Aberdeen City Council Communities, Housing and Infrastructure vice-convener Councillor Jean Morrison said “We’re looking forward to seeing the completed Seaton Park Wetlands and I’m sure generations of Aberdonians to come will appreciate the area along with the interesting finds of the glacial rock and the huge tree trunk under the ground.”

The work follows on from the award-winning project in the city at East Tullos Burn, and will provide another valuable greenspace for people and nature to enjoy in Aberdeen.

Cat-tastic news

Pioneering work aimed at saving the iconic Scottish wildcat, employing almost 150 volunteers and 347 trail cameras, has so far identified at least 19 wildcats based on coat markings. It is anticipated more will be found as surveys continue.

The results announced by Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) follow the installation of trail cameras set up at five wildcat priority areas last winter. This survey – the largest of its kind – resulted in data which the project team and volunteers have been sifting through over the past few months.

A challenge for the team has been distinguishing wildcats from other cats. SWA partner Dr Andrew Kitchener, a leading specialist based at the National Museum of Scotland, devised a system of scoring animals based on the ‘pelage’ or coat markings.

Roo Campbell, project manager, stressed: “We are delighted with the results. Though they are preliminary, and further investigation is needed to establish the true numbers present in each of our five priority areas, SWA has established that there are Scottish wildcats out there.

The survey also detected more than 20 other species, the most unusual being a raccoon, an animal not native to Scotland. Most commonly found were roe deer, followed by pine marten and badger, with the latter two frequently stealing the bait intended for attracting cats to the cameras.

A new phase of the project – Trap, Neuter, Vaccination and Return (TNVR) – will see ecologists and vets work together to vaccinate feral cats, which pose a threat to wildcats by spreading disease. TNVR is already widely used, and is a vital tool in the arsenal to protect wildcats from hybridisation and disease from feral cats. It’s a safe non-lethal method with the highest cat welfare standards built in. No pet cats are at risk from TNVR.

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A new report on river restoration was launched at the end of September. Although it is widely recognised that restoration is necessary, there is no consistent approach in the UK and in Ireland on what needs to be done. In an attempt to address these problems, SNH has been leading on an inter-agency project, supported by a wide range of conservation and environment bodies in the UK and Ireland, and sponsored by the National Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The publication has been written by the Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW), and is aimed at regulatory bodies, conservation organisations, NGOs and others. It describes the importance of rivers in the UK and Ireland for biodiversity, summarises the damage that river habitats have sustained over many decades, and discusses ways in which restoration can bring benefits both to wildlife and human society. We hope that it will raise awareness of the importance of river restoration and help to obtain funding for practical restoration work.

The report was launched by Susan Davies, Director of Conservation at the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project

A project to help golden eagles in the south of Scotland has received initial support of more than £1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The scheme aims to boost numbers of the iconic bird to up to 16 pairs in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders – with the potential to release eagle chicks into the wild in the years ahead. At present, there are only two to four pairs in the south of the country with limited nesting success.

The initiative has the support of Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham MSP. “The golden eagle is a truly magnificent bird and is one of Scotland’s most iconic species.”, she explained “This project aims to boost the population of eagles in the south of Scotland and I heartily welcome the Heritage Lottery Fund support to help achieve this. We know that the area could potentially support more than a dozen pairs of eagles, which offers tremendous opportunities for wildlife tourism and biodiversity.”

In 2008, Scottish Land & Estates and RSPB Scotland formed a joint proposal to work together to try and understand what was limiting the golden eagle population in the south of Scotland. Detailed ecological work was carried out and we published a report on the findings in 2014.

Following an approach to the Minister by Scottish Land & Estates, RSPB Scotland and Buccleuch Estates, a partnership was formed to take forward work to reinforce the eagle population. The Langholm Initiative, SNH and Forestry Commission Scotland subsequently joined the partnership which will now begin a public consultation involving a wide range of stakeholders.

Ben Nevis – the path and the people

Nevis Landscape Partnership began work on Scotland’s highest Munro last year to protect and enhance one of the most popular footpaths in Great Britain.

The aim of the project is to repair the path and thus improve the journey for the hundreds of thousands of folk who tackle Ben Nevis every year, and protect the mountain from erosion. The project is about to begin further improvements as part of the three-year action plan to vastly improve the mountain path.

A collective of contractors, helicopter operators and hardy volunteers have all done their bit for this iconic mountain and will continue to do so until the lower half of the path is completely revitalised. Path repair is an expensive business and by completion almost £1m will have been spent and countless hours of volunteer time dedicated to the Ben Nevis mountain path.

Nevis Landscape Partnership encourages anyone with a love of the Ben to think about the time, effort and money that goes into maintaining it and how a ‘Leave No Trace’ attitude when outdoors can be just as helpful as a cash donation.

To register as a volunteer, learn more about the mountain path, or to donate whatever you can to protect and enhance this fabulous landscape, please visit one of the following social media accounts:www.nevislandscape.co.uk www.facebook.com/nevislandscape www.twitter.com/nevislandscape www.instagram.com/nevis_landscape

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We only have to be stuck in a traffic jam, waiting for a delayed train or not getting a mobile phone signal to realise how vital infrastructure is to us. But all of that is part of the grey, or built, infrastructure. What is green infrastructure? And is it as significant as the grey infrastructure to us and our society? Martin Faulkner explains.

Green infrastructure includes the parks, woodlands, street trees, play spaces, allotments, private gardens, playing fields, road verges, green walls and living roofs, rivers, streams, wetlands and sustainable drainage in our landscape. It also comprises the footpaths, signs and seating that help us use, experience and enjoy our environment. We are beginning to realise that green infrastructure is more than its sum of parts. The way all of these parts work together is what makes it special.

What makes green infrastructure important?

There is increasing evidence that well-designed green infrastructure in our towns and cities can be as important to us as built infrastructure, and is likely to increase in value as climate change continues.

Part of green infrastructure’s value derives from its multifunctional nature. The right type and spacing of street trees not only makes a place look good, but can also cleanse and cool the air, reduce problems caused by rain, reduce noise and promote better health and wellbeing. There is clear evidence that if patients can see greenspace from their hospital bed they recover faster.

Climate change is expected to cause more heavy rain. If drainage systems cannot deal with the stormwater, street flooding can be the result. It doesn’t take much standing water on a road to cause congestion. Features such as swales and rain gardens can help avoid or reduce the problem.

Green walls on buildings can be made by training plants to grow up a frame. The plants reduce heating costs in the winter by reducing the effect of strong winds, while in the summer they can help reduce air conditioning bills by reducing heat transfer into the building. Multifunction again!

The benefits of green infrastructure reach beyond what it can do for our cities’ human populations. Improving green networks allows wildlife to enter, and even cross, urban areas. Wildlife moving between urban habitat patches is approximately 50% greater if vegetation corridors are in place compared with patches that are not connected by corridors.

What is green infrastructure?

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The projects

Both of the projects we are supporting through Round 1 of the Green Infrastructure Fund are at the cutting-edge of multifunctional greenspace management.

The Canal and North Gateway project will provide new and enhanced greenspace along the canal corridor between Firhill and Port Dundas and will be an exemplar project where blue-green infrastructure underpins regeneration.

As part of this the Clay Pits will be Glasgow’s first inner city Local Nature Reserve, transforming a derelict site into a greenspace with a barrier-free path and boardwalk network, mountain bike trail, disabled access fishing pegs, redesigned gateways, viewpoints, and a feature pedestrian bridge linking communities separated by the Forth and Clyde Canal.

The project will provide a surface water drainage solution for the regeneration of vacant and derelict sites in Sighthill, Dundashill, Hamiltonhill and Cowlairs through managing the water level in the canal for flood storage.

The Greater Easterhouse Integrated Green Infrastructure project will benefit 40,000 people living within Greater Easterhouse, Blairtummock, Cranhill and Ruchazie.

The project will improve the quality of, and satisfaction with local neighbourhoods through regeneration of derelict land. It will also develop local ownership and pride by involving local people in greenspace planning and design.

How is SNH involved in green infrastructure?

We are involved in green infrastructure planning as part of our day-to-day work. We provide advice to local authorities on their greenspace strategies, local development plans and developer masterplans. We are members of, and help fund, the Central Scotland Green Network Trust, developing a green network across Central Scotland. We also manage a multi-million pound programme of funding for green infrastructure – the Green Infrastructure Fund.

The Green Infrastructure Fund

The Green Infrastructure Fund is part of the European Regional Development Programme for 2014-2020. Over £8 million is available through the first phase of the fund to help several large-scale projects in urban areas with populations of more than 10,000.

We aim to deliver five outcomes through the projects we fund:

Nature, biodiversity and ecosystemsImproved green infrastructure helps strengthen our urban ecosystems and helps species be more resilient to climate change.

Improving environmental quality, tackling flooding and climate change Opening up and re-naturalising our urban watercourses helps to reduce flooding and improve the quality of our urban rivers.

Involving communities and increasing participationCommunities that feel positive about their local greenspace and how it benefits them want to share their experience and influence its management.

Increasing place attractiveness and competitivenessPlaces that are more attractive to live, work and invest in are economically competitive.

Improving health and wellbeingGreenspace improves health and wellbeing. Using greenspace can complement or replace other therapies.

The European Regional Development Fund themes of Environmental Sustainability, Social Inclusion and Equal Opportunities will be central to the projects that we fund. These themes feature strongly in the two projects in Glasgow that we intend to support from Round 1 of the Fund.

We see the projects that that will be funded by the Green Infrastructure Fund as playing a key role in our delivery towards Big Step for Nature 3 (delivering Quality Greenspace for health and education benefits) of Scotland’s Biodiversity, a Route Map to 2020. These projects will deliver quality greenspace for health and education benefits.

Local community organisations will be able to develop new activities linked to their local greenspaces.

Part of improving satisfaction with local greenspaces is progressing the One Cardowan Surface Water Management Plan which is part of the Strategic Drainage Partnership.

A unique population of water voles living in Cranhill Park and in Blairtummock will benefit from wetland habitat creation. They are unique because they haven’t had any water habitat for decades! Water voles are listed as a species of principal concern for the conservation of biodiversity in Scotland.

Green infrastructure will be added to the recent Heritage Lottery Fund award to help develop the Seven Lochs masterplan as part of the Seven Lochs Partnership.

If you want to know more about our work on green infrastructure please visit the SNH website www.snh.gov.uk. Or for information on the Green Infrastructure Fund visit the Fund website www.greeninfrastructurescotland.org.uk, or email greeninfrastructure@snh.gov.uk.

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Improving the viewOverhead electricity transmission lines and the structures that go with them have the potential to result in a significant visual impact. When this happens within our most beautiful and important landscapes there is a real desire to try and lessen those impacts. That’s why two new projects, named VISTA and VIEW, have been set up, as Euan Smith (Environmental Advisor – Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks) and Grant Douglas (Environmental Planner – Scottish Power Energy Networks) explain.

Electricity is an essential part of our everyday lives. We all expect to have access to its benefits at the flick of a switch, and we take its presence in our homes and workplaces for granted. But getting it from source to home isn’t always straightforward.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) are

branches of two of our biggest energy companies, responsible for the safe and reliable maintenance of the electricity transmission and distribution networks in Scotland. They operate a number of overhead transmission lines through some of Scotland’s most protected and highly-valued landscapes, including Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, the Cairngorms National Park, and several National Scenic Areas including the iconic Eildon Hills.

Both companies recognise the value

and importance of the landscapes their power lines cross. With this in mind, two ambitious projects have been set up to identify the locations where existing transmission infrastructure has the greatest level of visual impact, and where there is opportunity to lessen that impact.

SSEN Transmission have set up a project called VISTA (Visual Impact of Scottish Transmission Assets), whilst SPEN are currently progressing a project named Changing the VIEW

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(Changing the Visual Impact of Existing Wirescape). Working together and individually, with support from landscape architects at LUC, they are using VISTA and VIEW to identify a range of projects that will bring visual improvements to the power transmission lines that run through our National Parks and some of our most celebrated National Scenic Areas.

With access to a share of a £500 million fund, administered by the energy regulator OFGEM, there is an opportunity to make a significant positive impact.

Working together

To make best use of the OFGEM funds, SSEN and SPEN recognise the importance of engaging key stakeholders, including Scottish Natural Heritage, to ensure the best possible outcomes from these projects. With that in mind they have established a number of partnership groups to draw upon local expertise and knowledge of affected designated landscapes, as well as organisations with a national or regional interest in the protection and use of Scotland’s unique landscapes.

Sara Melville, a Landscape Advisor for the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, welcomes this approach. “National Park staff have welcomed the opportunity to engage fully with this project as it has developed,” she noted, “We’ve been able to discuss our current projects and visions for the Park within the context of these two ambitious and large scale projects where there is potential for real public benefit. It is exciting to think that we have a real chance to share the OFGEM money to address the impacts of some of the most visible pylons from key routes and honeypots within the Park’s special landscape.”

Informed by people and organisations taking part in a series of workshops and meetings that began in 2015, the two power companies are developing a number of potential mitigation proposals to address the most important visual impacts identified. Both companies are committed to

working closely with stakeholders as the projects progress.

Making the most of opportunities

Mitigation proposals could include the introduction of screen planting around substations, the rerouting or undergrounding of overhead lines, and the establishment of native woodland planting along overhead line corridors. There is even an opportunity to include additional landscape enhancements such as alterations to recreational paths or green networks.

Both companies want to maximise the benefits from the initiatives. They are therefore looking where possible to complement any planned or ongoing proposals which deliver opportunities for additional environmental, recreational, educational or social enhancement for residents and visitors.

The two initiatives clearly represent an exciting opportunity to contribute to the success of some of Scotland’s most valued and visited landscapes. And over the coming months both SSEN and SPEN will be developing more detailed mitigation proposals in collaboration with stakeholders in advance of a first submission for funding to OFGEM later in 2017.

If you would like to find out more please contact vista@sse.com or view@spenergynetworks.co.uk and keep a close eye on the project websites for updates and opportunities to get involved at future consultation events as the proposals develop.

Find further information about the VISTA Project at http://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/information-centre/sustainability-and-environment/vista and the VIEW project at http://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/pages/view_project.asp

“We are pleased to see the Cairngorms National Park being included within this initiative. The landscapes of the Cairngorms National Park are highly valued and known across the world. Anything that enhances these landscapes by reducing the impact from electricity infrastructure is very welcome. The National Park Authority is looking forward to working with SSEN on refining the projects they are considering.”

Matthew Hawkins, Landscapes and Ecology ManagerCairngorms National Park Authority

1 Overhead line in Glen Gyle, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.

2 Infrastructure adjacent to Loch Sloy Hydro Power Station at Inveruglas, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.

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The Fife Coastal Path

Not all long distance paths are in remote locations. Take the Fife Coastal Path for example. Highly accessible, it links a number of communities yet still allows you to enjoy some of Scotland’s most dramatic nature and landscapes whilst savouring amazing history and culture.

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The Fife Coastal Path is one of Scotland’s Great Trails and part of Fife’s Core Path network, a scheme that helps to increase access to green space and establish links between neighbouring communities.

Stretching between the Firth of Forth in the south of the region, and the Firth of Tay in the north, the fully waymarked route offers an unrivalled walking experience along Fife’s ‘Fringe of Gold’.

There is much to explore: from the cosmopolitan atmosphere of St Andrews to the former coal-mining towns of central Fife, the small fishing villages of the East Neuk and the bustling industrial areas of the west. Rugged cliffs, award-winning beaches, internationally important estuaries and wildlife reserves, walking the Fife Coastal Path is a real ‘Scotland in miniature’ experience.

The trail walking ranges from easy and level, to wild and demanding. It can be completed in several smaller sections and the official published route map splits the 117-mile route into eight day-long sections for ease of planning.

The southern sections are a surprising mix of the historic and the industrial and, early into the route, walkers are treated to several miles of fully paved, multi-use path. The route here passes under the iconic Forth bridges, both the 1964 road bridge and the internationally recognised rail bridge which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and dates

back to 1890.Lava flows are a feature of the Fife coast, a reminder of

an eruption of the Binn volcano over 300 million years ago. The underlying limestone strata contain marine fossils from a time when Scotland had a tropical climate. The Starley Burn Waterfall near Aberdour displays fascinating patterns and colours in the rock due to the lime-rich waters.

From Kirkcaldy the path passes the 16th century Seafield Tower and the nearby rocks are a haven for birdlife and basking seals. Following the esplanade and winding steeply to Pathhead Sands, a location which features in several of John Buchan’s novels, and onto Ravenscraig Castle, walkers will be treated to a spectacular view from Sailor’s Walk, taking in the historic Royal Burgh of Dysart. The 13th century St Serf’s Tower and the restored Pan Ha’ red-tiled cottages looking out over the Forth dominate the shore.

There are a few areas of the path at Burntisland, Kirkcaldy and the East Neuk where there are low and high tide route options and a couple where the path will not be passable at high tide at all. Path users should therefore check tide times before setting out.

The beaches along this part of the route include Ruby Bay, named for the garnet gemstones once found there. This is a great rockpool location and, with a bit of careful investigation, you could turn up periwinkles, whelks, and sea anemones, as well as shore and hermit crabs. Wading birds such as redshank and curlew can also be spotted feeding on the shoreline.

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Further informationScotland’s Great Trails ... These are nationally promoted trails for people-powered journeys. Each is distinctively waymarked, largely off-road and has a range of visitor services. At least 25 miles in length, they are suitable for multi-day outings as well as day trips.

Collectively the 27 different routes provide over 1,700 miles of well-managed paths from the Borders to the Highlands, offering great opportunities to explore the best of Scotland’s nature and landscapes and to experience our amazing history and culture.

The Fife Coastal Path offers a rich and varied landscape and is the best way to explore the coastal fringe of the Kingdom of Fife. The 117-mile route will take you through towns, villages, beaches, and countryside, showing you the best that the Fife coast has to offer.

Twinned

Adjacent to the arch at Newburgh is a small Scots pine and a plaque commemorating the twinning of the Fife Coastal Path and the Skåneleden Trail in Skane, Sweden. Although the Swedish trail is over 600 miles long, there are many similarities between the Fife Coastal Path and its Scandinavian twin, with both paths seeking to celebrate coastal walking.

Proud history

The route is steeped in history. St Andrews is the world famous home of golf and the University of St Andrews dates back to 1413.

Links

The Fife Coastal Path website features an interactive map which allows users to search the route for sites which are specific to their interests. You can search under wildlife, history, geology, archaeology, architecture, culture, beaches or industry. The official Fife Coastal Path Guide and Map are available to purchase online at www.fifecoastalpath.co.uk or by calling 01592 656080 and are priced at £9.99 and £6.95 (including postage).

From Elie the route around the coast can be rough underfoot and includes several short sections of stone steps. It is, however, full of geological and historical interest, including Elie Lighthouse and Lady Tower built for Lady Janet Anstruther as a summer house in the 1760s, and the ruins of Ardross and Newark Castles.

Farther around the coast the restored St Monans Windmill sits close to the shore, once used to pump seawater into the adjacent salt pans. The limestone beds here are rich in fossils. The next village of Pittenweem is Fife’s only remaining working fishing harbour, a memory of a once thriving and vital industry.

The rocky shore past Billow Ness leads into Anstruther where there are daily boat trips during the summer months to the Isle of May National Nature Reserve. There is no need to get a boat to the Eden Estuary Local Nature Reserve. However, this is a vast reserve and is used for many different purposes, including recreational activities such as wildfowling (for which a permit is required), walking, bird watching, and horse-riding.

Being made up of rich intertidal mud and sand flats, Eden Estuary is home to millions of tiny plants and animals. Due to this wealth of food, the site supports a huge variety and volume of bird life. Notable birds include black-tailed godwit, grey plover, redshank, shelduck, and red-breasted merganser. You might also have a chance of spotting interesting mammals including otter and common seal. Dolphins have also been known to venture into the estuary. The on-site visitor centre is a great place to start your exploration of the reserve.

In St Andrews, both East Sands and West Sands are Seaside Award beaches. East Sands is a popular watersports location and a feeding ground for many seabirds as well as a sanctuary for seals and dolphins. West Sands offers almost two miles of sand backed by restored dunes, protecting the coastline from further erosion. The whole area is home to a range of wildlife from the hares who live in the grassed areas to the skua, eider, and gannet. If you are really lucky, you may even catch a glimpse of our largest bird of prey – the mighty sea eagle.

Wildlife reserves such as Kilminning near Crail, Dumbarnie near Lower Largo and the Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve near St Andrews, offer welcome opportunities for spotting native species along the trail, such as the elusive red squirrel and birds including stonechat and turnstone. Off the shore, terns can often be seen circling on the hunt for food.

Walking through the beautiful Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve, and rounding the headland at the Tay estuary provides stunning vistas across the river to Broughty Ferry Castle and the Tay Bridges. Both the most northerly and southerly points of the path at Newburgh and Kincardine culminate at commemorative archways, celebrating the route and those who walk it.

Any walk that links the iconic Firths of Forth and Tay is clearly well equipped to showcase some of Scotland’s finest natural and cultural highlights. Why not give the Fife Coastal Path a try?

Article provided by Fife Coast & Countryside Trust

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Cycling the Hebridean Way… slow timeIt was a wintry day in mid-March when round-the-world cyclist Mark Beaumont took on the challenge of riding the Hebridean Way end-to-end in under 24 hours. In what must surely be an understatement, he later described the 185-mile ride in a strong wind with occasional sleety showers as “a bit gritty in places.”

Cheered on by schoolchildren along the route and at one point transported between Barra and Eriskay by high-speed boat, he managed to accomplish the challenge in under 12 hours in the saddle.

Luckily for most of us contemplating riding this exceptional route, which is the length of the Outer Hebrides, a greater degree of comfort and a more relaxed pace is possible. The Hebridean Way website give options for a four-day or a six-day trip, but there’s plenty to see if you have more time, giving you time to enjoy the stunning scenery, get acquainted with some of the wildlife or just relax and enjoy some of the delicious food and drink on offer in the islands.

Wind assistance

Most people chose to ride from south to north, with the prevailing wind.

Take a gentle start on the low-lying, machair-fringed island of Vatersay, famous for the Vatersay Raiders and their role in land reform early in the 20th century, not to mention The Vatersay Boys (look them up if you’re not already familiar with these cultural icons!). Across the causeway, you reach Barra, where you can choose to follow the road round either the east or west of the island. On the east side,

Becky Shaw takes a look at one of the finest bike routes in Scotland.

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the impressive 15th century Kisimul Castle sits on a rock in Castle Bay; you can reach it in a short boat trip from the pier. The west road takes in some fantastic beaches with great views over the Atlantic and, if the conditions are right, some pretty impressive surf! Abundant wildlife, flower-strewn machair grasslands and quiet roads make for a great day’s cycling. Before you cross the Sound of Barra to Eriskay, it’s worth taking a short detour to Tràigh Mhòr, (big beach), the only airfield in the world washed twice daily by the tide.

There’s a beautiful loop walk from the ferry terminal in Eriskay, taking in the sandy beach where Bonnie Prince Charlie first stepped ashore in Scotland and giving you time to savour this lovely island, renowned for the hardy breed of pony hailing from here. Once you’re on your way again, a causeway takes you to South Uist and your fourth island after less than 20 miles in the saddle!

On the spectacular island of South Uist (Tir a’ Mhurain – the land of the marram grass), the Hebridean Way

meanders on and off the main spinal road, taking you into the heart of the crofting landscape, between the mountains and the sea. Much of South Uist is in a National Scenic Area and it’s not hard to see why.

It’s worth calling in at the Kildonan Museum to see the armorial Clanranald Stone, as well as finding out more about the work of folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw, who spent many years collecting and preserving the music and song of South Uist. And there’s a café with cake for hungry cyclists!

The route then follows the main road through the rest of South Uist. The influence of water in the landscape gets more pronounced as you pass Loch Druidibeg and Loch Bee. With the next causeway, you’re in Benbecula and island number five of the 10-island trip.

Culture and corncrakes

There are spectacular beaches and broad sweeps of machair to greet you

in Benbecula. The Hebridean Way follows the main road to Balivanich, the administrative centre of Uist and a good place to stock up on supplies. Then it’s onward through Grimsay, an island with a great tradition of vernacular boat building, where you can buy seafood direct from the pier to enjoy as you relax after your day’s exertions.

Another causeway – there are six linking islands on the Hebridean Way – takes to you to the magical island of North Uist (Tir an Eorna – land of the barley). This lacework of water and land is fringed on the west coast by wide expanses of wildflower and bird-rich machair. The RSPB’s Balranald Nature Reserve sits among the crofting settlements on this sandy Atlantic coast and, like much of Uist, is a good place to hear the elusive corncrake calling in the evening.

If you have time to spend in North Uist, the Taigh Chearsabhagh museum and arts centre in Lochmaddy offers imaginative cultural exhibitions and events throughout the year.

185 Miles - 10 IslandsVatersay - Barra - Eriskay - South Uist - Benbecula - Grimsay - North Uist - Berneray - Harris - Lewis

The Sound of Harris ferry crossing runs only in daylight, due to the intricate coastline the ferry must navigate. An hour after leaving Berneray, you arrive in Leverburgh and set out on your ninth island and the steepest leg of the trip. But, first, if you’re not in a hurry to tick off the Clisham, the grandest medieval building in the Outer Hebrides, St Clement’s Church is only a couple of miles in the wrong direction – down the road to Rodel.

Back on track, the route follows the west coast through fertile farmland and past jaw-droppingly wonderful beaches. A detour off the road to Luskentyre is no bad plan; you’re rewarded with spectacular views. From Tarbert – the location of one of the newest distilleries in Scotland – the road climbs slowly over the hills of North Harris, home to golden eagles. You’ll have plenty of time to look out for them as you tackle the 800 metre climb, pretty much from sea level. From the top, you can coast downhill into Lewis, which, as a cursory glance at the map will show you, is

comprehensively joined to Harris. Still, it’s island number ten on the official counter and the end is in sight.

This route through the wide open landscape of Lewis takes you past the breath-taking monuments of early settlers at Calanais and the remarkable Iron Age Broch of Dun Carloway. The Gearannan Blackhouse Village (a mile or so detour from the route) gives an insight into life in the more recent past and provides another option for tea and cake to sustain you for the final push. The crofting settlements of Barvas, Bragar, Brue and Galson line your route for the stretch to the parish of Ness at the far north of the Outer Hebrides.

The Hebridean Way ends at the spectacular Butt of Lewis lighthouse, perched high on a clifftop and, in the summer, surrounded by the calls of seabirds riding the currents that have pushed you northwards through this island chain.

You will go a long way to find a better bike-ride.

2 3

1 The beautiful west coast of Harris has beaches to rival the best in the world.

2 Time for a photo-stop and a breather, Lochs, Lewis.

3 Impressive skies and atmospheric lighting in Benbecula.

44 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 45

ReRoute, Scotland’s youth biodiversity panel, is certainly a project to keep your eye on. Joanne Elston, one of the members of ReRoute, tells us about their big plans for the future.

1

Young people are passionate about many things – friends and school, sport and music – and yes, we also care deeply about the environment.

How do we know? This is where ReRoute, a partnership between Young Scot (Scotland’s youth information and citizenship charity) and Scottish Natural Heritage, comes in.

ReRoute has been created to help SNH deliver Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy by focusing on youth involvement in environmental topics. We recognise the positive contributions that nature makes to young people’s lives, such as health and wellbeing benefits. Working together on residential trips every few months, myself and the other panel members are busy exploring issues that affect

ReRoute to action

youth involvement in nature, as well as how environmental organisations work and engage young people in their work.

To understand young people’s thoughts and opinions on Scotland’s natural environment the group wanted to speak directly to young people. So we created a survey that was published through Young Scot’s rewards programme.

Making an impact

The survey received 1079 responses from young people across Scotland and challenged many assumptions that may be held about young people. The survey found that 86% of respondents either ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that we need to protect the natural environment and 75% thought that nature and the outdoors was important to them.

46 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 47

Lifting the barriers

A conference in Bristol titled Race Equality in Nature was an inspiring event brought about by 14-year-old blogger and birder, Birdgirl, passionately campaigning for better access to nature for people from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities. The group learned that people with various religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds can face many barriers to accessing and enjoying nature’s benefits. ReRoute hope to use these insights to ensure that they reach young people from all backgrounds in Scotland and champion equal access for all.

Other events, such as RSPB’s Big Nature Festival, Trees for Life’s Glen Affric Bioblitz and Edinburgh Science Festival talks (such as Ocean Junkyard) were fantastic opportunities to gather information about how organisations engage young people in nature and environmental issues.

However, the survey also revealed that only 15% had heard of Scotland’s Biodiversity: A Route Map to 2020 or the international targets for biodiversity and the environment.

Nevertheless, this is hugely encouraging for ReRoute and has inspired the whole group to work with environmental organisations to make sure that young people can have an instrumental role – whether this is through raising awareness, their lifestyle choices, or volunteering and employment opportunities.

ReRoute will also use Young Scot’s digital platforms and rewards programmes to test out ways of engaging young people on the topics and issues before ultimately making recommendations to SNH and Scottish Government on how these activities can be scaled to have an even bigger impact.

ReRoute group members have also been attending events to gather information on topics in Scotland’s Biodiversity: A Route Map to 2020, how young people can engage with nature, and how environmentally focused organisations can better engage with young people.

Encouraging atmosphere

One of ReRoute’s aims is for young people to be more informed about nature and the benefits it provides. These kinds of events could be instrumental in providing this information. However, it was observed that not many people aged 11-15 attended, and, after speaking to young people it was apparent that they often cannot or will not travel long distances or are unable to pay to attend such events.

The group are, therefore, looking into how young people can access such events more easily, and whether other types of engagement would work better for certain age groups.

Already widely receiving recognition, for example from Scotland’s First Minister in her speech at the World Forum on Natural Capital, we have discovered so many different groups full of passionate people doing amazing work with nature in Scotland. We hope to create the right atmosphere for change to be encouraged.

ReRoute members will continue to make links with organisations, gather insights from young people and test out their ideas on how to engage them further. ReRoute will also begin to take on a more strategic role by talking to both senior leaders and the board of SNH. Not only will this give the group the chance to give a voice to the opinions of young people but they will also be able to co-create solutions and ideas. ReRoute are excited to take on the next phase of their challenge; we have a long road ahead, but we’re confident it can be done.

For more information on ReRoute visitwww.youngscot.net/reroute or follow#SNHReRoute and www.young.scot/reroute

48 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 49

SNH Area NewsNorthern Isles and North HighlandCorrespondent: Adam Rose

SNH Area NewsForthCorrespondent: Sarah Eaton

Innovation, architecture & design

Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design allowed National Nature Reserves to make a neat connection with tern shelters and adder homes.

Tern terrace

A specially constructed ‘tern terrace’ is proving successful in increasing the population of terns on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve (NNR).

To build the terrace, an area covering 62 square metres in the centre of the island was cleared of nettles (which terns won’t nest in) and covered with tarpaulin and gravel, with a stone boundary to act as a windbreak. Finally, specialist ‘tern boxes’ were constructed and installed for the chicks to use as shelter and protection against predators.

The principal idea was to increase the island’s tern populations, targeting both Arctic and common terns, but the summer of 2016 brought even more rewards. Having not nested on the island for eight years, a total of 21 pairs of Sandwich terns settled on the terrace and fledged 14 young. Although the colony is small in size, it is encouraging for the future that birds nested in the first year on the terrace. Further good news included an increase in both Arctic and common tern breeding numbers and there are plans to increase the size of the terrace this autumn.

David Steel, SNH’s manager on the Isle of May said, “Looking back at this summer, the most noticeable success was the return of breeding Sandwich terns for the first time in eight years. The 14 chicks have been ringed and colour-marked to enable us to follow their future movements. However, the hard work does not stop there as we’ll be extending the current terrace this autumn as we hope to attract even more. It’s a conservation success and why we are in the business.”

The new tern terrace complements the award-winning, human visitor centre which was opened in 2014. The building is surrounded by a colony of nesting Arctic terns, giving an ‘all-surround’, close-up experience of these noisy, defensive and beautiful birds. Even the turf roof is proving to be an irresistible nesting area.

Snake homes

Inland Flanders Moss NNR has always had a reputation for having lots of adders but actually very little is known about the snakes on the Moss, not even what size the population is. The best time to count adders is when they are coming out of hibernation in early spring but finding those sites can be tricky. Also, adders are at their most vulnerable when they are hibernating, so one way we can help them is to make them safe hibernating sites (called hibernacula) where we can then count them in the spring.

There are now about six hibernacula around the edges of the Moss, the design being improved each year. The aim is to keep building one or two every year so that there is a succession of hibernacula on the bog edge. And then it is just a matter of monitoring them to see if the adders take to their new winter homes.

They blend in well with the surroundings, but, if you look carefully, two of the hibernacula can be seen from the Reserve’s viewing tower. The tower gives human visitors an unusual and eye-opening experience and, along with the boardwalk, provides a unique way to enjoy the great views and wildlife of Flanders Moss.

Seal of approval

Aberdeen University and SNH recently joined forces for a Seal Watch event at Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve near Golspie.

Visitors of all ages turned out at Loch Fleet’s seal watchpoint in July to enjoy spectacular coastal views and learn more about harbour seals and their pups.

Loch Fleet’s resident seal population can be seen during summer lounging about on the sandbanks on the south side of the tidal basin. Around 50 pups were born here this year, roughly the same as last year.

Some of this year’s pups could be seen relaxing in the sun with their mums and sliding in and out and splashing about in the water. As the tide came in, visitors witnessed the amusing sight of the seals doing their best ‘banana’ impressions as they tried to curl up and away from the water keeping their heads and tails dry until the very last minute.

A decade of study

Taking part in the event were staff from Aberdeen University’s Cromarty Lighthouse Field Station. They were on hand to explain their research into harbour seals that has been taking place at Loch Fleet for more than 10 years. During that time, they have developed a photographic library of all the seals and amassed a wealth of information about them. You can follow Lighthouse Field Station’s research on their blog. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/lighthouse/blog/

Recent research into seals’ movements using GPS (global positioning system) tracking has shown that the majority of seals move around within the inner Moray Firth as far as Inverness. Two of the more adventurous seals travelled as far as the Kyle of Tongue and Orkney before losing their trackers in May 2015. Nevertheless, they were found to have returned to Loch Fleet this year making impressive return journeys of 400km and 325km respectively.

At low tide, Loch Fleet NNR’s harbour seals are one of the reserve’s many visitor highlights. The seal watchpoint, on the south side of the loch with its purpose-built extended layby and interpretative information, can be enjoyed at any time and affords visitors panoramic views across Loch Fleet’s tidal basin. Indeed it can provide one of the most accessible and effortless views of seals in Sutherland.

As it transpired, the day wasn’t all about the seals. Ospreys, another of the wildlife highlights on the reserve, were seen swooping down to catch fish in the channel of the River Fleet and oystercatchers and Arctic terns were also spotted along the shoreline and on the tidal mud flats.

So when your thoughts turn to things to pencil-in for next summer, why not visit the seal watchpoint, take a stroll along the woodland path to the Balblair Bay bird hide or have a picnic on the dunes at Littleferry?

It’s an excellent way to spend a day or two outdoors and you can do all this at Loch Fleet NNR.

National Nature Reserves can be found across Scotland and really are the jewels in our natural crown. They offer visitors a chance to get up close to wildlife and to relax and unwind in some of our finest landscapes. For more information visit our NNR website.

50 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 51

SNH Area News

Correspondent: Jane Dodd

Argyll and Outer Hebrides

SNH Area NewsSouthern ScotlandCorrespondents: Dr Emily Taylor and Francois Chazel

Fleet Catchment Survey

The Fleet catchment in Dumfries and Galloway runs from the hills around Cairnsmore of Fleet down to the Solway. The catchment falls within the UNESCO Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve and includes the Cairnsmore of Fleet National Nature Reserve.

The Little Water of Fleet and Loch Fleet were once an impressive brown trout fishery, while the Big Water of Fleet provided important spawning grounds for good numbers of sea trout. However, during the 1970s there was a dramatic crash in fish populations, thought to be attributable to the effects of closed canopy conifers and acid rain.

The catchment is particularly sensitive to acidification owing to the dominance of granite in the underlying geology which offers little capacity to neutralise acidic content in the water. More recently it is suspected that the drainage of the peatlands for forestry and farming has also had an adverse impact on water quality. Together these factors have resulted in the Fleet headwaters becoming some of the most acidified in the UK.

The Fleet Catchment Survey Project, initially funded by Peatland Action, was launched to gather data and collate information on peatland condition and water quality to help inform future management and restoration decisions.

Recognising that a more integrated approach to management and conservation across the catchment was needed, the project set up a steering group led by Galloway Fisheries Trust and comprising private landowners, Forest Enterprise Scotland, SEPA, SNH and the Crichton Carbon Centre. The steering group has been responsible for targeting the survey and monitoring work as well as assessing the peatland restoration priorities. The group will be a forum for discussing and coordinating initiatives to tackle the impacts associated with land use in the catchment and improve water quality.

Currently, the Galloway Fisheries Trust and SNH are

undertaking work, using newly purchased water quality monitoring equipment, to assess pH levels and water flow in areas of open peatland drained at varying intensities. SNH has also completed a first phase of ditch-blocking on the open moorland of the NNR and will soon complete a further tranche. This summer Oxford University carried out research to assess water quality in relation to the forested areas of the catchment.

Together these activities will not only help prioritise peatland restoration and forest restructuring locally, but will also provide further evidence of the link between soils, land use and water quality.

New tagging study

High-tech tracking devices are helping our marine scientists protect two of Scotland’s most endangered fish species in an Argyll Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Working in partnership with colleagues from Marine Scotland Science, and with help from local anglers and creel fishermen, the tracking tags are helping us to better understand how common skate and spurdog use the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura MPA and the adjacent area.

The MPA is designated to help protect common skate, the world’s largest skate species. Skate are related to sharks and common skate can grow up to two metres across and three metres long. The team have fitted tags to 40 skate, the largest of which weighed an impressive 98kg, almost 15.5 stone!

The area is also of interest for spurdog, a small, graceful shark that grows up to 1.5 metres long. Sixty spurdog have also been tagged. Both species were once common in Scottish waters but have suffered large declines in numbers and are included on Scotland’s list of Priority Marine

Features for conservation action.Dr Jane Dodd, who is managing the project for SNH,

said: “We’re really lucky in Scotland to have a wonderful range of wildlife living in our seas. Previous studies have shown that common skate are resident in the waters off Oban in significant numbers and the MPA was designated for their protection in 2014. By tracking skate in the MPA we aim to better understand how they use the area throughout the year, which will help us to make sure that the management of the site is appropriate.

“Spurdog are generally thought to be a migratory species, travelling over large distances. However, there is evidence that some spurdog remain in Loch Etive during winter and may even breed there. The tagging work will improve our understanding about the number of fish that move in and out of the loch, or remain there year-round. This exciting project has brought together a range of people who all want to see these fantastic fish thrive in Scotland’s seas.”

Common skate and spurdog are two of the biggest attractions for many of the catch-and-release anglers that visit the area each year. A 2009 Scottish Government survey estimated that sea angling generated around 400 jobs and income of £6.3m a year in Argyll and Lochaber.

For more information about the project - www.snh.gov.uk/skate-spurdog-tracking

52 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 53

SNH Area NewsTayside and GrampianCorrespondent: Ewen Cameron

SNH Area NewsSouth HighlandCorrespondent: Derrick Warner

call from NCC asking if I would be interested in a contract as summer warden on Beinn Eighe NNR – would I ever! After a few months there, I was asked if I would like a longer-term contract managing the soon-to-be-declared NNR in Glen Strathfarrar. My ‘own’ nature reserve – what more could I possibly want? Newly married, my wife Susan and I now rented a furnished three-bedroom house for £20 per week, but my take-home pay was only £29.70! I never did manage to grow a beard.

The wildlife records for Glen Strathfarrar were a bit patchy and I set to compiling records of birds, butterflies, moths and plants – I was amazed and excited as the lists grew longer and longer.

One of my main tasks was to identify areas that could be fenced off to allow woodland regeneration, which meant I came into close and regular contact with two local keepers: Donnie Fraser and Henry Bain. Once again, I was lucky to learn a lot from two patient and observant men. But these were very happy and productive years. Decades on, it is gratifying to see some areas of woodland that in the early 80s were just scatters of a few ageing trees. As the 80s progressed to the 90s, SNH came into being and I spent more time at my desk and eventually in front of a computer. I relished the fact that SNH had a bigger budget and was able to help get more done. When I came to manage the grants budget in north-east Scotland, it was great to be able to fund small groups and initiatives that were busy doing things. We helped fund major footpath projects, organisations that used the outdoors in their therapeutic work with special needs groups, countryside ranger employers, school grounds projects and various wildlife charities which were managing their own nature reserves. The pleasure was seeing others empowered to do the things that they wanted to get done.

Two projects from that time which remain close to my heart are the NE Biodiversity Partnership and the North East Scotland Biological Records Centre. Both organisations help and encourage people not to wait for ‘them’ to do something but make a difference themselves. Whether it’s in the garden, on the farm, or in the school grounds, we can all make a difference for wildlife. Wildlife recording and managing areas for wildlife is valuable for all sorts of things; it is open to absolutely everyone and I will certainly be doing more of it now that I am retired.”

Reflections on retiring

Ewen Cameron spent four decades working with Scottish Natural Heritage and its forerunners. He retired in September and we asked him to reflect on his 40 years in the environment business.

“This September marked 40 years since I started work with the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) – one of SNH’s predecessors – and my retirement. Fair to say I’ve seen a few changes in that time. When I got the chance of a six-month contract working for NCC in their new Inverness office in 1976, I jumped at the chance. Late that year, I was sent to Inverpolly National Nature Reserve (NNR) to collect some native tree seed. There was a bit of cold, wet and dirty involved, but now I was being paid, which made it much more tolerable, and for the first time I met – Nature Reserve wardens! An exotic breed of outdoor men (and they were always men in those days), usually bearded, who worked with nature. I was hooked. The wardens at Inverpolly then were Bill Henderson and Davie Duncan and I learned a great deal from them.

A couple of weeks after my first contract finished, I got a

Cairngorms Connect

A new partnership of land managers from private, charity and public sectors within the Cairngorms National Park has been formed. The founder members – Wild Land Ltd, RSPB, Forest Enterprise Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage – share ownership boundaries and common objectives over an area of 60,000 hectares. They share aspirations for ecological enhancement and a willingness to work together to deliver practical action in this special area.

This Partnership area encompasses some of the most spectacular and biodiverse places in Scotland. It includes four National Nature Reserves, a wide range of national and international designated sites for nature conservation, half of the UK’s 2016 lekking capercaillie population, and the second-highest summit in the UK.

Over the last 10 years the objectives of these partners, who are custodians of an almost contiguous area of native pinewoods, mountain massif and lowland wetlands have increasingly aligned around habitat restoration. There were already some good examples of partnership working between the neighbours for large parts of this area, for example on deer management, and there was a growing appetite to deepen and formalise the partnership and to work together at a truly landscape scale.

The partnership will maintain key links with Cairngorm National Park Authority to strengthen the group and also support the Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan 2017-2022 by making a major contribution to delivering tangible outcomes against the Park Plan objective of restoring and enhancing habitats on a landscape scale.

Partnership members are committed to the principle that nature conservation and ecological enhancement will be the primary drivers of management. As such, they are committed to actively seeking opportunities to cooperate and support each other in delivering the aim of landscape-scale ecological enhancement across land ownership boundaries.

This will mean employing the ecosystem approach to integrate the management of land, water and living resources to promote conservation and sustainable use, whilst recognising integral cultural and varied social needs.

The Partnership has set out a vision of work to deliver projects that restore habitats and ecosystems to a point in the future whereby natural processes are the key driver of change. This vision recognises that there is a place for sustainable farming, forestry and hunting in this restored and enhanced landscape.

www.snh.gov.uk 5554 The Nature of Scotland

SNH Area NewsStrathclyde and AyrshireCorrespondent: Arthur Keller

Favourable for nature... and our armed forces

Seven Lochs Wetland Park

The Seven Lochs Wetland Park is set to become Scotland’s largest urban nature park following the award of a £4.4 million lottery grant.

The Wetland Park will bring together lochs, parks, and nature reserves between Riddrie in Glasgow and Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire. New paths and visitor facilities will be added around Hogganfield, Frankfield, Bishop, Johnston, Garnqueen, Woodend and Lochend Lochs.

This project has been developed by the Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network partnership and is now being taken forward by a partnership headed up by Glasgow City Council, North Lanarkshire Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forest Enterprise Scotland and Conservation Volunteers Scotland.

The park will benefit the existing communities in the area, but it is also right in the middle of the Gartloch-Gartcosh community growth area, earmarked for 4300 new homes in the Strategic Development Plan. The project was awarded £4.4 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund in June 2016, which, with contributions from other partner organisations, will create new gateway areas, improve connections, and enhance the environment – but that is just the start. The intention is to develop green links into the park from the current urban areas, and new housing, so that it is integrated with the whole development. Local people will be able to look out – and step out – into the park, which will also attract visitors from across the region. The Seven Lochs Trail already links Hogganfield Loch to Drumpelier, connecting the communities of Easterhouse and Coatbridge.

Scotland provides essential and often quite challenging training areas in which our armed forces can operate. However, where possible training needs are devised not only to prevent negative environmental impacts but also to deliver benefits for nature.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is a partner with SNH in the Delivering Favourable Condition project, through which individuals and organisations from the private, voluntary and public sectors tackle ‘pressures’ on natural features in protected areas.

In Scotland the MOD has 22 designated sites covering an area of almost 7,000 hectares. Most of these sites are also identified as being of international importance for nature and have multiple designations. On those sites 124 features met the targets required to be considered in ‘favourable condition’.

However, all these habitats undergo natural change if left unmanaged. They can be invaded by scrub or become dominated by coarse tall grasses that swamp and shade out the smaller more

delicate plants that make our coastal dunes so flower-rich and colourful.

Protecting the environment

The work being undertaken by the MOD helps ensure that species and habitats of outstanding scientific interest are protected – or in ‘favourable condition’ – and that the MOD’s defence needs are balanced with their statutory responsibility to ensure environmental protection.

The MOD’s environmental team specialists have, over the last three years, worked with our local staff and developed simple management plans with a five-year funded work programme. These funds are then used to pump-prime management that will make longer-term management more sustainable. This can be delivered through things like fencing to allow the land to be brought back into agricultural use and ultimately make it easier for troops to train.

Work undertaken across the MOD estate since 2013 includes:

– Removal of non-native species including rhododendron and Japanese knotweed and restoration work at Torrs Warren – Luce Bay SSSI;

– Installation of seven kilometres of fencing mostly at Torrs Warren-Luce Bay and Barry Links SSSIs to facilitate domestic stock grazing to improve the condition of the sand dunes and historic First World War training trenches;

– Large-scale broom and gorse scrub management at Morrich More SSSI and Barry Links SSSI to help restore dune heathland, juniper scrub and grassland habitats.

Dominic Ash, the MOD’s senior ecologist, said “The results we have achieved in such a short period of time have been outstanding. In no small part this is due to positive attitudes and vision of what can be achieved, plus a willingness of all involved to work closely together in partnership. Over the coming years I believe we can get all our designated sites into ‘favourable condition’ so they are richer in wildlife and are better places in which to work and train.”

To find out more about how to safely access the MOD’s training estate and how to protect it see the ‘Public safety on the MOD training estate’ video on YouTube.

56 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 57

Dualchas coitcheannCommon heritage

Dùthaich bhreac

Tha dà ainm-àite faisg air Port-adhair Ìle a’ sealltainn farsaingeachd an fhacail breac air aghaidh na talmhainn. Tha e a’ nochdadh mar bhuadhair ann am Beinn Bhreac. Dà chilemeatair don ear-thuath air a’ bheinn, tha Loch nam Breac, far a bheil am facal na ainmear, a’ ciallachadh an èisg Salmo trutta. ’S fhiach cuimhneachadh, ge-tà, gu bheil breac a’ ciallachadh ‘bradan’ ann an dualchainnt no dhà.

’S iomadh loch is allt thar na Gàidhealtachd air a bheil ainm le ‘breac’ ann. Tha eisimpleirean ann an Lochan Dubh nam Breac air mòinteach ann an ceann a deas an Eilein Sgitheanaich, Loch nam Breac Ruadh ann an Uibhist a Deas agus Lochan nam Breac Reamhra faisg air an Òban (Latharna). Chan eilear a’ dol a dh’innse far a bheil na sia lochan air a bheil Loch nam Breac Mòra, eagal ’s gum biodh cus dhaoine a’ falbh a dh’iasgach annta!

Mar bhuadhair, tha ‘breac’ a’ dèanamh tuairisgeul de choltas àite, gu tric air fhaicinn aig astar, co-cheangailte ri lusan, creagan no sgrìodan. Tha eisimpleirean anns an Àirigh Bhric ann am Muile (nach eil breac tuilleadh oir chaidh coille a chur oirre), An t-Sròn Bhreac, ceann beinne taobh Loch Lòchaidh agus A’ Chreag Bhreac is A’ Chruach Bhreac a tha air leth bitheanta. Tha an t-uabhas de bheanntan air a bheil Am Meall Breac agus A’ Bheinn Bhreac. Uaireannan tha na ‘beanntan breaca’ ceangailte ri Cailleach na Beinne Brice a bha uaireigin, ’s dòcha, na ban-dia phàganach a bhuineadh ris a’ gheamhradh.

Ann an litreachas na Gàidhlig, tha breac mar thuairisgeul air coltas achaidhean is leathaidean far a bheil lusan sònraichte pailt – leithid sòbhragan, neòineanan is oighreagan (feireagan). Tha ‘breac le feireagan as cruinn dearg ceann’ a’ nochdadh anns an dàn ainmeil ‘Coire a’ Cheathaich’ le Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir. Chithear a’ chiall sin anns an ainm-àite Achadh Breac (Achbreck ann am Beurla), a nochdas ann an grunn àiteachan eadar Siorrachd Bhanbh agus Earra-Ghàidheal.

Ruaridh MacIlleathain looks at the many uses of breac ‘speckled’ in Gaelic literature. It’s a word that is associated with trout, lochs and much more besides.

A speckled land

Two place names close to Islay Airport demonstrate the diversity of the word breac (‘BREH-uchk’) in the Gaelic landscape. Meaning ‘speckled’, it is the descriptor in the mountain name Beinn Bhreac (bayn VREH-uchk) ‘speckled mountain’ – the ‘h’ softening the ‘b’ in agreement with the feminine gender of the noun beinn. Two kilometres north-east of the mountain is Loch nam Breac ‘the loch of the trout’, where the word is a noun, referring to our native brown trout which, of course, is a beautifully speckled fish.

Many water bodies across the Highlands and Islands carry the name of this species. Examples are Lochan Dubh nam Breac ‘the black [peatland] lochan of the trout’ on Skye, Loch nam Breac Ruadh ‘the loch of the russet trout’ in South Uist and Lochan nam Breac Reamhra ‘the lochan of the fat trout’ near Oban, Argyll. The localities of the six lochs which are called Loch nam Breac Mòra ‘the loch of the big trout’ will remain undeclared, because of fears of overfishing!

As a descriptor, breac is applied in place names to several types of feature, and refers to an appearance, usually observed at distance, caused by the distribution of vegetation or rocks, including scree. Examples are the Àirigh Bhreac ‘speckled shieling’ on Mull (no longer speckled because it is covered with plantation forest), Sròn Bhreac ‘speckled nose’ on Loch Lochy, and the extremely numerous and widespread Creag Bhreac ‘speckled crag’ and Cruach Bhreac ‘speckled stack’. There are many mountains called Meall Breac and Beinn Bhreac, the latter often connected with Cailleach na Beinne Brice ‘the hag of Beinn Bhreac’, who may originally have been a pre-Christian deity associated with winter.

In Gaelic literature breac is employed to describe the appearance of fields, hillsides and plateaux where particular plants are growing in abundance, examples being primroses, daisies and cloudberries. ‘Studded with cloudberries of the roundest, reddest head’ is a line from ‘The Misty Corrie’ by Duncan Bàn MacIntyre, one of Gaeldom’s most celebrated poems. A toponymic example is Achbreck, Achadh Breac ‘speckled field’, a name that occurs in locations as far apart as Banffshire and Argyll.

58 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 59

is to ensure a secure supply of high-quality raw materials, namely cereals and wood. This includes encouraging the use of wood sourced from sustainable oak forests to manufacture new casks.

In terms of what we aim to achieve overall, we have set three expected outcomes that will be delivered in 2020: greenhouse gas emissions will be 170,000 tonnes lower; water use will be 1.1 billion litres lower, and 4,400 fewer tonnes of waste will be sent to landfill.

We have also put in place a number of measures to ensure we deliver the programme successfully. We will, for example, influence supply chains to help us minimise the industry’s environmental impact; we will collaborate closely with local communities, regulators and other stakeholders. As well as discussing industry progress with stakeholders every year, we will review the commitments at least once every five years.

Scotch whisky has been produced

Morag Garden, head of sustainability and innovation at the Scotch Whisky Association explains how this famous industry is working hard to ensure a sustainable product now and in the future.

Scotch whisky is very much a product of its natural environment. The iconic product, recognised globally, is made from only three raw materials: water, cereals and yeast. It therefore relies on fertile land, reliable rainfall and a high-quality water supply. To protect valuable resources, the Scotch whisky industry has always believed in sustainability and takes its environmental responsibilities seriously.

In 2009, the industry launched its far-reaching Environmental Strategy – the first sector-wide initiative of its kind. This award-winning strategy, which set ambitious voluntary targets, has

Scotch whisky industry – committed to sustainability

driven many industry achievements of which we are proud, such as increasing the use of non-fossil fuels to almost 20% from 3% in 2008 and reducing the amount of waste from packaging operations sent to landfill to 2% from 13%.

But we are well aware that the world is constantly evolving and therefore the Scotch Whisky Environmental Strategy must do the same. That’s why we decided to check our ambitions to ensure they are in line with others’ expectations.

We have worked intensively within the Scotch whisky industry and with other stakeholders, such as environmental organisations and regulators, to refresh the strategy and make it fit-for-purpose for many years to come.

The Scotch whisky industry sees no contradiction between being modern, profitable and successful makers of a world-renowned product, and being at the heart of protecting Scotland’s unique natural environment.

The refreshed Industry Environmental Strategy sets even more ambitious voluntary targets, from responsible water use to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and has been broadened to reflect changing business operations. It is collective, building on the work of individual Scotch whisky producers. And it relies on strong support from governments and supply chains to deliver on its ambitions.

It was launched in Edinburgh in September with a panel session including Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, who welcomed the refresh.

The strategy now has four themes with targets for 2020 and 2050:

– Reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050 some 80% of primary energy will come from non-fossil fuels, such as anaerobic digestion and solar power. Energy efficiency will be improved by 7.6% by 2020,

in line with the Climate Change Agreement.

– Responsible water use. Effective water use is a priority for the industry, given the reliance on a pristine supply. Distilling water efficiency will improve by 10% by 2020. This target is based on companies optimising efficient water use at their production sites. The industry will also deliver on its commitments in the River Basin Management Plans.

– Embracing a ‘circular economy’ in the industry supply chain. The aim is to use resources for as long as possible, extracting maximum value from them and recovering and regenerating materials. This was a commitment for the industry long before the term ‘circular economy’ became widely used and recognised. For example, by 2020 no general waste will go to landfill and product packaging will be 100% recyclable.

– Sustainable land use. The goal

for more than 500 years and is now sold in around 200 markets across the world, with exports totalling about £4 billion annually. It plays a vital role in rural communities and urban economies across Scotland.

We are committed to ensuring that we work within a natural environment that allows us to continue to produce a world-class product for the next 500 years and more. We believe the refreshed Scotch Whisky Industry Environmental Strategy is a vital plank in guaranteeing a sustainable future.

60 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 61

2

Poles apart?

Earlier this year I joined a group of fellow conservation professionals travelling to Poland. We visited West Pomerania on the border between north-west Poland and eastern Germany. The trip centred on the Odra river valley, which covers 150km of valley and floodplain from the river’s confluence with the Warta River near Kostrzyn to where it flows into the Baltic Sea.

This region of Poland is home to vast areas of wetlands typified by reed beds, wet fens and mires with extensive willow carr (carr being an old Norse word meaning swamp). Agriculture is predominantly small-scale, while, farther from the main river channels, beech and pine forests are the usual habitat you will find.

Funding for conservation in Poland is hard to come by, particularly from the state. Even in the largest parks and reserves state funding only covers around 30 to 40% of overall running costs. Organisations like the RSPB are

The Arch Network encourages sharing natural heritage studies between Scotland and other European countries. Neil Mitchell, a designated sites officer at Scottish Natural Heritage, recently took part in one of these schemes and visited Poland to see how things are done there.

few and have limited membership with little ‘clout’ so the protection of Poland’s environment is being driven by a few highly motivated individuals.

Our host and guide, Kazimierz Rabski of the Society for the Coast, was one such individual, and we started out by visiting ‘Park Natury Zalewu Szczecinskiego’. Kazimierz had been instrumental in setting this reserve up and it now boasts 1,000 hectares of land, and works with partners over a further 4,000 hectares of the wider Odra Delta Nature Park. (The Oder is known as the Odra in Poland and Oder in Germany).

The Society aims to restore the species-rich meadows and pastures by reintroducing traditional cutting regimes and grazing. These have fallen into neglect since 1989 when the Soviet communist system of farming (Kolkoz) collapsed and agriculture in much of the Odra valley was abandoned. This neglect had allowed a transition from species-rich meadow which provided three cuts of hay each year to one dominated by reeds, sedges and other tall grasses.

Moreover, state-funded drainage of land surrounding the site and the construction of a flood defence system left a

legacy that still presents challenges to the management of the site. Despite all this, we were impressed by the diversity of flora, insects and birds on the reserve.

At the Odra Delta Nature Park the aim is very much to preserve species-rich hay meadows, rather than allow progression through natural ecological process which would ultimately end in a woodland community.

It was equally exciting for us to see an extensive area of wet woodland and reed bed, a result of what some would term rewilding, and others neglect. Since 1989 many areas in the Odra valley have seen little or no active management and there have been ‘losers’ during this process of natural succession. Wader, crake and rail numbers have dwindled in this area but the species losing out most was the aquatic warbler.

The aquatic warbler

Europe’s only globally threatened songbird, the aquatic warbler is a migratory species which even now ornithologists know relatively little about beyond its breeding sites. Like many endangered species it is very specialist in its habitat requirements, and great swathes of its old strongholds have been left with damaged hydrological systems following intensification of farming. In other areas abandonment of land has left their potential nest sites covered in scrub woodland or rank vegetation.

But help is at hand. We learned about an EU-funded project centred on mowing regimes and vegetation removal to reduce nutrient levels and create the correct sward height for aquatic warbler nest sites.

Cross border opportunities

The river Oder divides Germany and Poland, and there are excellent opportunities for cross-border working. We met staff from the Western Pomerania Regional Landscapes Park, who are now working with German colleagues in the Unteres Odertal National Park.

This gave us the bonus opportunity to gain an introduction to wetland management in Germany. In Germany we heard much more about a policy of ‘let nature remain natural’. However, in certain areas land management was very much focused upon species which have suffered as a result of changing agricultural practices. We learnt that in Germany the farms within their National Park are state-owned, and tenanted on the very strict basis that they are managed for conservation objectives. Subsidies are available to tenants to ensure wildlife-friendly farming is as profitable as farming outside the park.

We got the impression that continuity in management practices meant it had not been necessary to ‘turn back the clock’ to quite the same extent as has been necessary in Poland.

Biodiversity beyond boundaries

One other thing that was immediately evident from the study tour was how important the local conservationists consider ecotourism could be to the country in the future, and it was easy to see why.

The biodiversity of Poland was astonishing. We came back with a list of 101 bird species, watched European beaver and had close encounters with wild boar, sea eagle, common crane and white stork on a near-daily basis.

We were all taken by the diversity of species in the verges, ditches and hedgerows in this region. We couldn’t help but note how ‘alive’ the fields beyond the reserves were. I could imagine this being more akin to what my grandparents might have recognised our countryside to have once looked like.

Fortunately in Scotland we are starting to realise the value of wildlife in the wider countryside and the Scottish Government’s 2020 Biodiversity route map will go a long way to addressing this.

I for one hope that someday we will see our countryside buzzing beyond our reserve boundaries again, just as it is in Poland.

1

1

A view across a typical wetland in the Odra delta.

2

Butterflies, here a brimstone, were common on the wild roadside verges.

62 The Nature of Scotland www.snh.gov.uk 63

Making connections

2

1 Kittie Jones is an artist whose drawings, paintings and prints take their inspiration from the wildlife of Scotland.

Living and working in Edinburgh, I find I am never far away from the diverse wonders of the Scottish landscape. The Firth of Forth and its environs have been a particularly rich source of inspiration for me, as has the city of Edinburgh itself where I will often make time to go sketching in Holyrood Park or along the Water of Leith.

I have been lucky to spend time in a number of amazing locations, many of them less than 100 miles from Edinburgh. Particularly memorable are the drawing trips I have made to the Bass Rock, an incredible island where the power of the gannet colony challenges the everyday dominance of man. The sensory experience of sharing a space with thousands of seabirds, combined with the fascinating rituals of these iconic birds, makes it a unique place to draw.

Currently my practice has three main strands. The most important one is making work on location. This involves using sketchbooks to capture visual notes on the form different creatures take, the context in which they are found, and anything else which sparks my imagination as an artist. I often make mixed media drawings whilst working outdoors which aim to convey the tension and immediacy of directly experiencing a landscape and the creatures that inhabit it.

Printmaking is another core part of my work, allowing me to explore an expressive and unique response to my

subject matter. I am interested in how my experiences of the natural world can be transformed by distilling form and context to become something more than a direct representation of a scene but instead a combination of memory and imagination.

The final part of my practice involves making drawings and paintings in the studio. This provides me with an opportunity to allow a starting point to evolve over a sustained period of time, creating work with an endpoint that is unpredictable.

Capturing the moment

My work is all about noticing the wonder of the everyday. It is not an idealised version of the world I am interested in, but a celebration of the reality that exists now. I am drawn to that moment when you make a connection with a wild animal – this may be eyeballing a blue tit on the feeder from your kitchen window, or coming face-to-face with a great skua as it flies alongside your boat.

I can often be found drawing at the shores of Duddingston Loch, just five minutes cycle from my flat. Right in the heart of the city, this abundant reserve is home to numerous species of birds, happily existing cheek-by-jowl with the humans who live and work nearby.

Last winter I visited the shores of the loch at dusk to draw the Canada geese that had gathered there amongst coots, cormorants, mallards and swans. As the light began to dim, the air would fill with rooks and jackdaws preparing to roost for the evening, and I would regularly hear the distant hoots of a tawny owl

breaking through the soft humming of cars behind me.

I watched and drew the geese as they moved around the shores of the loch. At one point these large, inquisitive creatures came out to feed in the grass around me, grunting companionably to each other. Those moments, where you share a space with a creature as equals, are what inspires me and I hope to capture something of the power of this through my work.

Island days

During April this year I spent a week drawing on the Isle of May with a group of fellow artists. For six days we were absorbed in island life and, thanks to the knowledge of the SNH staff, we knew what birds to look out for each day. We were able to watch the rituals of the iridescent shags, whose large nests were sculpted out of multicoloured seaweed, twigs and rope. A couple of short-eared owls,

late winter residents, caused a stir as we attempted to be in the right place at the right time to have the opportunity to watch and draw these mysterious creatures.

One day we woke up to the sounds of thousands of puffins that had arrived on the island overnight, only for them to all be gone again the next morning.

Through making work on location I am fulfilling a desire to connect with, and begin to understand, the complexities of the natural world. I am at my happiest when sitting in a thicket, waterproofs on, flask in hand, finding my way into a new location through drawing. I hope something of my fascination and continuing delight in the unexpected nature of the world around me is conveyed through my artwork.

To see more of Kittie’s work please visit her website: www.kittiejones.com, and for further insights into her inspiration you can read her blog: https://flying creature.wordpress.com.

64 The Nature of Scotland

NEWS / FIOS JANUARY 2015

Scottish Natural Heritage is the government’s adviser on all aspects of nature and landscape across Scotland. Our role is to help everyone understand, value and enjoy Scotland’s nature now and in the future. For more information, visit our website at www.snh.gov.uk. SNH media is also now on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SNH_Tweets

Contact us by email at editor@snh.gov.uk

Communications UnitScottish Natural HeritageBattlebyPerthPH1 3EWScotland

Published: January 2015

Image CreditsAll images copyright Lorne Gill/SNH except; urban deer, Keiran Dodds; planting trees, Portlethen Moss Conservation Group; red-throated diver, Bob Furness/SNH; redwing, David Whitaker.

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Enjoy the best of Scotland’s Natural Larder in Year of Food and Drink 2015The Scottish Government’s tasty theme for 2015 is food and drink. The year is an opportunity to celebrate and promote the best of Scotland’s quality produce to our visitors from around the world. It’s also a good time to remind ourselves of the excellent local food and drink that we have available to us here in Scotland and we’ll be supporting the year through our Scotland’s Natural Larder work. Scotland’s Natural Larder aims to reconnect people with local and natural produce, and the seasonal use of our natural foods. Throughout the year we will continue to raise awareness of what is available locally and seasonally, helping others to make the best of this resource.

NEWS IN BRIEF

– SEABIRD CITY FILM: Stephen Parker’s excellent short film tells the story of seabirds that return each year to breed on Noss NNR in Shetland.

– ANCIENT MARINE SPECIES DISCOVERED: A species of marine reptile that lived 170 million years ago has been identified from fossils found on Skye.

– WARM WEATHER RECORD: The Met Office has revealed that 2014 was Scotland’s warmest year since records began. This example of climate change could affect several species, such as the Arctic charr, which may be lost from some locations.

– PROTECTED AREAS CONFERENCE: Edinburgh hosts an international conference on Protected Areas in February. Themes at the one-day event will include management of protected areas, planning for the future and an independent review of protected areas in Scotland.

Follow Scottish Natural Heritage on social media using the links above

Follow Scottish Natural Heritage on social media using these links

Scotland’s outdoor leisure habits revealed If you’ve ever wondered where people in Scotland go for outdoor recreation and what they do when they get there, you’re in luck! A report published in December shows that 82% of us have used the natural environment for leisure in the past 12 months – up from 79% the previous year and the highest annual figure since 2006.

Health, exercise and walking the dog are the main reasons given for spending time outside. A quarter of outdoors visits were taken to relax and unwind or to enjoy fresh air and good weather. Walking is still the most popular activity, followed by family outings. Among other findings, the report shows that 94% of us believe that Scotland’s wild land areas should be protected.

Call for restraint on hare cullsWe’ve teamed up with Scottish Land & Estates and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust to call for voluntary restraint on large-scale culls of mountain hares. Along with other measures, it’s hoped the move will help ensure that future management of mountain hares is sustainable.

Scotland has millions of rabbits and two species of hare, but only the mountain hare is native. It’s thought rabbits were introduced to Scotland by the Normans, while the brown hare was first brought to our shores by the Romans.

Scotland’s Nature blog Our Scotland’s Nature blog looks at work to promote and protect our natural heritage. Recent highlights for you to enjoy include:

A Scots language look at the redwing: brush up on your Scots and discover the ‘windthrush’. Trees for Life: charity’s founder reviews first 25 years’ achievements.

Nature’s soothing way: a look at how we can all benefit from urban greenspaces.

‘Gèadh’ an Uisge Tha co-dhiù ochd ainmean Gàidhlig air an Learga Dheirg agus ’s dòcha gur e am fear as inntinniche ‘bior-ghèadh’. Tha bior na sheann fhacal airson uisge agus ’s e as coireach ris an ainm gum biodh daoine a’ creidsinn gum b’ urrainn an aimsir ro-innse le bhith a’ coimhead air fèin-ghiùlain an eòin seo. Nuair a bhios e a’ seinn, thathar ag ràdh gu bheil e ‘ag èigheachd air an uisge’ agus nach fhada gum bi droch shìde ann. Chruinnich Alasdair MacIlleMhìcheil rannan anns na h-Eileanan A-muigh anns am bi an learga dhearg ag èigheachd ‘Bior, bior, bior!’ Agus ann an Sealtainn, far am bithear a’ gabhail ‘rain goose’ air, bhiodh na h-iasgairean a’ dèanamh dheth gun tigeadh fìor dhroch shìde nam falbhadh an learga dhearg gu muir.

One of the many Gaelic names for the red-throated diver is ‘bior-ghèadh’, or ‘rain goose’, employing bior, an archaic word for water; it is also known as a ‘rain goose’ dialectally in Scots. When the bird sings, it is said to be ‘calling in the rain’ and that bad weather is on the way. Alexander Carmichael (of Carmina Gadelica fame) is among those who collected folklore about this species. In Shetland, the fishermen would say that the red-throated diver’s departure from its freshwater home to the sea would be a warning not to set sail for a day’s fishing.

Greenspace makers rewarded Quality accessible greenspaces on our doorstep are vital for our physical and mental well-being, and are great places for learning and local biodiversity. So we were delighted to see Portlethen Moss Conservation Group recognised at the recent Nature of Scotland Awards for its design and creation of a community native woodland in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council.

Your walking experiences wanted

Family strollers, Munro-baggers, dog walkers and hardy hikers – if you’ve got something to say about walking, Ramblers Scotland want to hear it.

Complete their online survey by 31 January and you could win some walking prizes!

Snap an urban deer and win a prize! Have you seen a deer visiting your garden recently? Perhaps you see them occasionally from an office window or while out for a stroll in your local park.

The next time you spot a deer in an urban setting, whip out your phone (or even a camera if you’ve got one to hand) and you could win a great prize, such as a day’s photography tuition or a day counting deer from a helicopter!

Nothing dirty about healthy soils Healthy soils are as important for sustaining life as the air we breathe and the water we drink. Without them we would starve, but they also play a number of other crucial roles, such as helping to tackle climate change.

International Year of Soils 2015 aims to make us all aware of the profound importance of soils and what we need to do to maintain them.

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Keep in touch

Dear Reader,

Thank you for your interest in the work of Scottish Natural Heritage. We are always looking for improvements in the ways we share information about our nature and landscapes, whilst making the best use of our budget to benefit Scotland’s people and nature.

Opportunities that help us to do this increasingly use digital solutions such as websites and social media accounts.

Therefore we have decided that we shall no longer be printing copies of ‘The Nature of Scotland’ magazine. This issue will be the last we shall print and distribute.

However, there will be many ways to keep in touch with all the news about Scotland's natural heritage:

– Follow our Scotland’s Nature blog at http://scotlandsnature.wordpress.com/

– You will be able to join the conversation about our natural heritage on facebook https://www.facebook.com/ScottishNaturalHeritage

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– Enjoy a growing number of videos on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/ScotNaturalHeritage1

– Subscribe to our monthly enewsletter and view the latest editions at http://www.snh.gov.uk/contact-us/online-enquiries-service

If you have any questions about any of the above please email us at editor@snh.gov.uk

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