Cairngorms Nature is now a well-established partnership delivering an ambitious agenda for nature conservation in the Cairngorms. It brings together several organisations and engages a wide range of people with nature. Charlotte Milburn, of the Cairngorms National Park,  outlines what we can look forward to in 2015.

It has been nearly two years since the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan was launched and real signs of progress are starting to become apparent. Over 800ha of native woodlands have been planted and more than 350ha of peatland restoration has taken place at seven  project sites across the Park. Some of the UK’s rarest species, such as twinflower (pictured below) and Scottish wildcat, have been targeted for innovative action and there are plans for re-naturalising extensive floodplains on the Dee and the Spey.

The Cairngorms is one of the best places in the UK to deliver landscape scale conservation. Current Cairngorms Nature priorities include woodland expansion, wetland enhancement, action for capercaillie and getting people more involved.

There is an exciting scale of connected woodland expansion taking place from Abernethy, round the central Cairngorms to Mar Lodge and the early stages of a montane woodland project to restore one of the UK’s most impoverished habitats are being developed.

Capercaillie male in snow-laden pine forest

Work also started on the Cairngorms Capercaillie Framework in 2014. With around 80% of the UK’s capercaillie population in the Cairngorms, what happens here is critical to the species’ future survival and expansion. The first Phase of the Capercaillie Framework has been led by the CNPA, with the guidance of a strong team comprising RSPB, SNH, FCS, GWCT, SportScotland and Seafield Estate. The main purpose of the Capercaillie Framework is to better co-ordinate management for habitat, recreation and development to best effect for capercaillie conservation.

The framework will be targeting woodland expansion, recreation management in key locations and will be co-ordinating work to mitigate potential impacts from development. Working directly with land managers and communities the next phase of the work will involve to taking forward the recommendations of the report and developing specific proposals at key locations.

Communities in the National Park have identified that the landscapes and wildlife around them are fundamental to their quality of life and to the economy of the Park. With this in mind Cairngorms Nature projects are creating opportunities for people to get involved in its management and contribute to looking after their natural heritage.

Involvement in Cairngorms Nature ranges from everyday actions such as walking the dog on a lead during the ground nesting bird breeding season, to hours of dedicated recording by individuals and local groups to provide data for large co-ordinated schemes such as the Big Garden Bird Watch and the Scottish Mink Initiative.

The cumulative effect of people getting involved in this way is that we have seen over 18,000 new plant records along with new invertebrate, plant and lichen species found in the National Park, and a return to the uplands of the water vole which has seen all old territories filled and new ones being created in areas where no water voles have been seen for decades.

Water vole

Cairngorms Nature will continue to find more and more ways people can get involved. We will be celebrating nature with our park-wide Cairngorms Nature Festival on the 16th and 17th May 2015. There will be events to suit all ages and abilities as well as volunteering opportunities and it will be a fantastic weekend to come and explore what makes the Cairngorms so special.

Join us on Facebook.com/cairngormsnature and Twitter @CNPnature to keep up to date with all our projects, news and events.

Capercaillie image courtesy of Pete Cairns/2020VISION, water vole courtesy of CNPA and all others (c) Lorne Gill/SNH.