Category Archives: biodiversity

How do adders hibernate?

Our blog today is written by Bethia, one of this year’s NatureScot student placements who will be spending a year based across the Stirling NNRs: Flanders Moss, Blawhorn Moss and Loch Lomond. Growing up on the doorstep of the Abernethy … Continue reading

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Gulls: a balancing act

It may not seem like it when gulls are swooping down trying to steal your chips, but the number of many species of gulls has plummeted. In fact, herring gulls and kittiwakes are on the red list of conservation concern … Continue reading

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Weaving a tapes-tree – The Loch Lomond Woodlands Project

To celebrate the International Day of Forests, our graduate placement Heather Reilly is highlighting some of our most important wooded areas, and the data mapping project which aims to better understand and illustrate them, in today’s blog. On the bonny … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity, conservation, Ecology, Land management, mapping, trees, Uncategorized, woodlands | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Otter spotting in Tiree

Today’s guest blog is from the Tiree Ranger, Hayley Douglas. Hayley works for Tiree Community Development Trust and took up the ranger post in November 2019 after working at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park as a ranger and project officer from … Continue reading

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Mapping the Birds of South East Scotland – A Celebration of Citizen Science in Action

This week’s blog is written by Mike Thornton, a NatureScot operations officer in the Lothians, and a keen volunteer citizen scientist. Mike has worked on a range of citizen science projects, including the Birds in South-east Scotland 2007-13, a Scottish … Continue reading

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Land at the heart of nature-based-solutions

Transforming how we use land is an  essential  part  of our  response  to  the  climate  emergency. Great  progress  could  be  made  rapidly  in  agriculture,  forestry  and  other  land  uses  by  using  existing  technologies. But we will need to go further … Continue reading

Posted in Agri-Environment Climate Scheme, biodiversity, climate change, Farming, Land management, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Beavers on the move – Part Two

This is the second of a two-part blog written by Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer, who was just awarded the Nature of Scotland Conservation Science Award for her long-term work with beavers in Scotland. Roisin previously worked for RZSS overseeing the Scottish … Continue reading

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Beavers on the move – Part One

This is the first of a two-part blog written by Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer, who was just awarded the Nature of Scotland Conservation Science Award for her long-term work with beavers in Scotland. Roisin previously worked for RZSS overseeing the Scottish … Continue reading

Posted in beavers, biodiversity, Ecology, Flood management, mammals, NatureScot, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A new way to benefit nature on farms and crofts

Today’s blog, written by NatureScot agriculture officer, Kirsten Brewster, details a new trial in Scotland, which gives incentives to farmers and crofters to manage flower-rich meadows, help vulnerable populations of wading birds thrive, restore peatlands, and manage other nature-rich areas. … Continue reading

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Coigach and Assynt’s secret hazel woodlands

We sometimes think of Assynt, in the north west of Scotland, as a spectacular but stark place of rock, heath and bog. But here and there are plenty of trees – marvellous woodlands, those on better soils often dominated by … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity, conservation, Ecology, Lichens, NatureScot, trees, woodlands | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment