Category Archives: Land management

Seeing the Bog Through the Trees

Forest-to-bog peatland restoration sounds a little niche, so what made over 60 landowners, land managers and contractors, as well as peatland and forestry practitioners, come together to find out more about it? They all travelled to Dalchork Forest, near Lairg … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity, Land management, Natural Capital, NatureScot, peatland restoration, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Case studies in rewilding and large-scale nature restoration

Many of us have heard about ‘rewilding’. There are some excellent examples of exciting rewilding projects in Scotland, such as on our Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve. Rewilding is about working with natural processes, guided by people at least in … Continue reading

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Improving the Flow for our visitors

Our NatureScot student placement scheme provides great opportunities for recent graduates to get invaluable work experience that puts their new skills into practice. Fraser Wilson studied Countryside Management at Scotland’s Rural College and is now working with our NNR team, … Continue reading

Posted in graduate placement, Land management, National Nature Reserves, The Flow Country, Uncategorized, Young people | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

Eun a’ Chinn Duibh air a bheil ‘Ceann-fionn’ / The Black-headed ‘White Head’ Bird

Carson a tha na Gàidheil a’ gabhail ‘ceann-fionn’ air eun le ceann dubh? Tha Ruairidh MacIlleathain a’ feuchainn ris an gnothach a shoilleireachadh. / Why do Scotland’s Gaels call penguins ‘white-heads’, despite their being black-headed? Roddy Maclean investigates a nomenclatural … Continue reading

Posted in Birds, coastal, Folklore, Gaelic, Land management, Uncategorized, Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ardnamurchan’s unique day-flying moth

Each year in early summer, volunteers from various parts of Scotland travel west to survey a rare, striking and elusive day-flying moth – the New Forest burnet, at the only site it occurs in the UK.  Since becoming extinct in … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity, citizen science, climate change, conservation, Ecology, Flowers, Insects, Land management, moth, Projects, Protected Areas, Research, Scotland's Protected Places, Scottish Natural Heritage, SNH, Species Action Framework, SSSI, Uncategorized, wildlife management, woodlands | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Flow Country projects ends on a high

The Flow Country is one of our last wild places, stretching across Caithness and Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. And it’s a crucial spot in the battle against climate change – on the best and biggest peatland of … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity, citizen science, climate change, Community engagement, conservation, Land management, peatland restoration, The Flow Country, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Mapping our species-rich grasslands

According to UK charity Plantlife, Britain has lost 97% of its species-rich grassland in less than a century. Hundreds of plants, fungi and invertebrate species rely on these important habitats – which in turn support healthy populations of birds and … Continue reading

Posted in battleby, biodiversity, Cairngorms National Park, citizen science, Ecology, Flowers, Fungi, gardens, graduate placement, Habitat Map of Scotland, Land management, mapping, meadow, plants, SNH, Staff profile, Uncategorized, wild flowers, wild land, Young people | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bringing butterflies and bees back to Skolie Burn SSSI

Since starting a Community Woodland group, Ian Records’ life has changed completely – dropping leaflets, knocking on doors, writing up woodland management plans and doing flower surveys.  Here, he tells how a protected area can galvanise a local community to take action to improve their local area for people and wildlife. Continue reading

Posted in Access, bees, biodiversity, citizen science, Community engagement, conservation, Ecology, Flowers, Insects, Land management, meadow, Orchids, plants, Projects, Scotland's Protected Places, SNH, SSSI, Uncategorized, Volunteering, wild flowers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment