900 ways to save Scotland’s native plants

Harsh winter weather was not enough to deter intrepid teams from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as they put conservation theory into action. They transplanted 900 plants of the endangered alpine blue-sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina) into secret locations in the Scottish hills. In a remarkable demonstration of how expert scientists and horticulturists, working together, can help…

Read More

Celebrating the beauty of Beinn Eighe

The UK’s first National Nature Reserve, the stunning Beinn Eighe NNR, recently celebrated its 70th birthday. To mark the event, NatureScot has revealed the winning pictures from a photo contest commemorating the landmark anniversary. In 1951, Beinn Eighe was designated as the UK’s first NNR to protect its precious ancient pinewood, the largest fragment in…

Read More

Plans for Scotland’s seagrass restoration advance

Scotland’s first handbook for seagrass restoration has been published as trials in the innovative technique gather pace. The handbook has been developed by NatureScot in collaboration with Marine Scotland and Project Seagrass as a result of increasing interest in the potential of restoring marine habitats to store blue carbon, enhance coastal defences and increase biodiversity…

Read More

Montane’s ‘Green Friday’ donation to Fix the Fells

British outdoor clothing specialist, Montane, has pledged a donation of its Black Friday marketing budget to the Lake District’s Fix the Fells programme in support of the Green Friday movement. The outdoor brand’s £2500 donation will go towards helping to preserve the Lake District’s paths and landscapes by tackling the problem of erosion through repairing…

Read More

Scottish Nature Photography Awards open

The search is on to find this year’s Scottish nature photographer of the year. The Scottish Nature Photography Awards are open for entries until November 30. The competition is open to professional and amateur photographers from around the world, but images must be taken in Scotland within the last five years (December 1 2016 onwards).…

Read More

A hugely important book for the countryside

Three quarters of the world’s stock of heather uplands is to be found in the UK, much of it in Scotland, and it has become a political, cultural and environmental battleground. The subtitle of this book – ‘The Battle for the Uplands against Authoritarian Conservation’ – gives a sense of what to expect from this…

Read More

Big plans in store at birthplace of Scottish tourism

A new development at the birthplace of Scottish tourism has been given the go-ahead. The Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust has received the green light from the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park to reinstate the historic Roderick Dhu Path and construct a stunning lookout tower and platforms above Trossachs Pier at Loch Katrine.…

Read More

Regenerating a beautiful Scottish estate

Mar Lodge Estate is nestled in Royal Deeside and provides the backdrop of this beautiful book. In 1995 the National Trust for Scotland took over the estate in a bid to improve and conserve its landscape. Painting, the assistant ecologist at Mar Lodge Estate, details the work that has occurred over the last 25 years…

Read More

Delight as storm petrels confirmed breeding on isle

Storm petrels have been confirmed breeding on NatureScot’s Isle of May National Nature Reserve for the first time. NatureScot, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) and the Isle of May Bird Observatory have suspected there may be a colony on the island since 2019, when storm petrels were first spotted displaying and calling.…

Read More

First killer whale match between Scotland and Norway

What is believed to be the first match of killer whales between Scotland and Norway has been made after experts identified three individuals photographed in southern Norway this month as part of a ‘mystery pod’ seen off Scotland’s west coast in 2018. The discovery solves a three-year enigma after the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust…

Read More