Scottish Wildlife_Issue 110_July 2023

Number 110 | July 2023

DELIVERING AMBITION

The drive for a nature positive future

FEATURE: Natural highs on the dramatic Isle of Eigg

NL PURE 32 ONE WITH NATURE

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

FIRST WORD

From Chief Executive

Jo Pike

One of the most noticeable shifts I’ve witnessed over the past couple of years is the growing recognition that a connection exists between how we go about our daily lives and the state of nature. It is heartening to see more people becoming aware that our food choices, consumption patterns and decision-making directly impact the delicate balance of our natural world.

We are beginning to understand that the land we cultivate for agriculture plays a major role in changes to biodiversity. This recognition has sparked conversations about how farming can be part of the solution, which you can learn more about in the article on regenerative agriculture on page 28.

Collectively, we are waking up to the reality that our own existence is intertwined with the health of the wider ecosystems of which we are part. Why is it then, amid this increased environmental awareness, that we still see a demand for plastic grass and other products and practices that needlessly harm nature?

This disconnect between awareness and action is sadly not uncommon and is one of the reasons why a clear, ambitious and holistic Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, along with its delivery plan, is so important. It needs to encompass comprehensive commitments to address threats to biodiversity while promoting restoration and recovery. You can find more information about this strategy, to which the Trust has contributed, on page 16.

Reflecting on past successes, such as the remarkable transformation that has taken place over the past 25 years on the Isle of Eigg (see page 24), we see the importance of a holistic approach driven by the will of local people.

By ensuring community interests

are deeply embedded in the planning of activities aimed at nature’s recovery, we can create initiatives that align with people’s needs and aspirations, while fostering a sense of ownership and pride in seeing nature thrive.

But while local initiatives and community-driven efforts are vital, we must not rely solely on this kind of momentum. Adequate investment will be essential for implementing the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy effectively. A robust investment plan will therefore be needed in order to provide the resources to protect and

restore our natural environment, promote sustainable practices and, in doing so, support the wellbeing of people across Scotland.

As individuals, we have a critical role in shaping the future of our natural environment. Through our daily choices, we can have a profound influence. But as citizens we also have an important opportunity to call on our politicians to bring the leadership and ambition that will be necessary for nature’s recovery. To this end, we’ll be developing plans to help people have their say later in the year.

Multiple actions are needed if we are to adequately address the threats to biodiversity

© Jon Hawkins/Surrey Hills Photography

As individuals, we have a critical role in shaping the future of our natural environment.

Inside this issue

WIN AN STAYOVERNIGHT FOR TWO ATLAKEKARMA OF MENTEITH SEE PAGE 33

06 ANCIENT WOODLAND

A glimpse into this most atmospheric of habitats.

08 NEWS

News round-up from the Trust and the world of conservation.

16

TARGETING NATURE

Rich Rowe explores the role of a new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy in delivering statutory targets for nature.

20 Q&A

With Lorna Slater, Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity.

22 OUR AGM

Join us this September (online or in person) for our 59th Annual General Meeting.

24 ISLAND LIFE

28

Ida Maspero learns about the natural wonders found on and around the spectacular Isle of Eigg.

BITING THE BULLET

Phil Knott explains why the time has come for food system change that is genuinely regenerative.

31 BIG PICTURE

One of the Trust’s reserves managers captures an impressive image of a clifftop adder.

32 WATCH OUT FOR

Things to enjoy in the coming months.

34 VIEWPOINT

Author Kerri Andrews celebrates the wisdom of women walker-writers.

Seedhead and flowers © Jon Hawkins/Surrey Hills Photography

Scottish Wildlife magazine is published by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. © Scottish Wildlife Trust. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher. All photography © Scottish Wildlife Trust unless otherwise stated. The Scottish Wildlife Trust accepts no liability for omissions or incorrect data in advertisements and letters. Views expressed in Scottish Wildlife are not necessarily those of the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

ISSN: 0143 1234.

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Patron: The former Duke of Rothesay. Chair: Linda Rosborough.

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Chief Executive: Jo Pike

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Spotlight: Noctule bat

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT:

NOCTULE BAT

Nyctalus noctula

With a wingspan of up to 40cm, the noctule is Britain’s largest bat –although it could still fit in the palm of your hand. Its chocolate-brown fur has a golden tint.

The noctule is usually the first bat to appear in the evening, sometimes even before sunset. It flies high, fast and straight, with repeated steep dives as it hunts insect prey.

The noctule’s call is just about audible to the human ear – with the metallic chirping sound emitted by colonies sometimes heard from a distance on hot days.

In late summer, male noctules establish a mating roost, often in a tree hole, from which they attract females using a range of shrill calls and emitting a strong odour during flight.

Noctule bats hibernate in groups from November to April. They prefer trees and rock fissures, but sometimes also use bat boxes and other man-made structures.

© Tom Marshall

BENEATH CANOPY THE

Our richest land habitat, and a priceless carbon store, there are few places in Scotland more atmospheric than ancient woodland. A source of countless folk tales, myths and legends, such woodland is home to more threatened species than any other land habitat – many of them true specialists. Centuries of undisturbed soils and accumulated decaying wood have created specific environmental conditions for complex communities of microorganisms, fungi, plants and invertebrates. They in turn help support a vast range of birds and mammals. Ancient woodland even has its own definition: in Scotland, it is land that is currently wooded and has been continually so since at least 1750. This was a time when maps were first considered accurate enough to verify the continuity of woodland cover. Sadly, what were once vast wooded areas are today much diminished,

NOCTULE BAT

Noctule bats have broad, brown ears and a distinctive, mushroom-shaped tragus – a flap of skin in front of the ear canal which directs sounds when using echolocation to navigate or locate prey such as moths and flying beetles.

COMMON OAK

Growing up to 40m in height, these gnarled old trees hold a special place in our history and culture. From the high canopy to deeply crevassed bark and the rich leaf mulch that forms at their base, oak trees support more life forms than any other native species.

CHICKEN OF THE WOODS

A creamy-yellow bracket fungus, chicken of the woods is easy to spot as it grows out of tree trunks and branches from late spring to autumn. This thick, fleshy fungus is mostly found on oak tree trunks but also grows on yew, cherry and sweet chestnut.

ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE

Flowering between June and August, this typically persistent member of the willowherb family grows in sun-dappled woodland. Each plant produces one-seeded dry fruits that are covered in hooked bristles which attach to passing animals for dispersal.

Spotlight: Ancient woodland

with ancient woodland now covering only around 2.5% of the UK. What remains can range from tiny clusters of just a handful of trees to more extensive areas of cover. They also vary in type. A link to the vast boreal forests found in other northern regions of the world, the Caledonian pinewoods in the colder, dryer east are Scotland’s only native coniferous woodlands. Such habitat contrasts with that found in the wetter, more humid west. Here, the canopies are often dominated by oak and birch, although there are also varying amounts of hazel, rowan, holly and other native species. A remnant of the temperate rainforest that once extended along the entire west coast of Britain and beyond, these areas of woodland are known for their rich springtime ground flora and lush carpets of ferns, lichens and bryophytes – some among the rarest in the world.

TREECREEPER

These tiny, agile birds are well-named, spending their days creeping up tree trunks, exploring fissures in the bark for insects which they pick out with their long beaks. Once at the top, they often fly down to the base of the same tree and repeat their climb.

SNAIL HUNTER BEETLE

As its name suggests, this black beetle is adapted to predate snails, with a long, thin head and thorax that allow it to reach into snail shells and eat the flesh. Found in woodlands from June to September, the snail hunter makes a loud buzzing noise if handled.

Spotlight: Ancient woodland

RESERVES

Here are five ancient woodland reserves to visit over the coming months:

A AYR GORGE WOODLANDS

One of the most important ancient woodlands in Ayrshire, particularly noted for its abundance of invertebrates, this steep ravine of sandstone cliffs is cloaked in oak, ash and beech. Located close to Mauchline, the reserve is on the River Ayr Way walking route.

B WOODHALL DEAN

Nestled on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills close to Dunbar, Woodhall Dean is one of the few ancient semi-natural woodlands in southern Scotland still dominated by sessile oak. A haven for breeding songbirds, summer is also a good time to spot adders basking in the sunshine.

C GIGHT WOOD

Found on steep ground that slopes down to the River Ythan near Methlick, Gight Wood is one of the last remaining areas of ancient woodland in Aberdeenshire. Full of hazel, oak and rowan, the woodland is home to red squirrels, brown hares, foxes and badgers.

D UPPER NETHAN GORGE

Part of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve, the woodland found in this gorge carved by the River Nethan supports a vast range of species. This includes locally uncommon plants such as broadleaved helleborine, wood melick and meadow saxifrage.

E CARRON GLEN

The canopy of oak and ash that runs along a dramatic gorge above the River Carron is alive with woodland birds, while the river itself supports dippers and kingfishers. Look out too for plants such as globeflower and toothwort.

Ancient woodland (c) Peter Cairns/2020VISION, Noctule bat © Roziline/Adobe Stock, Common oak © Ross Hoddinott/2020VISION, Treecreeper © Ben

Porter, Chicken of the woods © Vaughn Matthews, Enchanter’s nightshade © BoxyPics/Shutterstock, Snail hunter beetle © Tomasz Klejdysz/Shutterstock

News from the Trust, our projects and the wider world of conservation

Returning life to the saltmarsh

Conservation grazing

OVER the past 50 years, we have lost 97% of the UK’s species-rich grasslands. And yet these incredibly important ecosystems support an array of rare and threatened species and offer essential routes for insects to pollinate plants and crops as they move across the country.

Our Flying Flock of Chevease sheep (pictured) and Hardy Herd of Shetland cattle have been at the forefront of conservation grazing across Scotland for more than 20 years.

Carefully controlled grazing helps to protect these crucial pollinator habitats by preventing brambles and bracken from blocking sunlight to low-growing wildflowers, trampling seeds into the ground and eating invasive vegetation, leaving behind grasses which provide shelter for small insects.

The Trust continues to explore new ways to keep our grazers safe and healthy. Our current plans include the collection and cold storage of semen from our pure-bred Shetland bull for future artificial insemination to bolster the herd.

We also hope to pilot Nofence technology – fitting GPS cow collars to more effectively focus grazing without the need to constantly erect and maintain fences.

Such innovative solutions could reshape the future of our conservation grazing programme, but we cannot achieve this without your help.

Laura MacGregor, Conservation Shepherd

A PROJECT to restore the saltmarsh at Montrose Basin has had an immediate impact, with areas that were once overgrown now returned to open water and already attracting waders and ducks.

The Montrose Basin saltpans, known locally as Sa’ty Dyke, date back to the 15th Century when saltworks supported a thriving local salmon industry.

This transition saltmarsh area –so-called because it marks the upper tidal limit – floods at high tide and salt would have been extracted from a series of pools by a process of evaporation.

In recent years, these saltpan pools had become choked with rushes and reeds, closing off the areas of open water. As the pools filled in, the areas of saltmarsh around them changed. Once the rushes and reeds took over, other

specialist salt-tolerant plants were no longer able to flourish.

Transition saltmarsh is an important part of the saltmarsh habitat on the reserve, with the pools providing a feeding site and refuge for many species of wader, including lapwing, redshank, greenshank, oystercatcher and little egret.

Duck species also benefit, including wigeon, which graze the site if there are open areas, and teal, which frequent the pools. Swallows, sand martins and house martins feed on the many invertebrates that thrive in the wet conditions.

The restoration work to enhance this coastal habitat at Montrose Basin is one of several projects in Angus to benefit from £150,000 of funding from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund.

Teal are just one of the species to have benefited from the restoration work

© Scottish Wildlife Trust

© Laura MacGregor

To find out more and donate, visit scottishwildlife trust.org.uk/ grazing

Red squirrel conservation report

Osprey chicks at Lowes

A REPORT has been published that details the key successes of the five-year Developing Community Action phase of Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS), a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

The report details a series of important recommendations for the future, which include continuing the professional control and monitoring of grey squirrels in Aberdeen and Northeast Scotland until eradication from the area has been achieved.

Efforts to control grey squirrels long-term across the Highland Line Control Zone in the central lowlands also require a professional team to protect the red-only squirrel population of the Highlands, the report highlighted.

In addition, the essential work currently undertaken by volunteer

groups to control grey squirrels in priority areas within Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders must continue, with support by staff and grey squirrel control professionals.

With only a year left in the current two-year Transition Phase of SSRS, the recommendations from the previous phase of the project need to be met and sustained if red squirrels are to remain part of Scotland’s native wildlife.

The report concluded that this work needs to be further embedded in the operations of statutory agencies, local authorities, communities and other organisations to form a landscape-wide system of grey squirrel control and monitoring, ensuring that this vital work is sustained long-term.

The full project report can be read at scottishsquirrels.org.uk

Welcoming our new Chair

DR KENNY Taylor has been appointed as the Trust’s new Chair and will take over from Linda Rosborough at our AGM in September.

A well-known figure in the world of conservation, Kenny has extensive knowledge of the Trust, having been Chair of the North of Scotland Group and Vice Convenor of the Conservation Committee.

The Trust welcomes his science, conservation and media expertise as we look ahead to celebrate our 60th anniversary in 2024.

AS THIS screenshot from Loch of the Lowes reveals, the most famous osprey nest in Scotland once again has a family in residence – with two osprey chicks having hatched in mid-May.

The female osprey, known as NC0, and her male partner, LM12, both arrived back at their nest within six hours of each other on 17 March to start their fourth breeding season together.

The first chick hatched on 13 May and was joined by its sibling three days later. Both hatchings were viewed on the Trust’s osprey webcam where people from around the world can watch activity live from the nest.

“There are so many momentous occasions during the osprey breeding season, including their successful arrival back to Scotland from an arduous migration, pairing up, breeding and laying eggs,” commented Sara Rasmussen, the Trust’s Perthshire Ranger. “Two chicks successfully hatching is another fantastic milestone to celebrate.”

The season has not been without its drama, however. Early on, the male bird was thought to have sustained an injury, perhaps after defending the nest from intruders such as another osprey, as he did not bring a fish back to the nest for several days.

During the breeding season, male ospreys are responsible for providing food for the female and the chicks, so this was a major concern. Fortunately, he began returning to the nest with fish, so it can only be assumed that he has recovered well.

© Raymond Leinster

The report highlights key recommendations for future action for red squirrels

© Scottish Wildlife Trust

© Alice Taylor

Funds for volunteers

The Trust’s Action for Nature project has received £41,246 from the ScottishPower Foundation. This funding ensures that three volunteer groups can continue to undertake practical conservation work across 15 sites in Ayrshire, including Trust reserves around Irvine.

Saving Coul Links…again

Protecting peatlands

The Trust would like to thank everyone who has donated to the Protecting Peatlands appeal since its launch in the March issue of Scottish Wildlife. To date, just over £80,000 has been raised for ongoing maintenance work on the peatland sites managed by the Trust. They include a dozen lowland raised peat bogs which are among the rarest and most threatened habitats in Europe.

Cumbernauld clean-up

The Trust’s Seafar Woods reserve in Cumbernauld was given a spring clean in April. Trust staff working for Cumbernauld Living Landscape were joined by staff from Keep Scotland Beautiful, local volunteers, the local Councillor and the region’s MP to remove 68 bags of litter from the reserve.

All about aspen

The Trust has added its support to Painting Scotland Yellow, a campaign from SCOTLAND: The Big Picture that aims to increase the amount of native aspen in our woodlands. Incredibly biodiverse, stands of aspen support a vast range of plants and animals.

Parliamentary praise

MSP James Dornan recently visited Castlemilk Explorers Wildlife Watch Group to present members with a framed copy of the motion he raised in the Scottish Parliament. The group was praised for raising awareness of the wildlife in Glasgow’s Castlemilk Park and discussing topics such as climate change and responsible access in an engaging way for those aged seven to 12.

THE nationally and internationally protected dune habitat at Coul Links on the East Sutherland coast, one of the last of its kind in Scotland, is once again under threat with renewed plans to turn the area into a luxury golf course.

The site was previously threatened by a very similar golf course application in 2017 which the Trust, along with many other organisations, campaigned against. Those plans were ultimately turned down

by Scottish Ministers in 2020 as they were deemed too damaging to the natural environment to proceed.

NatureScot has objected to the new plans and considers that the Environmental Impact Assessment report underplays the adverse impacts of the proposed development on sand dune habitats which are part of the Loch Fleet and Dornoch Firth SSSI and Ramsar site.

Journey for nature

A SECOND cohort of participants have begun their journey to lead action for nature in their communities as part of the Trust’s Nextdoor Nature project.

Eleven people from communities in the Forth catchment area including Livingston, Dunfermline, Burntisland, Kirkaldy and Glenrothes have started on the six-month Pioneers Programme.

Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the programme is designed to give participants the skills,

understanding and confidence to rally their communities to improve local spaces for nature and people.

They follow on from the successful delivery of the programme to the first cohort of community leaders living in and around Greater Glasgow, with a third cohort planned to start in November focussing on communities between Dundee and Aberdeen. For more information, visit scottishwildlifetrust.

org.uk/NextdoorNature

The sand dune habitat at Coul Links is under renewed threat © Vince Lowe © Jo Foo

Nextdoor Nature rallies communities to improve local spaces for nature and people

Launch of Moray Firth snorkel trail

© Alexander Mustard/2020VISION

A NEW self-guided snorkel trail has been launched featuring stunning and easily accessible sites to explore along the Moray Firth coast.

The Trust developed the trail in partnership with Macduff Aquarium in Banff and East Grampian Coastal Partnership, which runs the Turning the Plastic Tide project tackling marine litter through organised beach cleans.

Elouise Cartner, Living Seas Public Engagement Officer with the Trust, is delighted that this east coast trail joins a growing network of snorkel trails across Scotland.

“We have highlighted several beginner and slightly more advanced snorkelling zones, from an iconic location in Portknockie overlooking Bow Fiddle Rock to Cullykhan Bay along the magnificent Moray Firth coast,” she commented.

The focus has been on promoting accessible sites to enable more equal access to nature. Alongside helpful beach maps, the trail leaflet highlights local facilities, family-friendly attractions,

accessibility information and communityled marine citizen science opportunities.

“We hope the new trail will encourage many more people to take the plunge and connect with our inspiring local partners to help protect the precious marine life we have along our coastlines,” added Elouise.

Later this summer, a new trail in South Fife will also be launched. A partnership with The Ecology Centre, the trail features three snorkel sites in Kirkcaldy and three in Kinghorn.

Each showcase locations that teem with marine life, from vibrant dahlia anemones to carpets of starfish on the seafloor.

The trail also encourages snorkellers to get involved in the communityled restoration work of The Ecology Centre which, as part of the Restoration Forth project, is working to re-establish the Forth’s native oyster reefs and seagrass meadows.

Snorkel trail leaflets are available to download at scottishwildlifetrust. org.uk/snorkel-trails

THE Trust has welcomed 16 new faces to its group of volunteer Young Leaders, now in its fifth year as an initiative.

Twenty-two young people between the ages of 20 and 32 make up the group, which enables the Trust to engage more young people and develop their conservation leadership skills.

“As a Young Leader, I want to deepen my knowledge and experience of marine policy development within the Trust to support my desired career within marine management and conservation,” explained Young Leader, Libby Smith.

New faces for Young Leaders Warbler first

A CETTI’S warbler has been spotted on the Trust’s Bemersyde Moss Wildlife Reserve near the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders – a first sighting for the area which may suggest that the songbird’s range is beginning to spread northwards.

Named after 18th Century zoologist Francesco Cetti, the Cetti’s warbler (pronounced ‘chetty’) is a small, stocky bird with short wings and a full, rounded tail.

A skulking bird that can be very difficult to spot, the Cetti’s warbler is far more often heard than seen with sudden bursts of loud, bubbling song coming from dense cover of willow scrub, marshes and nettlebeds.

Females lay bright red eggs, typically in clutches of four or five, and may produce two broods a year.

Hermit crabs are just one of the many species to be found on the new trail

©

Alistair Cutter

Home sweet home

THE Trust has extended the existing sand martin nesting house at Gailes Marsh reserve in Irvine from 48 to 100 nesting holes. Access is available to monitor all the nest boxes for ringing purposes.

Rare water beetle

FONAH Bog, which forms part of the Trust’s Balgavies

Loch Wildlife Reserve, remains the only site in Scotland where a 2mm water beetle, Hydroporus scalesianus, has been found.

It was first discovered within the fen carr woodland in 2004 by Professor Garth Foster of the Aquatic Coleoptera Conservation Trust.

This miniscule diving beetle is a distinctive ochre colour with antennae that darken towards the tips. It is associated with ancient sites, relict fen and kettleholes with acidic conditions.

In 2022, Prof Foster and Rachel Mackay-Austin from RiverWood Ecology started surveying Fonah Bog to determine whether the beetle was still present. In addition to traditional sweep sampling, eDNA samples were taken to see whether their presence could be detected within the water.

On the third survey visit, two specimens were found confirming that this enigmatic little beetle was still present.

The site will continue to be monitored to increase the understanding of the beetle’s fragmented distribution and best site management practices.

This year, the birds were first spotted back at the reserve on 20 March after migrating from their wintering grounds in Africa. The sand martins quickly filled the top row of the four-story structure first, as well

as favoured boxes with old nest material still in them.

By 18 May a clutch of young birds from the new extension block had already fledged!

WE were greatly saddened by the recent passing of two inspirational members of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Jean Balfour and George Stewart both joined the Trust at its inception in 1964, and both studied at the University of Edinburgh in the 1940s before working in the forestry sector.

Jean was a trailblazer; a vocal advocate for sustainable forestry and Chair of the Countryside Commission for Scotland (1972-1982). She was a founding trustee for the Trust becoming a Vice-Chair (1968-1972) and also took a lead role in the Fife & Kinross Local Group for almost 40 years. Jean also owned Handa Island (pictured) which we have managed as a wildlife reserve on behalf of Scourie Estates since 1994.

George was another remarkable individual – a decorated veteran of World War II, still skiing at the age of 100 and playing tennis competitively in his 80s. He firmly believed in the environmental benefits of forests, and his career culminated as the Forestry Commissioner for Forest Management.

George was also a representative on the Countryside Commission for Scotland and the British Railway Board’s environmental panel. Most importantly for us, he served as Chair of the Scottish Wildlife Trust (1981-1987).

Jean and George formed part of the fabric of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the support of volunteers like them remains intrinsic to the work of the charity. They will be greatly missed.

The sand martin house at Gailes Marsh © Scottish Wildlife Trust

© Danni Thompson

© RiverWood Ecology Ltd.

Freshwater pearl mussel discovery

WHILE critically endangered freshwater pearl mussels are known to live in Scotland’s rivers, new research has revealed that they are also found in Scottish lochs.

Using remotely operated underwater drones and snorkelling equipment, a small number of pearl mussels have been discovered in two lochs in Sutherland and the Trossachs.

It is believed that the mussels are likely to have entered the lochs by clinging to the gills of a host fish, either a young trout or salmon. They spend the first year of their lives harmlessly attached to the fish, before falling off to live independently.

As filter feeders, freshwater pearl mussels are also extremely vulnerable to water pollution and engineering work in rivers.

The effects of these threats mean that the species is on the brink of extinction in some Scottish rivers.

Rainforest roll-out

WOODLAND Trust Scotland has been granted just over £1 million through the Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) to expand an area of rainforest around Ben Shieldaig in Torridon.

The area is currently home to a pine rainforest on one flank and a birch rainforest on another, covering a total area of 100ha.

The FGS payment over five years will fund planting on a further 260ha, with the Woodland Trust self-funding an additional 85ha.

In total, nearly half a million native trees will be planted – mostly Scots pine, birch and willow but also oak, aspen, alder, hazel and juniper.

New Plant Atlas 2020

THOUSANDS of botanists from the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland have spent the past 20 years collecting data on changes in British and Irish flora – with the results now published in Plant Atlas 2020.

The Atlas identifies several key trends – many of conservation concern. Since the 1950s, some 53% of native plants have declined due to human impacts, including agricultural intensification and climate change.

In addition, non-native plants now outnumber native plants in the wild –a startling discovery that has significant implications for insects and other species that depend on native plants.

The Atlas also reveals that many montane plants (those found on moist, cool upland slopes) have declined due to climate change whereas some southern species, such as bee orchid, have benefited and spread further north.

There may be dragons…

THE British Dragonfly Society is appealing to the public to record dragonfly sightings this summer – with plenty of exciting dragonfly-spotting options in Scotland.

Scotland is home to a wealth of dragonflies, with a total of 23 breeding species recorded to date.

In recent years there has been an influx of dragonflies from further south, with species such as broad-bodied chaser, emperor dragonfly and banded demoiselle now being found in locations that were unheard of a few years ago.

Three of the rarest species in the UK are found only in Scotland: the azure hawker, found around shallow bog pools in peatlands; the northern emerald, found in similar habitats; and the northern damselfly, which can be found

in and around shallow, sedge-lined ponds and lochans at the edge of the Cairngorms.

Dragonflies spend the majority of their lives underwater, sometimes for as long as five or six years, and only survive as adults for a few weeks.

Over the past few years, larval habitats – especially the shallow pools of rarer species – have been known to dry out in early summer due to rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall. This is having fatal consequences for the larvae, which are unable to survive extended and repeated drying out.

To get involved in dragonfly recording this summer, please visit british-dragonflies.org.uk

© Carlos Pereira/Shutterstock

© Shutterstock

The azure hawker is found around shallow bog pools

© Linda Pitkin/2020Vision]

Harebell is one of many native plants to have declined in number

Freshwater pearl mussel

TARGETING NATURE

Potentially transformative, the new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy represents a key building block in a wider shift towards statutory targets for nature. But speed is of the essence, writes Rich Rowe

It may not have garnered anywhere near the same media coverage as COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow in 2021, but it was another high-level gathering held a year later that may well become regarded as far more significant.

Chaired by China and hosted by Canada, the pandemic-delayed UN Biodiversity Conference (or COP15) in Montreal in December 2022 resulted in a landmark agreement that established global targets to halt and reverse nature loss.

Described by Inger Anderson, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, as “a framework for all life on Earth”, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework includes

Priority species, Scotland is home to some of our last remaining colonies of marsh fritillary

a commitment to ensure that 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems are protected by 2030. It also outlined a wider vision for how biodiversity is valued, conserved and restored, and ecosystem services used wisely around the globe by 2050.

For many observers, this was biodiversity’s ‘Paris moment’; a point when, like the Paris Agreement of 2015 which set long-term climate targets, it was acknowledged that the only way to safeguard the natural world and to ‘mainstream’ nature in policy thinking was through setting and committing to biodiversity targets.

It also felt like a moment when the collective penny dropped that nature is not only critical to hitting the climate targets set in Paris, but that addressing the key drivers

of nature loss is essential for the health and wellbeing of every living creature – ourselves included.

This kind of high ambition outcome is exactly what was demanded the previous June when the Scottish Government led a process, on behalf of the UN, to secure the support of more than 300 sub-national governments for what became known as the Edinburgh Declaration.

A milestone moment in its own right, the declaration called for the role of regional, city and local authorities in delivering for nature to be recognised in any new global biodiversity framework, and for a ‘whole of government’ approach to meeting resulting targets.

SHAPING STRATEGY

It is against this background of international consensus that the Scottish Government has consulted on a new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Initially scheduled for publication following the intended October 2020 meeting of COP15 in Kunming, it was instead published in December 2022 in draft form so as to incorporate the outcomes from Montreal.

As Scotland’s response to biodiversity loss and degradation of the natural environment at home, the new strategy comes with the required sense of urgency – billed as an emergency response to an emergency situation.

Emphasising the need to address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change together, and quickly, it lays out a high-level ambition for

A UK Biodiversity Action Plan

© Vaughn Matthews

Scotland to be nature positive by 2030 and to reverse biodiversity loss by 2045 (see graphic on page 18).

In all, the strategy details more than 30 priority actions needed to achieve that nature positive future, with a focus on five connected aims: to accelerate restoration and regeneration; expand and connect existing protected areas and improve their condition; support nature friendly farming, fishing and forestry; recover and protect vulnerable and important species; and generate the investment

and finance needed to genuinely support nature recovery.

Each comes with considerable complexities and challenges, but together reflect the breadth of focus required if biodiversity goals are to be reached.

“The ambitions represented in the new strategy are a major step forward,” believes Rebekah Strong, the Trust’s Nature Based Solutions Policy Advisor. “In the same way that we have net zero for climate change, it’s very helpful to have a nature positive

target for biodiversity based on the aspirations brought in through the global framework agreed at COP15.”

Of course, having greater biodiversity by 2030 does not mean that everything will suddenly be rosy for all species, or that Scotland will have necessarily returned to previous, far healthier levels of biodiversity.

To begin with, it is more about shifting the baseline – “stopping the decline in biodiversity and ensuring a very different trajectory by 2030,” says Rebekah.

In the same way that we have net zero for climate change, it’s very helpful to have a nature positive target for biodiversity based on the aspirations brought in through the global framework agreed at COP15.

Lapwings are a familiar bird of farmland and wetland – key habitats for a variety of species

SOCIETAL CHANGES

In its response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the draft strategy, the Trust emphasised strongly the societal changes that will be needed to catalyse action. After all, what happens next is as much about people as wildlife, habitats and ecosystems.

“If we are to meet the 2030 target included in this draft, we need a paradigm shift in urgency, funding and action,” noted the Trust in its response. “The challenge lies in how to motivate and catalyse action as soon as possible and change behaviour.”

The need for change is perhaps no more apparent than in rural and upland areas where traditional land management practices – including intensive management of large areas for a single species, be it deer or grouse – are at odds with both biodiversity goals and climate targets.

The new strategy is viewed by many conservation bodies as part of a ‘just transition’ away from unsustainable practices that will help achieve net zero, be nature positive and deliver economic benefits.

“We have greater demand for land for various uses in Scotland than ever before,” comments Bruce Wilson, the Trust’s Head of Policy and Advocacy. “In order to meet biodiversity, climate, food and energy needs, we will need to be more holistic in our land use planning and changes to land management will need to happen.”

Importantly, rather than being seen in isolation, the strategy forms part of a wider architecture around tackling the nature emergency in Scotland, with consultation underway on several pieces of legislation that could reshape people’s relationship with the land.

This includes a Land Reform Bill, ambitions to designate at least one new National Park within the lifetime

of the current parliament, a new Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill – developed to ensure that grouse moor management is carried out in an environmentally sustainable way for all species – and potential movement on the sustainable management of deer, with achieving substantially reduced deer densities listed in the strategy as a priority action.

In addition, a new Agriculture Bill will map out ambitions for Scotland to become a leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. More attuned to the natural world, this form of farming

(see page 28) applies ecological principles that benefit biodiversity, mitigate climate change, reduce waste and prioritise local supply chains.

“What’s clear to us is that if we keep taking more and more from the land, it’s going to flatline at some point – and the same can be said in many ways for other key industries such as forestry and fisheries,” says Rebekah.

“And when we talk of a just transition, that includes support and compensation to farmers and landowners in upland areas to provide ecosystem services through nature-based solutions,

© Peter Cairns/2020VISION

If we are to meet the 2030 target included in this draft, we need a paradigm shift in urgency, funding and action.

A new Agriculture Bill will outline ambitions for Scotland to become a leader in sustainable farming

Delivering on the new strategy will benefit many species, including summer visitors such as red-throated divers

potentially with new payment schemes feeding into public goods and nature restoration.”

TARGETS WITH TEETH

Crucially, as the Scottish Government fine-tunes the all-important delivery plan for the new strategy ahead of publishing a final version later this summer, work is also underway to ensure that the targets are accompanied by genuine teeth.

Once finalised, the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy will feed into a new Natural Environment Bill, scheduled to become law in 2024, that will add legally binding targets.

The Bill will effectively bring much of the new strategy into legislation, with provisions to put in place statutory targets for nature restoration, as well as a framework for setting, monitoring, enforcing and reporting on those targets.

By setting targets that drive action and monitor progress, Scotland will be in a stronger position to meet the high-level outcomes of the new strategy.

In many ways, it is a final piece of the jigsaw and a potential gamechanger in terms of how nature is valued. “It’s so important because restoration targets bring genuine

accountability,” explains Rebekah.

The Bill is due for consultation by the end of the year, with the Trust set to be heavily involved in its shaping.

“The Scottish Government is keen to engage with us, which is good news,” says Rebekah. “Setting targets that

are smart and measurable will be an iterative process but we will be looking for the gold standard as we work out the fine detail.”

Rich Rowe is contributing editor of Scottish Wildlife.

Scotland’s upland areas have huge potential to provide valuable ecosystem services

Scottish Biodiversity Strategy

© Peter Cairns/2020VISION

© Peter Cairns/2020VISION

&

Q A

Where do you think Scotland can and should be in relation to biodiversity by the end of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and how will you facilitate this?

Where we can and should be by 2030 is clear. As set out in the Government’s draft Biodiversity Strategy, we must have halted nature’s decline by the end of the decade and to have reversed that trend by 2045. Along with other world leaders from COP15, we intend to protect and manage 30% of our land for nature by 2030.

To help facilitate this transformation from a story of loss and decline to one of abundant and thriving nature and communities, we’ve introduced the £65 million Nature Restoration Fund, we’ll be expanding nature networks and will be launching a new National Park. We have also invested £250 million towards restoring 250,000ha of degraded peatland by 2030.

Ecosystem-scale restoration programmes are clearly vital, but how do we also ensure that we are supporting individual speciesfocused programmes in Scotland?

We continue at pace with our work to recover, reintroduce and reinforce vulnerable species. The Eurasian beaver, once extinct in Scotland, is now beginning to establish itself and efforts to increase translocation by Government have been key. We are also supporting partners in their attempts to restore two other iconic species to our landscape: the capercaillie and the Scottish wildcat. One further measure we are taking is to revise the Scottish Biodiversity List of species and habitats that Scottish Ministers consider to be of principal importance for biodiversity conservation in Scotland.

How can we be confident that the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy will be supported by a robust investment plan?

To deliver on our ambitious biodiversity targets, significant investment will be needed. I plan to publish a delivery plan for our Biodiversity Strategy this year, which will be followed by an investment plan. This will set out in greater detail how we intend to encourage investment into the sector. These plans will support the work already being done by the

Lorna Slater

Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity

Scottish Government to increase public investment in nature restoration and in our development of the interim principles for responsible private investment.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities for biodiversity recovery in Scotland?

They are in helping everyone understand how and why allowing nature to thrive will benefit people and communities. Nature belongs to us all, and the responsibility to protect and restore it falls on us all. I want communities to understand the opportunities that nature restoration and thriving natural ecosystems can bring to them. In addition, we are continuing to support nature friendly farming, fishing and forestry

which are having a real impact on our goal to roll back nature loss.

Which species or habitats are you personally most passionate about?

One of the most exciting parts of my work since becoming a minister is actively supporting the reintroduction of beavers in Scotland. This once-lost species was driven to extinction but is now becoming an established part of our ecosystem. The beaver population is blossoming and they are contributing towards natural flood management and creating new wetland habitats that support a range of other species. I think this is an excellent example of how supporting one species can have multiple benefits for our wider natural environment.

Lorna Slater during a visit to Loch of the Lowes in 2021

© Scottish Wildlife Trust

Join us in Aberdeen for our first hybrid AGM

This September, join us online or in person at Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum as we reflect on the Trust’s achievements from the past year. The meeting will be followed by a light lunch and the opportunity to look around the museum before going on a guided walk along the River Don

EVENT PROGRAMME

10:30 Arrival and refreshments

11:00 Welcome

11:10 Formal agenda

11:40 Presentation and questions

12:10 Comfort break

12:20 Talk by Roger Owen, local group volunteer

12:35 Oceans of Value

12:55 Close

13:00 Light lunch

14:00 Optional guided walk along -16:00 the River Don

Notice is given that the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s 59th Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Saturday 9 September at the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Shiprow, Aberdeen, AB11 5BY from 11am to 1pm.

In addition to the formal AGM, the event will include a talk by the Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire Local Group and clips from our recently produced Oceans of Value film. A light lunch will be provided and guests will be free to explore the museum exhibits which tell the story of the city’s extraordinary maritime heritage.

After lunch, volunteers from the local group have kindly agreed to take guests on a guided walk along the River Don to Seaton Park (approx. 2km).

Please indicate when booking if you would like to join us for this walk for which transport will be provided (please note, spaces are limited).

AGM FORMAL AGENDA

1. Apologies

2. To approve the minutes from the 58th AGM held online on Saturday 10 September 2022.

3. To receive the Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023. The Annual Report and Financial Statements can be downloaded from the Trust’s website. Copies are available on request from the Company Secretary.

4. To re-appoint auditors of the Trust.

5. To re-elect members to Council.

6. Any other relevant business. All other business must be notified to the Company Secretary by 31 August 2023.

Martin Cullen (Company Secretary)

Registered office: Scottish Wildlife Trust, Harbourside House, 110 Commercial Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6NF.

VENUE INFORMATION

Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Shiprow, Aberdeen, AB11 5BY Telephone: 03000 200 293

BY TRAIN: The museum is a short walk (approx. 5 mins) from Aberdeen Railway Station on Guild Street.

BY BUS: The museum is a short walk (approx. 4 mins) from Union Square Bus Station.

BY CAR: There is no parking available at the museum so drivers will need to use one of the car parks in Aberdeen City Centre, such as the multistorey NCP Aberdeen Shiprow car park just up from the museum on the opposite side of the road.

ACCESS: Access to the museum is via the main entrance on Shiprow. There is wheelchair access to the room that the AGM is being held in but some other areas of the museum are not accessible for wheelchairs or prams.

RE - ELECTION TO COUNCIL

This year, as all positions on our governing Council are filled, we are not seeking new candidates for election.

Two of our existing Trustees have completed their first three-year term on Council and as such are seeking re-election for a further three years in accordance with our Articles of Association.

How to register

Alasdair Lemon

Proposer: Linda Rosborough

Seconder: Bill Lambert

Having completed a BSc in Marine Biology and an MSc in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Alasdair works as the RSPB’s Conservation Officer for Argyll. He is the Group Secretary for Stirling and Clackmannanshire Group and was previously one of the Trust’s Young Leaders.

Registration can be completed online or, if attending in person, by completing and posting the form below.

ONLINE: Please visit scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/agmbooking

Registration closes on Wednesday 6 September.

Name of member

Membership number

Name of second member (if applicable)

Postcode

Telephone

Email

Emma Steel

Proposer: Linda Rosborough

Seconder: Bill Lambert

Emma grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Stirlingshire and has a BSc in Zoology and an MSc in Environmental Science. A previous Young Leader with the Trust, she works as the Policy Officer for Whale and Dolphin Conservation and is based in Stromness, Orkney.

POST: Using block capitals, please complete and return the form to Membership Dept, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Harbourside House, 110 Commercial Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6NF. Registration closes Sunday 27 August.

Please direct questions to our Membership team by calling 0131 312 4700 or emailing membership@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk

I/we wish to attend (please tick all appropriate)

AGM (in person – if you wish to attend online, please register online using the details above)

Light lunch

Guided walk (transport included)

Dietary requirements

Access requirements

ISLAND

Arriving at the Isle of Eigg’s pier at An Laimhrig this summer, you might find Norah Barnes, the island’s affable, energetic ranger, snorkelling in the bay, photographing seagrass beds.

Or she might be leading visitors on a guided walk, looking out for hen harriers hovering above the moors or jewel-like dragonflies flitting by a bog lochan. Then again, she might be methodically pacing butterfly survey transects or checking moth traps.

Having lived on Eigg for almost 20 years, Norah knows the island intimately and has deep roots in its uniquely self-sufficient community.

Though her post as the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s seasonal ranger officially runs from April to August, she remains involved year-round and wears several hats – like many of the islanders do.

Since the community buyout in 1997 – a landmark moment that was facilitated in part by the Trust and many of its supporters – the island has been owned and managed by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust. Three partner organisations – the Eigg Residents’ Association, The

Highland Council and the Scottish Wildlife Trust – work collaboratively to ensure sustainable livelihoods for its 110 residents, while conserving its cultural and natural heritage.

One of the Small Isles, Eigg is only eight kilometres long by five kilometres wide but is incredibly diverse. The towering form of An Sgurr – an inselberg of pitchstone lava – is a distinctive clue to the island’s fascinating geology, which includes volcanic features but also fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks along the coast.

“It is that geology that underpins the rich variety of habitats and wildlife here,” explains Norah. “We’ve got sandy beaches and rocky shores; farmland, native and semi-natural woodland, heathland and bog. On higher ground there’s moorland with freshwater lochans, and high mountain screes and cliffs where Arctic-alpine plants cling on…we have a bit of everything, really. It’s a special place to live and work.”

ISLAND STROLL

Norah’s weekly wildlife walks explore this spectacular diversity of habitats,

with routes tailored to the weather and time of year. “I try to immerse people in the landscape, with a taste of the different habitats and glorious views,” says Norah.

For many, the Inner Hebridean Isle of Eigg is synonymous with community land ownership after its landmark buyout in 1997. However, as Ida Maspero discovers, the island’s natural heritage is equally special

© Anne Coatesy/AdobeStock

Curlews make themselves heard on Eigg in springtime

“Folk might have been lucky enough to spot minke whales or dolphins on the boat trip over, and our colony of common seals as they came into the harbour. With few mammals on the island – there are no foxes, badgers, hedgehogs or red deer – the seas and coastlines are the mammal hotspots.”

An evening stroll along the shoreline might even be rewarded with a glimpse of a foraging otter but for many it is the island’s rich birdlife that is a big draw.

In April, Norah conducts nesting bird surveys, continuing the detailed work first started by John Chester, her predecessor as ranger and an avid birder.

The island’s records show more than 200 bird species, including good numbers of ground-nesting waders such as the red-listed curlew, and rare raptors including hen harriers, golden eagles and, most recently, a pair of breeding white-tailed eagles. “We were super excited when they arrived and nested on the island three years ago,” smiles Norah.

But it’s not all about animals. Throughout summer, a profusion of wildflowers put on a colourful display, including a dozen types of orchid that

can be found at woodland edges and on farmland. “With several farmers embracing regenerative farming practices, we’re already seeing even more wildflowers,” says Norah.

Included in her backpack on every guided walk is a notebook for recording plant and animal sightings – a task made easier with the help of volunteers who come to work on the island in the summer months.

“It’s great to have that extra help with public events, recording daily sightings and our annual wildlife surveys for butterflies, moths and bats. Plus, there’s the hard graft: clearing footpaths and Rhododendron removal is much easier with extra bodies.”

WORKING WOODLANDS

Visitors to Eigg are often surprised at how much woodland there is for such a small island. And again, the diversity is notable, with extensive areas of semi-natural native woodland and, higher up, ancient Atlantic hazelwood dripping with bryophytes and lichens. However, of particular focus for islanders is a large commercial Sitka

spruce plantation at the centre of the island that was planted by a former owner, partly on an area of bog. Shortly after the buyout, the Scottish Wildlife Trust felled swathes of the plantation to help restore the bog.

“A couple of decades on, it’s in good health, doing its boggy thing and is rich in insects such as butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies,” notes Norah.

Under a long-term forestry plan, the plantation is now being gradually transformed, with more of it felled for wood fuel – upon which most island households rely for heating – and replaced with a range of native tree species to provide fuel in the future.

At the heart of this forestry plan is Eigg Tree Nursery, established in 2018 and run by Tasha Fyffe. Here, seeds collected by hand from around Eigg and the nearby mainland are grown into saplings for planting out.

“During the pandemic, thousands of the nursery’s saplings were planted to create a whole new woodland that now connects two pockets of existing semi-natural woodland,” explains Tasha.

The towering An Sgurr is visible from much of the island

LIVING COAST

As knowledgeable as she is on terrestrial matters, Norah’s great passion is the ocean. “I just love marine life and being in the sea – the waters around the island are crystal clear and the coastline teems with life. While swimming in the harbour with a friend during lockdown, we discovered some seagrass…very exciting!”

Following the discovery, she set about researching this precious habitat – designated a Priority Marine Feature – and took advice from experts at SeaWilding, a seagrass restoration project based in Argyll. “This summer, we’ll be carrying out surveys to establish a baseline and accurately map what’s where so that we can consider how best to conserve and restore our seagrass beds.”

In what promises to be a particularly busy summer, Norah and a team of volunteers will also begin surveying the wider biodiversity of the intertidal zone – something the Scottish Wildlife Trust

has not done formally before – as well as develop a Small Isles snorkel trail. “Our plan is to launch the trail next year when it will join the other trails around Scotland devised by the Trust’s Living Seas project. Our best spots are just off the rocky shores around the harbour – all are sheltered and offer easy access.”

Monthly beach cleans, a longstanding feature of island life, are also now part of Norah’s repertoire, with data on the volume and types of litter recorded as part of a Marine Conservation Society initiative.

“Much of our pollution tends to be

Mountain avens flower against a spectacular background

debris from marine industries – fishing gear, ropes, buoys, bits of fishing boxes,” she explains. “We’re presenting the data to Marine Scotland to help push for better regulation and enforcement around discarding such equipment.”

In all this work, Norah stresses the power of community and how being embedded within it is so pivotal to her role. “It helps to know everyone,” she says. “Stopping for a casual chat with the island’s farmers, for example, they’ll tell me about a bird they’ve spotted on the hillside or ask about simple changes they can make to help wildlife.

“It’s certainly no utopia but the residents are all very invested in the island’s future and recognise the value of its wildlife. Conservation here is a community effort.

PLAN A VISIT

Eigg is reached by CalMac ferry from Mallaig (no visiting cars permitted) and small boat sailings from Arisaig in summer. The island has a community shop, café, four-star restaurant and a range of accommodation. isleofeigg.org

Norah’s guided walks run every Wednesday at 11am, from May to the end of August.

In the summer holidays, an additional shorter, family-friendly shore and beach walk runs on Mondays at 2pm. scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/reserve/isleof-eigg

©

Norah Barnes

© Norah Barnes

Norah (right) shows visiting Trust staff members Michelle Henley (left) and Beth Harwood (middle) around the island

While swimming in the harbour with a friend during lockdown, we discovered some seagrass... very exciting!

Ida Maspero is an Edinburgh-based writer and editor focusing on nature and heritage.

BITING BULLET THE

Agroecology is now high on Scotland’s political agenda, touted as a solution for addressing the flaws of our fractured food system. Agroecological farming is a way of farming that centres on ecological methods, working with nature rather than against it. To most of us on the ground, it can be summarised simply as nature friendly farming.

Greater awareness of farming’s contributions to the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss has caused many in the industry to look at alternatives to modern conventional farming. Following Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, many are re-evaluating the economic viability of their farm enterprises.

The sector’s widespread dependency on products and technology controlled by a scant few multinational corporations has left farmers and crofters at the mercy of global prices and world events.

Stunted supply, increased costs and pressurised marketplace demands have compounded vulnerable systems

reliant on extensive artificial inputs.

In Scotland, figures show that in 2019-20 – if taxpayer support payments were removed from farm accounts – just 28% of farms showed a profit, while the average Scottish farm would have lost £17,100.

As the costs of fuel and fertilisers have risen, many farmers and crofters

are interrogating their farming setups. They’re looking at the circularity between input and output, questioning where there’s a dependency for dependency’s sake, and looking at their land through the lens of what they can produce with the abundantly available ‘free issue’ of sunshine, water, soil and air.

Underpinning these biological processes is a greater understanding of the healing power of nature and a growing reverence for how farming and the environment work in synchronicity.

If we farm carefully and consistently with nature, we renew the farm ecosystem. First comes the native flora, followed by soil health and invertebrates soon after, building a healthy food web above and below the ground.

But navigating a transition from largely unsustainable and vulnerable farming practices to more nature friendly, whole-farm approaches requires systemic change.

Firstly, in the realisation that the twin challenges of producing healthy

Phil Knott from the Nature Friendly Farming Network explains why the time has come for food system change that is genuinely regenerative

Regenerative farming

As the costs of fuel and fertilisers have risen, many farmers and crofters are interrogating their farming setups.

food and protecting the natural environment are umbilically connected.

Much of farming is dependent on subsidies and, therefore, public money. As we design new farm support systems in a post-EU era, taxpayers will demand good value for money and will not want to see government financing environmentally damaging activities.

It seems increasingly likely that more of our farm subsidies will be conditional on delivering public goods as part of any land management activity, enhancing biodiversity, carbon management or flood prevention, to name a few examples. But in switching from a farming system reliant on inputs with diminished soil fertility and pinched by an unstable – and unfair –marketplace, this transition must be equitable for everyone. We hear talk of a ‘just transition’ by government, which is crucial.

We must get it right. We cannot afford a cliff edge of payment removal, so businesses go bust, or land abandonment, which is a real possibility

in more marginal areas, pushing farming from rural landscapes.

We have to factor into the transition timeline the realities of how farming’s over-reliance on pesticides and artificial fertilisers has devastated our baseline biodiversity and soil health. The sector needs time to rebuild and strengthen our systems so we can farm in harmony with nature.

We have to look well beyond being ‘sustainable’ and instead work to build fertility, resilience and biodiversity into all aspects of farming. We need to integrate our relationship with the natural environment into the centre of our businesses, not cast it to the margins or an unproductive corner. In this way, farming across whole-farm landscapes becomes genuinely regenerative.

Agroecology, for many, isn’t just a change but an evolution from one system to another. This is understandably intimidating, given the scale of change needed.

We need ambitious and clear government policies and supply chain

support to ensure that farmers and crofters have the confidence to start or further their own journeys as soon as possible. As consumers and citizens, we have tremendous power to help influence this future through our shopping baskets and education.

For Scotland, political rhetoric around supporting regenerative farming methods is strong, but as of yet, there is little detail of how a support system will work. And for those already on the journey, the pace of change is very slow.

Many members of the Nature Friendly Farming Network have been practising this on the ground for years; ours are some of the case studies championed by government, and our opinions are sought by policy makers. The voices of farmers and crofters are vital in this ever-unfolding shift to a good food future.

Phil Knott is Vice Chair of the Scottish Steering Group of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and also serves as a Director of Reforesting Scotland. nffn.org.uk

Regenerative farming

There is a growing understanding of how farming and the environment can work in synchronicity © Jon Hawkins /Surrey Hills Photography

THE BIG PICTURE Sven Rasmussen

SOMETIMES, it pays to really look where you are walking – and particularly during the warmer months. That was certainly the case one morning for Sven Rasmussen, the Trust’s Reserves Manager South Scotland, when he had a close encounter with the UK’s only venomous snake.

Widespread across the Scottish mainland, these rather small, stocky snakes inhabit woodland, heathland and moorland habitat. They emerge from hibernation during the first warm days of spring and can be spotted basking on logs, rocks and patches of open ground.

At the time of his encounter, Sven was

Reserve Manager for Largiebaan, one of the Trust’s largest reserves, on the southwestern tip of the Mull of Kintyre. The reserve is known for its length of steep coastal cliffs that plunge into the pounding Atlantic below.

“It was a beautiful summer’s morning and I had walked out to the sea cliffs to take in the panoramic views that stretch across the Irish Sea to Rathlin Island,” recalls Sven. “Being so close to the cliff edge I was paying close attention to my footing, which was fortunate, because I caught a glimpse of movement near my feet. I realised that I had almost stumbled over an adder, still

sluggish in the cool of the early morning, basking in the sun to warm up.”

After taking a moment, Sven quickly saw the opportunity to capture a special image. “I was lucky enough to be able to take a few shots of the snake, capturing the pink of the flowering heather and the backdrop of the spectacular cliffs,” he says.

And the lesson for us all when walking in adder country this summer? Always look down!

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD870 IS; Shutter speed: 1/125; Aperture: f/5; ISO: 800.

© Sven Rasmussen

Watch out for...

Some things to enjoy over the coming months

The Lost Rainforests of Britain

Guy Shrubsole

Published by William Collins

ISBN 9780008527990

Paperback £10.99

“A VISIT to a rainforest feels to me like entering a green cathedral,” writes Guy Shrubsole in this luminous investigation of a lush temperate rainforest habitat that is every bit as important – and indeed rarer – than its tropical counterpart.

It is a unique habitat so fragmented and isolated that many people don’t realise it exists at all. But, as the author discovers during explorations that begin in Devon but soon extend much further, Britain was once a rainforest nation.

Wild Scandinavia; Mammals; Big Little Journeys

BBC One, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, July to October

FOLLOWING the screening of Wild Isles in the spring, it is shaping up to be a truly bumper year for immersive nature documentaries, with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit bringing a further trio of new series to our screens in 2023.

First out of the traps is Wild Scandinavia, a three-part series for BBC Two and iPlayer that takes viewers through a land as rich in myth and legend as it is in natural spectacle – from the Norwegian Arctic and the vast forests of Sweden and Finland to Danish tidal shores and erupting volcanoes in Iceland.

In doing so, the series tells surprising wildlife stories of northern species such as lynx, puffins, orca and wolves, all told alongside the experiences of people living in their worlds.

The programming continues with Mammals, a six-part series for BBC One and iPlayer exploring never-before-seen behaviour and insights into the most

successful animal group on the planet.

From the tiny Etruscan shrew to the giant blue whale, the series reveals the secrets of their success and how a combination of adaptability, intelligence and sociability have contributed to their remarkable rise.

Look out too for Big Little Journeys, a new three-part series, again for BBC Two and iPlayer, that follows six small animals as they travel across rainforests, mountains and wetlands.

The species featured include a family of endangered golden-headed lion tamarins in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest, the Madagascan Labord’s chameleon (which lives for only six months) and Taiwan’s rare Formosan pangolin – the world’s most trafficked animal.

Using immersive camera systems and surveillance technology, the series shrinks the lens down to give a fascinating, small animal’s view of the world.

Among the illustrations in the book is a telling pair of maps set side by side: one of a ‘rainforest zone’ that shows the 20% of Britain where the climate is suitable for temperate rainforest to thrive, and the other that shows today’s last surviving fragments that now cover just 1% of the land.

Mixing painstaking research with lyrical reportage, Shrubsole’s story of this ‘paradise lost’ of moss-clad native trees, ferns, lichens and liverworts is an account of loss but also possibility and hope for a gradual return – both in our consciousness and the landscape itself.

Book

The Secret World of Plants

Ben Hoare

Published by DK Books

ISBN: 9780241563526

Hardback £20

FROM its holographic cover to the beautifully written and illustrated pages within, this is a book that will charm and delight children (age 7+) with a love of the natural world.

Told by author and nature expert Ben Hoare, it contains more than 100 stories that bring the wonderful and often downright weird world of plants to life in a way that is never less than totally engaging.

Although found almost everywhere on Earth, and providing us with food, fuel, medicine, clean air and more, plants nonetheless remain a mystery to many people.

But perhaps not any more. As well as explaining the essentials of plant science, this book explores how plants survive and thrive in their myriad ways – and how they shape our world far more than we ever imagine.

© Russell Barnett/BBC Studios

Moffat Eagle Festival, Dumfries & Galloway 22-24 September

THE Moffat Eagle Festival returns in September, with renowned BBC wildlife broadcaster and ornithologist Iolo Williams as the event’s headline speaker.

Now in its third year, and held in the UK’s first official Eagle Town, the community-led festival also features a family fun day, an Eagle Hill Fell Run, a chainsaw carving demonstration, live music and a range of wildlife and author talks.

The festival represents a further milestone for the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SSGEP) which, through a series of translocations over the past five years, has helped to increase the population of golden eagles in the region to 38 – the highest number recorded for three centuries.

“The Moffat Eagle Festival has become a must-attend annual event for wildlife lovers across the country, bringing fantastic economic, social and cultural benefits to the area,” commented Rick Taylor, Community Engagement Officer at SSGEP and one of the

Competition

HOW would you like to escape to the stunning countryside of the Trossachs?

We are offering one lucky reader an overnight stay for two people with dinner and breakfast at the charming, 18-bedroom Karma Lake of Menteith hotel – plus an exclusive whisky tasting from the hotel’s Malt Vault.

Nature is right on your doorstep at this dog-friendly hotel near Stirling, with the area rich in wildlife, including beavers, red squirrels and red kites at nearby Argaty.

You can also enjoy outdoor pursuits such as horseriding and mountain biking, as well as enjoy picturesque views of the Lake of Menteith, where you can fish for trout.

If you’re feeling active, why not bag a local Munro and savour even more spectacular views?

The charming villages of Callander and Aberfoyle are also nearby.

For more details, please visit bit.ly/karmalakeofmenteith

founders of the festival. “It is brilliant to see so many people who are passionate about protecting this iconic species in the south of Scotland. The more people who understand the importance of golden eagles, and what they can do to protect them, the more golden eagles will flourish in southern skies and the healthier our ecosystems will be.”

For the latest project and festival news, visit goldeneaglessouthofscotland.co.uk

For your chance to win, simply tell

Viewpoint

Author Kerri Andrews explains how she has been enriched by the acute observations of one of the writers featured in her latest book, Way Makers – an anthology that celebrates the literary heritage created by generations of women walker-writers

DOROTHY Wordsworth – travel writer, poet, walker, and sister of poet laureate William – chose to start what would become her most famous work, The Grasmere Journal, in May. I’m not surprised. The woods this year have been, as they were then, ‘rich in flowers’.

That first diary day, 14 May 1800, Dorothy Wordsworth recorded ‘ranunculus – Crowfoot, the grassy-leaved Rabbit-toothed white flower, strawberries, Geranium – scentless violet, anemones two kinds, orchises, primroses’.

Near me, in Peebles in the Scottish Borders, this year the woods have been filled to the brim not only with the flowers that she noticed, but also with hawthorn blossom, each tree apparently encased in frothy, sweet-smelling foam. Bluebells too have bedecked forest floors in huge numbers, seeming to illuminate the air above them with an eerie, purplish glow.

May is a blessed month, the perfect time to begin to notice what is around us, as Wordsworth, one of the most gifted noticers and note takers this country has produced, quickly found.

Armed with a stout pair of legs and a keen pair of eyes, she spent the next two years, on and off, documenting what she saw when she set out on her almost daily walks from her home at Dove Cottage in Grasmere.

Walking and rewalking the same routes on a regular basis provided the opportunity for her to observe subtle changes and shifts, in plants, seasons and her own internal weather. As a result, she became the intimate companion of many otherwise unremarked places, the keeper of their secrets and most private ways.

This tender awareness of life beyond herself is everywhere in Wordsworth’s writing, not just in her diaries. Her account of the first-recorded ascent of Scafell Pike, written in October 1818 and sent to friends in letters celebrating her achievement, did much more than tell a story of a mountain conquered.

Although she made no effort to resist the desire to feast her eyes on the extensive views before and below her, Wordsworth’s most loving descriptions were reserved for what she noticed at her feet: the ‘never-dying lichens, which the clouds and dews nourish; and adorn with

colours of the most vivid and exquisite beauty, and endless in variety’.

For all her gifts as a nature writer and as a walker, Wordsworth has been little remembered, instead frequently relegated to ‘sister of’ status in books.

Yet there is clear evidence that she was part of what was becoming a distinct female tradition of walking and writing about nature, a tradition which spans

more than two centuries. In gathering these women’s writing, much as Wordsworth collected observations about the plants she so loved, I’ve enriched myself. I carry their words within me when I step out of the door for a walk, their acuity of vision training my eyes, guiding my steps. There is much to learn from our foremothers about what may be found on the path.

Published in September, Kerri Andrews’ Way Makers is the first anthology of women’s writing about walking. For more information, visit kerriandrews.co.uk

Bluebells have bedecked forest floors in huge numbers, seeming to illuminate the air above them with an eerie, purplish glow.

All images © Rich Rowe

Kerri and her children enjoying a woodland walk

Kerri Andrews

Thank you to our wonderful Wildlife Guardians

Through the generous additional support of our Wildlife Guardians, we can put additional resource behind safeguarding Scotland’s wildlife and wild places. We would like to say thank you, to each and every one:

GOLD Wildlife Guardians (giving >£50 per month)

John McMillan and Belinda Marr

Carol Pudsey

Rob Scoticus

SILVER Wildlife Guardians (giving >£30 per month)

Ian Brander

Caroline Casey

Mrs S and Mrs H

Duncanson

Ian and Tracy Gardiner

Kate Gwynn

Mr and Mrs Ian Hall

Dawn and Andrew Knight

And one Gold Wildlife Guardian who wishes to remain anonymous

Ronald and Marlies

MacLean

Colin McCormack and Alison Gough

BRONZE Wildlife Guardians (giving >£15 per month)

Ms Frances Affleck and Mr Mark Jackson

Mr and Mrs Allan

Mark Aquilina and Rosie Briscoe

Miss B and HsN

Nick and Ann Burton

Stan and Katie Calder

Ron Carthy

Tom Clarke

Sandy Cochran

Mrs Nancy Colman

David Cowan

Wildlife Guardians

Cox Family

Mr Graeme K Craig

Michael Dickson

Mrs S Evans

David and Linda Gibson

Nicholas and Wendy Gray

Lorna and Stuart Hastings

Mr G Hedley and Mrs I Thomson

Dr Jean Helling

Mr and Mrs J Hopkins

Barry Jarvie

David Jarvie

Robert Kerr

Andrew and Vicky Kilpatrick

Lesley King

Mr Ronald Kinnear

M Lancaster

Mr and Mrs McKechnie

Mrs Isobela Mellors

Ian Mirfin

B J Muirhead

Ms E Munro

C Murray

Pyott Family

Mr B Ritchie and

Tim Moulds

Ivan W. Reid

David P Riley

Ms M Ritchie

Lawrence Robertson

Mr E and Mrs A Spearman

Mr John Strachan

Mr and Mrs Sturt

Elspeth Third

Mr A Voas

Mrs Shona Wildi

Mr George Wood

Anne Wright

And 26 Bronze Wildlife Guardians who wish to remain anonymous

See a full list of our 360 Wildlife Guardians at scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/our-wildlife-guardians

Could you become a Wildlife Guardian?

If you are in a position to give a little extra each month to protect your favourite species and their habitats, we invite you to join us as a Wildlife Guardian. Simply visit www.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/guardians or call us on 0131 312 4700 today!

© Mark Hamblin-2020VISION

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