The biggest habitat restoration project in Britain has announced the positive impact that has been made during its first years.
More than 7000 broadleaf seedlings have been successfully germinated, 526 hectares of peatland habitats restored, and invasive native conifers have been removed from over 1000 hectares of forest by a partnership of neighbouring land managers with an ambitious 200-year vision to enhance habitats, species and ecological processes of contiguous land in Cairngorms National Park.
Unparalleled in its scope, scale and timeframe in the UK, Cairngorms Connect has plans to expand native woodland to double its current size, re-establish blanket bog and forest bogs, and restore natural processes to river floodplains.
The partnership is already seeing real benefits from the work carried out since the project was launched in 2018. Cairngorms Connect has published a report delving deep into the work carried in the first years of the partnership, which also highlights successful progress already made.
With community engagement at the heart of the partnership, local volunteers and communities are enjoying reaping the benefits of their hard work. The progress update report informs that young native woodlands are spreading across open moorlands, peatlands and bogs are showing the signs of repair and early recovery, and a range of people are connecting to nature, enjoying a wilder landscape in the making.
The Cairngorms Connect Tree Nursery, located in the heart of RSPB Scotland Abernethy National Nature Reserve, is helping to protect the threatened communities of montane woodland and other missing tree species across the region. Local volunteers have played a really important role, contributing over 400 hours and successfully germinated over 7000 broadleaf seedlings, including species of dwarf and downy birch, aspen, alder, downy and eared willow.
Restructuring Scots pine plantations creates a more natural forest, and in turn a healthier and more climate resilient habitat for people and wildlife. Throughout the Cairngorms Connect area, over 1089 hectares of Scots Pine plantation and 1132 hectares of tree planting has been completed, with non-native conifers removed from 1175 hectares.
Restoring peatland habitats is another important aspect of Cairngorms Connect’s 200-year vision. Peatlands are an essential part of the fight against climate change. Peatlands store carbon, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere, as well as providing a home for many rare and threatened species of flora and fauna.
Arboriculturist Alban Thom at work
Work is already well underway with management of red deer populations, re-wetting bogs, restoring water levels and re-profiling eroded peat channels being just some of the tasks the team has undertaken. With support from the Cairngorms National Park Authority Peatland Action team, over 526 hectares have already been completed.
Sydney Henderson, Cairngorms Connect communications and involvement manager, said: ‘The Cairngorms is an amazing place for nature. The Cairngorms Connect habitats are home to over 5,000 species – 20% are Nationally Rare or Scarce and some are recorded nowhere else in Britain. We have a vital role to help people experience and value these wild places.
‘As forests expand and diversify they will clean air and help regulate the climate, and as peatlands function more effectively they will purify water and store huge amounts of carbon. Cairngorms Connect embraces our responsibility to deliver these ecosystem services and our restoration projects will deliver real benefits to communities.
‘We are delighted that our first progress update is so positive – and that is in part thanks to the wonderful communities who have volunteered their time to support us with our vital work. The Tree Nursery in particular has played a really important part as a space for people to come together – especially during covid, where it was a safe outdoors space for people to get out into nature and help grow the forests of the future.’
Arboriculturist Alban Thom, from Nethy Bridge, who has been contracted for Cairngorms Connect forest restoration projects, said: ‘Since I was young, I would ride my bike out through forests and into the mountains. I wondered why we had amazing forests and then places that trees didn’t grow. I didn’t know the reason but knew something wasn’t right, as you can see remnants of old forests, roots and stumps in the peat. Later, I learnt that it was our own doing and that the balance in nature had been lost – so now it is great to be involved in trying to bring the forests back.’
Cairngorms Connect, a partnership of Wildland Limited, RSPB Scotland, NatureScot and Forestry and Land Scotland, is made possible with funding from the Endangered Landscapes Programme.
Cairngorms Connect is a partnership of neighbouring land managers, committed to a bold and ambitious 200-year vision to enhance habitats, species and ecological processes across a vast area within the Cairngorms National Park. Partners are Wildland Limited, RSPB Scotland, NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland.
Find out more at www.cairngormsconnect.org.uk
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