A brand new boardwalk facility at Braehead Moss nature reserve in South Lanarkshire was officially opened on 10th March 2018 by local constituency MSP Aileen Campbell. The boardwalk has been created as part of Butterfly Conservation Scotland’s Lanarkshire’s Large Heaths and Mosses – Restoring Precious Peatlands project.
The new boardwalk will provide better access for the local community giving them a chance to enjoy and connect with the moss which lies right on the doorstep of many residents. The local primary school is also situated on the edge of the moss and the new boardwalk will enable expanded outdoor learning activities.
Butterfly Conservation have also been carrying out peatland wildlife education sessions with the local school in Braehead village with pupils learning about the different types of specialist animals and plants that will be visible from the new boardwalk. The pupils made some beautiful drawings inspired by peatlands which were used to decorate the village hall on the official opening day of the boardwalk.
The Lanarkshire’s Large Heaths and Mosses project is working to restore a cluster of three peatland sites to the northeast of Lanark which will benefit local colonies of the Large Heath butterfly. The species is endemic to peat
land habitats and has undergone large scale declines across the UK due to the peatland habitat fragmentation and degradation. Restoration work carried out through the project includes ditch-blocking, peat re-profiling, scrub clearance and cell-bunding.
Aileen Campbell is also the MSP Species Champion for the Large Heath butterfly. MSP Species Champions is a Scottish Environment Link initiative to match MSPs with threatened species. The Species Champion project is about MSPs promoting species, habitats and positive management within their constituency and in Parliament.
The project is funded by WREN’s FCC Scottish Action Fund, through the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund, SNH-led Peatland Action programme and EcoCoLIFE+.
