Following several months of intense project development, six projects are about to start at the end of October in the Cairngorms National Park.
This autumn and early winter (if the weather holds!) work will start on restoring 532 hectares of degraded blanket bog, all on upland sites extending from 500 metres to 875 metres. The work is targeting eroded gullies, peat hags and areas of bare peat along with a small amount of moorland grips. The presence of Golden eagles on a number of sites is one of many issues that have required careful planning and discussion.
With financial support from Peatland Action, there are five estates involved: Invercauld (photo ofl eft), Glenfeshie (photo on right), Mar, Candacraig and Abernethy as well as a number of sporting tenants. Contractors have been appointed for three of the projects and we are hoping to finalise work for the other three. There is unprecedented interest in peatland restoration now in the National Park. Mapping degraded peatland habitats using aerial photography has identified over 35,000 hectares of work on just 10 estates, with an estimated 60,000 hectares still to map. Stephen Corcoran, the Peatland Action Project Officer, has no shortage of potential projects!
