TV star Chris in Lawers sweep Nature audit on Perthshire mountain

Springwatch TV presenter and passionate wildlife explorer Chris Packham will spend tomorrow scouring the slopes of Ben Lawers for plantlife and beasties.

Chris has chosen to start his UK Bioblitz Campaign on Saturday at the Perthshire Munro climb and National Nature Reserve.

Ben Lawers is a hugely significant place for botanists as it is renowned for its Arctic-Alpine flora, many of which are rare and endangered species.

The area is also home to a variety of wildlife including red deer, ptarmigan, black grouse and ravens.

It will be the start of a ten-day, 50-site tour of the UK using help from the public to discover what creatures and plants are to be found in 2018.

This is the first independent nature audit of its kind in the UK.

His goal is to investigate the extent to which the nation’s wildlife species are under threat and to meet and raise money for the local projects working on the conservation of wildlife habitats.

The National Trust for Scotland’s senior ranger naturalist at Ben Lawers, Helen Cole, said: “We are very honoured to be the starting point for Chris’s epic journey looking at the wildlife across the UK.

“Ben Lawers is a very important place for all sorts of plants, insects and animals and we hope that the public will come along and help us discover more about the wonderful wildlife that all of us here help protect, for the love of Scotland.”

Members of the public are invited to come along and join in.

The Bioblitz will provide a great opportunity for children and young people to get involved and engaged with the natural world to inspire them to conserve and protect it as they grow up.

On from 8am to noon, visitors will be recording the wildflowers, plants, insects and birds that flourish on Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve.

Attendees should meet at the Ben Lawers NNR car park.