Paul Turner
RSPB Forsinard Flows The Flow Country is internationally important both for its habitat of large-scale deep peat and blanket bog, and the birds that breed there. Fifty years after controversial plantations were put in, here’s how it’s recovering. rspb.org
“In the ’70s and ’80s, there was a tree planting drive in areas where the ground was seen as unproductive, barren or a wasteland, which is how a lot of people saw the Flow Country at the time. A government scheme offered people tax rebates for investing in the planting of trees in the north of Scotland. They probably thought ‘this is good, planting trees is great for the environment’. Loads of people didn’t understand that blanket bog in the Flow Country should not
naturally have trees on it.
“There are various problems with planting trees on blanket bog. It’s more acidic than a lot of trees like to tolerate. It’s naturally nutrient deficient, which is great for sphagnum moss but not for trees, so a load of fertiliser was dumped onto the plantations. It’s also very, very wet most of th e time, so drainage systems were ploughed into the bog to try to dry it out. Over time, the movement of water through those drainage channels started to undercut the sides, which fell in.
“There’s also a negative impact on wildlife. Peatland waders such as golden plover, dunlin and greenshank have evolved to live in open landscapes. They are afraid that there are predators in dark shadowy forestry and will abandon perfectly good pool systems adjacent to conifer plantations. If you put a 300-400m buffer around each plantation in the Flow Country, you suddenly see that this has a large impact, probably larger than the actual area covered by trees.
“We’ve been working on restoration for about 25 years and there’s more to do. It includes removing standing forestry, harvesting it if it’s commercially viable. Then chipping or mulching any of the residual material, and where possible getting that off the bog. Then you do hydrological restoration, which slows the water running off the hill so it gradually percolates through the bog instead. Then basically it’s waiting for vegetation to re-establish itself over time. Once the hydrology and vegetation that underpin the habitat are correct then the rest of the ecosystem, from insects and amphibians to birds and mammals, can fall back into place. Part of the problem with these kinds of projects is that they take 50, 75 or 100 years. Timescales that the public and politicians can struggle with.
“Striking that balance between forestry, woodland and open landscapes is tricky. It is also very much about planting the right tree in the right place. It’s the quality of the biodiversity, not just the quantity of it.”