Latest news with #NatureScot
The Herald Scotland
9 hours ago
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
App to build better picture of endangered skates in Scotland
With the new, free SkateSpotter app now available on the Play store and the App store, [[Nature]]Scot is asking anyone who spots a flapper skate to take a picture and report it. The mobile phone app is designed to make it easier for the public to submit photos on the go but older photos can also be uploaded since the app recognises the date and time the photo was taken. The data from Skatespotter has already proven to be valuable. It was used by scientists at Marine Directorate in Aberdeen to model the population of flapper skate in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area (MPA) last year. The model showed that flapper skate are recovering faster inside the MPA than outside. Skatespotter app in use on beach (Image: NatureScot/Catriona Webster) Steven Benjamins of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) said: 'Most of the data in SkateSpotter is from flapper skate angling in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura MPA because that's where most of our contributing skippers are based, with some photos from Orkney and Shetland, the Mull of Galloway and Ireland. With the addition of AI to help us match photos it was time for an app to make it easier for people from all over Scotland to contribute photos of skate and hopefully help us further understand the longer distance movements of these amazing fish.' Jane Dodd, NatureScot's elasmobranch specialist, said: 'We encourage anglers, divers, fishermen and marine surveyors from all over Scotland to download the SkateSpotter app and become citizen scientists, helping us to understand and restore these amazing animals. An army of volunteers using SkateSpotter could generate a much more significant amount of data than a handful of scientists. Flapper skate are generally resident or show site fidelity (leaving and coming back to a site) but they do travel longer distances and we might be underestimating these because most of our SkateSpotter submissions come from specific areas. Imagine being the person who submits a photo of a skate from Shetland only to find the skate originated from Orkney or the west coast of Scotland!' Read More Anyone encountering a flapper skate, either when angling, diving, fishing, surveying or walking on the beach, can submit a photo via the app. They will then be asked for additional information on the general area where the skate was seen, whether it is male or female and its size. Once the photo is submitted, it will be matched against others already in the database by AI or added as a new individual. Contributors will be provided with an update on 'their' skate if it is reported again and sensitive information like fishing marks will not be shared without permission. Flapper skate belongs to the elasmobranch or shark family. Instead of bones, it has a skeleton formed of cartilage. Adult flapper skate can reach up to 285cm (for the larger female sex) and seem to prefer deep (100m+) muddy habitats where they eat prawns and other smaller skates and small sharks. In 2009 it became illegal to land skate in most of Europe which means any skate caught as bycatch should be released unharmed. All angling for this species in Scotland is on a 'catch and release' basis. Recapturing previously identified skate suggests there is no harm to the fish when released. However, common skate are still at risk from unintentional capture in mobile gear such as trawls and dredges.
Edinburgh Reporter
3 days ago
- Health
- Edinburgh Reporter
Kittiwakes have died on Isle of May
Nearly 150 kittiwakes on one of Scotland's most important seabird islands have been found dead from bird flu. A total of 148 of the birds have been counted dead from the disease on the Isle of May in the last few weeks. Staff on the island, in the outer Firth of Forth, said the toll showed the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus 'is still very evident in seabird colonies'. However, kittiwakes appear to be the only species affected this year on the island, which is run by NatureScot as a National Nature Reserve, with suggestions of immunity building in some other birds. David Steel, NatureScot's reserve manager on the island, said: 'In recent years all seabird species have been affected by the virus including several on the island. 'However it appears more virulent in our kittiwakes as we have seen losses on an annual basis since 2022. 'Over the last few weeks we have noticed a number of kittiwakes dead on the loch and yesterday we confirmed a total of 148 dead, which had built up over a few weeks.' Bird flu outbreak was first detected in great skuas in the Northern Isles in summer 2021 and in 2022 spread to seabirds across Scotland, with devastating impacts on some species. The virus spreads between birds through contact with infected saliva and droppings. Known as the 'Jewel of the Forth', the Isle of May becomes home each spring to up to 200,000 birds including puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and shags. Isle of May PHOTO Saltire News and Sport Ltd Like this: Like Related
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
The Highland reserve where millionaire wants to release wolves
The wolves, of course, are not here, yet. But, owner and heir to the MFI fortune, Paul Lister, has long been infamous as the man who wants to release them, here in remote Scotland, in a giant enclosure contained by 30,000 metres of fence. In 2003, Lister bought Alladale with a vision to create an enclosure into which he could release wolves. The reserve, at 23,500 acres, was not big enough and it was evident such a project would need a neighbour on board to make the 50,000 acres that might support two packs. At the time, there wasn't such a supporter and collaborator – and, as yet, there still isn't. Opposition to wolf reintroduction in Scotland has been vocal amongst farmers - and the NFUS has described it as "unacceptable". In 2018, Fergus Ewing, then Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy, said reintroduction of large predators would happen 'over my dead body'. Yet still Lister persists with his enclosure proposal. Two decades on, you would think he might have given up, but he is as calmly, and genuinely determined as ever. Lister recalls that when he first arrived, he found himself surrounded by 'very traditional landowners'. Back then media articles ran headlines like 'Is introducing wolves back into Britain howling mad?' His view on wolves hasn't changed much. 'I always think that wolves would be absolutely perfect to go back into the Highlands,' he says, 'but not in the freedom of the countryside, not running around – inside a big enclosure. My problem is that one of my neighbours is not particularly progressive in thinking, and he's rather stuck in bit of a time warp. But it's coming. There will come a time when people will see what the potential is, but it's slow.' The wolves may still seem a long time coming, but the new young forest is slowly arriving. Over a million native trees have been planted, and, alongside this, to protect them from browsing by deer, deer numbers have been reduced from 25 per km square on the estate, to less than six per km square. Kate Heightman, TENT outreach manager, stands atop a jeep at Alladale Wilderness Reserve (Image: Gethin Chamberlain) What was a small fragment of Caledonian Pinewood at the reserve has been expanded. The wood, which is the most the second northerly fragment of this rare habitat, had been categorised by NatureScot as being in 'unfavourable' management and declining condition. Restored by fencing a much bigger area encompassing the fragment and replanting this enclosure with more than 180,000 trees to relieve the deer grazing pressure and give an opportunity for seedlings to grow without the risk of being eaten, it is now classed as being in 'favourable' management and recovering condition. When Lister arrived there were between 3500-5000 veteran pine trees, so old they are no longer producing viable seeds or the potential to spread forest unaided. The Alladale team knows there had been more trees - that much, they say, can be seen from the 1000-year-old trunks buried in the peat. As a result of the deer control, says Heightman, one of our guides on a media tour of the reserve organised by The European Nature Trust (TENT), there has been natural regeneration. 'There was a fear that the deer control would create a vacuum. But the helicopter deer count found that Alladale had the lowest density compared to other estates that had counts of up to 29 per km square.' The deer, Lister describes, are the trees' 'nemesis'. The ubiquity of these monarchs of the glen is also sometimes given as a case for the reintroduction of wolves. A University of Leeds paper published last year modelled that control of red deer by wolves could lead to an expansion of native woodland that would take up - or sequester - one million tonnes of CO2 each year. 'We've actually,' Lister says, 'reduced our deer herds from 2500 to 500. That allows for huge amounts of vegetation recovery, which is what we need. We need trees to recover. And if you have too many deer in an area, it's impossible.' But that nemesis, especially the imposing stag, does not go unadmired, neither amongst our group of visitors, nor those at Alladale who control it. Reserve manager and former gamekeeper, Innes MacNeill describes the species as his 'favourite 'animal. In the past, he says, he has been asked, 'So you enjoy killing your favourite animal?' MacNeill is a true local, who joined Alladale as a deer stalker in 1991, long before the arrival of Lister and his rewilding, whose grandfather was a stalker and poacher. He shot his first deer here, he says, when he was 'very young'. He also argues in favour of some of the old ways too – for instance muirburn. 'Fire is a tool in the toolbox. I would do it for fire breaks. You can see up there there is nothing growing in the understory. Heather is preventing tree growth.' 'Fire is a natural thing. It occurs everywhere in the world. But historically we over burnt it for sheep grazing and deer to graze on.' 'We're not trying to get rid of deer,' he says. 'Deer have an active role to play here.' Young new pines at Alladale (Image: Gethin Chamberlain) The result of this deer control is, for those of us staying at Alladale Lodge, plenty of venison on the table, butchered in a larder on site. The rest of the meat is sold through the local game dealer. His own view on Lister's approach has shifted from former scepticism. 'Did I think Paul was mad? Of course I did. But I've travelled all over the world and seen places in Yellowstone, Romania and South Africa. Do I see an opportunity here? Most definitely. But it's about winning hearts and minds.' He is also seeing how this new model can work as a business. He insists: 'This is a reserve, not an estate. We are probably employing around three times what our neighbours would employ. We keep our tradesmen local as well." In an area of depopulation, blighted by lack of affordable housing, not far from Croick, where in 1845, 80 people who had been cleared from the land found refuge in the churchyard, people are an important factor. The question, as MacNeill puts it, is 'How do we keep people here?' The jobs offered by a reserve like this is one such way. 'Calling it a wilderness reserve,' he explains, 'was a way to break away from this Victorian idea of the estate.' He is not, however keen on the word rewilding. 'Rewilding is how it's interpreted. We're about reconnecting people to nature." When it comes to rewilding, the terminology is slippery. Wild is an increasingly disputed term – are any of Scotland's wild places untouched by humans? – and also many, including Innes MacNeill, don't like the term rewilding. 'This is not wilderness,' he says, pointing to the grand sweep of moor rising up from the glen, 'but it's wild managed land.' 'Do not tell me,' he says, 'this is not wild. Even wilding would be a better term than rewilding. Nature recovery is the word. If I go to my neighbours and say, Let's do rewilding, the door will be slammed in my face. If I say, let's do some riparian restoration and planting, it's different." Innes MacNeill, reserve manager, at Alladale Wilderness Reserve (Image: Gethin Chamberlain) The wolf plan, says MacNeill, would happen via 'a special derogation to create an African-style game reserve with two packs of wolves.' To create the enclosure would require 30,000 metres of fence, a barrier that has triggered opposition from some voices for 'right to roam'. MacNeill sees it as worth a try: 'Run that experiment for 25 years, just like a wind farm.' 'The general public has to want it,' he adds. 'I'm a Highlander. I'm from here. No one wants to see wealthy absentee landlords tell us what to do. But when it comes to wolves, we need to talk about it in a more civil and adult way. We can live together. But we've lived apart for a long time now. We are the only country without an apex predator in Europe.' He adds, pointing at another human in our group, 'You're looking at the apex predators here.' That relative absence is striking, when you look at any map of the location of wolves across the continent. Only the British Isles is wolfless – and with no way of the species swimming the North Sea, it can only roam these lands again through reintroduction. Lister has been rewilding Alladale for over two decades now, pushing the landscape through its slow process of change via planting, deer control, introduction of Highland cattle and other measures. These days, he does believe that some neighbouring landowners are 'listening'. 'They are progressing in their way,' he says. 'So it's good. I've seen some change in the mindset of even my neighbours.' Both MacNeill and Lister believe they have seen a shift happen around them. It has happened in the wider public, a poll of whom revealed a majority. But they also think it has happened amongst landowners. 'I 100% think people are moving towards our view, on reforestation' says Lister. 'I get calls monthly from landowners in Scotland wanting to come up and visit.' Highland cattle at Alladale Wilderness Reserve (Image: Gethin Chamberlain) But the Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce wolves or any other large carnivorous species into Scotland, a statement which First Minister John Swinney reiterated earlier this year after lynx were illegally released in the Cairngorms. When Lister bought Alladale, a 23,500 acre stretch of wilderness near Ardgay spanned by a ridge from which it's possible to see both east and west coast, he wanted to distinguish it from the kind of hunting, shooting and fishing estate it once was. Previously its most flamboyant tenants were Sir Henry and Lady Valerie Meux (famous for driving herself around London in a phaeton drawn by a pair of zebras), who provided stalking, fishing and grouse shooting for their friends on a grand scale. But Lister has a different approach from past owners and tenants. He regards himself as the custodian of Alladale and insists on calling it a reserve. His mission to regenerate and restore nature was inspired by what he has seen in Romania. In 2002, after his father, Noel, suffered a stroke, he went, he has said "into a dark place", following which he decided to reinvent himself, and consider what legacy he might have. At that point he set up TENT ahead of purchasing Alladale. Its goals were to 'protect and restore wild areas of species'; 'create 'noise' for nature'; 'connect people to nature.' It's not only wealthy wilderness tourists, booking themselves a stay at Alladale Lodge or journalists like myself who are invited to visit, but also local young people. A schools project here is about rewilding the young. Though Lister's wolf plan has triggered a backlash from some right to roam campaigners, he is himself an advocate of public access and right to roam and the idea of connecting people to nature. 'When you've got 70 million people living in the country the size of Britain,' he says, 'and you try and exclude them from 50% of private owned land, that's not particularly good. We want people to go into nature. We want them to fall love with nature. We want them to want to save nature. So if we just decide to shut it all off, that's not helping the cause.' Alladale is just one of Lister's projects. TENT supports work by the Foundation Conservation Carpathia, which is 'creating Europe's Yellowstone' in Carpathia, is helping build jaguar tourism and Belize, as well as funding organisations in Spain and Italy working with lynx, bears and wolves. Wolves may still be a long way off release in Alladale, but the reserve has done some work on introduction of another predator. Their Scottish wildcat project with RZSS contributed several cats to the Highland Wildlife Park, whose kittens went on to be released in the wild. I visited their wildcat enclosure, where the cats could be seen clambering over branches and ladders, for all the world like domestic kitties. A Scottish wildcat at Alladale Wilderness Reserve (Image: Gethin Chamberlain) But Scotland is not moving forward at any great speed on reintroductions. Even beavers, it turns out, are not likely for some time at Alladale. As yet, the reserve has no plan to reintroduce the species since the habitat is not ready – more willow would be needed. 'Not enough wooded debris,' MacNeill says. Wolves also seem a long way off, with the National Farmers Union of Scotland firmly against them. They are also not what rewilding charities are pushing for. The general view is that the first big apex predator for reintroduction would be the lynx, and an alliance of charities including Scotland the Big Picture, Trees for Life, TENT and Lifescape has come together in the Lynx to Scotland partnership. The campaign, including consultations and research, is having an impact, which has arguably been enhanced, rather than diminished by the recent illegal dumping of lynx in the Cairngorms. What was at first suspected to be a guerrilla rewilding was later considered more likely to be the tragic dumping of neglected exotic pets. READ MORE: A poll conducted by Survation in January for the Lynx to Scotland Partnership, showed that support for the return of lynx to Scotland had increased to 61% – rising nine points since the last such survey in 2020. Nor is the possibility entirely distant, since a licence application for lynx reintroduction via the Lynx to Scotland project looks possible in the next coming year or two. That said, the lynx isn't likely to be seen any time soon at Alladale. The problem for the reserve is that the habitat isn't quite right for this shy, arboreal cat. 'Wolves,' says Innes, 'could hunt in this landscape tomorrow, but the lynx is an ambush predator and there are not enough trees.' It also doesn't help that the trees would be inside their own enclosures and the deer outside. One of Lister's arguments is that wilderness tourism employs more than agriculture or field sports. 'When I arrived, there were two and a half members of staff, and they number 12-15 in season.' 'Alladale is a beacon of hope and a beacon of a new way of running a landscape. Rather than employing two shepherds. I've got 14 full-time members of staff. I'm hosting 1000s of people, school kids and adults through the year, as opposed to a few mates who want to go deer stalking.' However, this man with a vision for returning the landscape to nature is not really himself someone to turn to for too much hope. 'You've come to the wrong person for hope, I'm afraid,' he tells me. 'You might try and drag it out of me. I do what I do because I need to have a purposeful life. I need purpose, and I love what I do. But I'm afraid, if you were to listen to George Carlin, you would realise that we're just one big experiment that's not going particularly well, humans.' Lister believes that one of the issues is that humans don't like change. 'They're creatures of habit, and change comes with challenges. If it's slightly uncomfortable, then we won't do it. I'm afraid to transcend what we need to transcend, there's going to be some discomfort. Otherwise, no pain, no gain.' Already, he says, there have been 'landscape-scale changes' at Alladale, and he is proud of them - the reforestation as well as the rise in biodiversity, including eagles, red squirrels, pine martens and badgers. Changes happen, the team at Alladale tell me, on a slow scale. There is no rushing the process of creating a forest, particularly not in these cool climes where trees grow at a slower rate. 'It's the Highlands of Scotland,' says MacNeill. 'It will take a long time. Nature recovery in this part of the world doesn't mean you'll see wildlife all over the place. It's going to take time. We've abused the landscape for centuries. We're not going to rebuild it in 25 years.'
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'I have hundreds of bats in my house - and I can't do a thing about it'
A woman has been forced to sleep in her car after discovering hundreds of bats roosting in her home - and being told there is nothing she can do to remove them. Anne-Marie Murchie says she is "living in fear every day" after discovering a colony of more than 500 of the protected animals in the walls and roof of her house in Aberdeen. She first heard flapping noises in the walls and later discovered a bat hiding in her toilet roll holder. She has since found more in the living room and kitchen. The NatureScot agency says it cannot remove bats from homes and has advised Ms Murchie that the animals will leave of their own accord at the end of the "maternity season" in August or September. That has been of no comfort to Ms Murchie, who says her anxiety is "through the roof" from the sound of the bats' constant movement. She told BBC Scotland News: "They're above the spotlights in the kitchen and they've popped them out a few times as well. "I'm scared to come in the house. Sometimes I actually sleep outside in the car. I'm just petrified. "The noise is horrendous, it's like running water. But I think it's all the wings going together, like flapping. "It never stops. They get louder at about five or six at night and then when they come in at five in the morning. But they're constantly making noise. I wonder if they sleep." The bats colonising Ms Murchie's home are soprano pipistrelles, which are among the most common and widespread of British bat species. They are known to form colonies well in excess of 200 adult animals - plus their offspring. NatureScot said these bats are usually seasonal visitors to houses and are present for four or five months of the year. They form maternity colonies in May and June and leave in August and early September, once the young bats are independent. NatureScot's bat workers can collect information and advise homeowners on problems they have with the animals. But it says they "cannot carry out any works to your building or exclude/take away the bats". The agency's Kevin Giles told BBC Scotland News: ''With regard to what you can do with them, actually nothing, because they are a protected species under European protection laws and Scottish and UK laws. "So the bats themselves can't be touched, nor can the roosts.'' Ms Murchie first became concerned about a constant noise in her house a few months ago and believed it must be down to a wasps' nest. But a pest control officer told her it was actually bats after looking at doorbell camera footage and seeing them outside. "We found out they were protected so we went through the proper channels and called Nature Scotland," Ms Murchie said. "They then came out with thermal cameras and that gave them an idea of how many bats there are and all the entry points in the house. "It was about 500 bats at least and about 200 to 300 babies. But now we've found another site so they're coming back next week to see how many are there. "It's absolutely awful. I actually moved out because I couldn't bear to live in the house. You can't come in or out at certain times because there's hundreds of them." Ms Murchie returned to her house after a few weeks in the hope that the bats had left. "I thought, they're definitely not in the house," she said "but then I got up one night and went to the loo. "Half asleep, I grabbed the toilet roll holder and one came out and held on to my hand. I just flipped." She added: "I phoned Nature Scotland and they came straight out. She (the bat expert) took her outside and put it back up beside the roost so she could go back up to her home." Ms Murchie, who is a taxi driver, says she now spends as much time as possible working in her car to get away from the sights, sounds and smells in her house. "The smell comes through the fan. It's like a musty, dirty smell. "It's sad that you can't do anything about it in your own home. "I feel like the rules should change a bit. Surely someone can come in that's licensed and take them away to somewhere humanely?" Licence to seal NatureScot has told Ms Murchie an officer will return to her house next week to update the situation. She said: "Once they've checked that the bats are gone, I can get a special licence and it's confirmation that I can seal up all the potential entry points. So that when they come back next year they won't be able to get in." NatureScot says people affected can call its Bats in Houses helpline on 01463 725 165 or email batsinhouses@ Anyone who finds a grounded bat in their property can also call either the Bat Conservation Trust Bat Helpline (0345 1300 228) or the SSPCA Animal Helpline (03000 999 999) for advice on how to best handle and remove the bat.
Daily Record
7 days ago
- General
- Daily Record
North Lanarkshire gets funding boost for greenspaces from National Lottery Heritage Fund
Approximately £640,000 will be spent by the creation of a ground-breaking 'environmental justice map'. North Lanarkshire will receive a funding boost for greenspaces from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The first of its kind, this new programme announced by Natural England, National Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund with expert advice provided by NatureScot and other UK nature agencies, aims to help at least 100 places across the UK to become greener, healthier, happier places for people to live and work. Approximately £640,000 will be spent by the creation of a ground-breaking 'environmental justice map' – including a digital platform highlighting areas of greatest need and visual representations of what North Lanarkshire could become, ensuring voices are heard in shaping a greener future. This initiative addresses profound need in an area where nearly 69 per cent of residents live within 500 meters of a derelict site - significantly higher than the Scottish average of 26.5 per cent. At its heart is a commitment to co-creation with communities through consultation. Residents will help prioritise investment and develop designs for 18 projects to enhance existing natural networks and create habitat connections, with the support of two full-time specialists and a cohort of greenspace ambassadors. A sustainable funding model will explore innovative green finance options like habitat banking and green auditing. Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: 'I am delighted to announce an investment of £15 million which will help 40 towns and cities across the UK better plan their urban nature recovery, connecting people and communities to their natural environment in the places they live. 'We have invested over £1bn in regenerating over 900 urban parks and green spaces over the last 30 years, helping nature thrive in towns everywhere – and this exciting initiative, working with partners right across the UK, will continue to build on this investment and give millions of people better access to nature close to home.' NatureScot Chief Executive, Nick Halfhide added: 'Our urban greenspaces are where most people connect with nature on a day-to-day basis, and we know that access to nature offers benefits for everyone's health and well-being. 'This money will help Fife and North Lanarkshire to attract private investment into their greenspaces. Both local authorities have ambitious plans to work with the communities most in need of the transformational benefits urban greenspaces offer. 'We can't wait to help them make the most of these opportunities.' *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
