The first stages of a peatland and river restoration project covering 2,000 hectares near Balquhidder are underway.
Forth Rivers Trust has received development phase funding from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (managed by NatureScot) and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority to coordinate and develop the scheme at Ballimore, Glen Buckie, in the upper Teith catchment.
Peatland and river restoration, woodland creation and grazing management are all components of the project, which has just secured £67,163.50 from NatureScot.
It is part of Forth Rivers Trust’s work to improve the upper Teith catchment and to deliver its Teith Catchment Management Plan, working closely with land and waterways managers to improve habitats for biodiversity including Atlantic salmon, trout (resident brown and sea), freshwater pearl mussels and lampreys.
Director of the Forth Rivers Trust Alison Baker said: “This project will provide a baseline against what is achievable to protect our iconic species for the future, provide local social and economic resilience, and start to reverse the impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change pressures.”
Working with landowners, Forth Rivers Trust said it will produce a set of plans for what will become a multi-million pound landscape scale restoration.
Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority future nature development manager Dominic Hall commented: “This is an incredibly exciting project that will deliver long-term action on the ground and contribute to the resilient, nature-rich National Park we want for future generations.
“Our Future Nature programme works with communities, partners, businesses and land managers across the Park to restore biodiversity and the natural environment.
“This is exactly the kind of bold, landscape scale action we need if we are to reverse the decline in nature by 2030 and ensure the widespread restoration of nature in the Park by 2040.
“Restoring nature and moving to net zero means we must maximise the potential of nature to deliver multiple benefits.
“We look forward to working with the Forth Rivers Trust, and with land managers, to deliver sustainable land use for people, for nature and for climate.”
