Flow Country
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Flow_Country.jpg/220px-Flow_Country.jpg)
The Flow Country is a large, rolling expanse of peatland and wetland area of Caithness and Sutherland in the North of Scotland. It is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, and covers about 4,000 km2 (1,500 sq mi). It is an area of deep peat, dotted with bog pools and a very important habitat for wildlife, as well as climate change mitigation. As peat is largely made up of the remains of plants, which are themselves made up of carbon, it locks up large stores of carbon for thousands of years. This carbon would otherwise be released to the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. The Flow Country has been awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO on account of its unparalleled blanket bog habitat.[1] It could be part of the Global Peatlands Initiative.
Wildlife
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Golden_Plover_01_%281407331389%29.jpg/220px-Golden_Plover_01_%281407331389%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Sutherland_Flow_Country.jpg/220px-Sutherland_Flow_Country.jpg)
Named after the Old Norse word 'floi' meaning 'wet' or 'marshy', the Flow Country is home to a rich variety of wildlife, and is used as a breeding ground for many different species of birds, including greenshank, dunlin, merlin and golden plover. Birds of prey found in the Flow Country include the buzzard and hen harrier.
One of the most prevalent plant species of the Flow Country is sphagnum moss, which can store large amounts of water, and eventually form peat – the building block of a blanket bog. Carnivorous plants such as roundleaved sundew, greater sundew, and butterwort feed on the multitude of insects that inhabit the Flow Country.
Large mammals such as red deer, and the less common roe deer, roam the Flow Country all year round and can be heard roaring during the autumn rutting season.
History
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The bogs have been subject to human activity since the end of the last ice age. In the last 200 years, the bogs have been affected by human activity, including sheep grazing and forestry.[2]
In the 1970s and 1980s, government tax breaks incentivised commercial forestry operations which drained areas of the bogs and planted non-native conifers, damaging the bogs and causing loss of some of the peatland.[2][3] In 1987 the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) launched a report in London that was highly critical of the foresters.[citation needed] In 1988 Nigel Lawson, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, scrapped the forestry tax reliefs in light of the harm caused to the United Kingdom's wilderness, halting further planting.[citation needed]
Ongoing conservation
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In an effort to restore the damage, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have bought a large area in the centre of the Flow Country and have created the Forsinard Flows national nature reserve.[4] More than 20 km2 has been bought back from Fountain Forestry and the young trees felled and allowed to rot in the plough furrow in the hope and expectation that, in 30 to 100 years, the land will revert to peat bog.
The RSPB was also a leading partner in the Flows to the Future Project,[5] an ambitious, far-reaching project which aimed to restore vast areas of the Flow Country and increase public and visitor awareness of the importance of the Flow Country. The project funded the award-winning[6] Flows Lookout Tower.
Around 1500 km2 of the Flow Country is protected as both a Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation under the name Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands.[7][8]
The Flow Country is one of only three UNESCO World Heritage landscape sites in the United Kingdom. The others are the Giants Causeway in County Antrim and the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.[9]
Rail access
The Far North Line connects into Forsinard station serving the area.
References
- ^ "The Flow Country". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. UNESCO. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Flow Country - UNESCO World Heritage Centre".
- ^ "Restoring the Flows - The Flow Country".
- ^ "Forsinard Flows National Nature Reserve". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ "Flows to the Future Project". The Flow Country.
- ^ "Awards Success for Flows Lookout". The Flow Country.
- ^ "Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands SPA". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ "Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands SAC". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ Rowlatt, Justin. "Scottish bog gets world heritage status". BBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2024.