Ambitious development plan for Camster area incorporates Flow Country restoration with recreation
Blanket bog at Camster will be restored and land developed for recreational and educational purposes, thanks to a new charity organisation.
The recently formed Camster Peatland Regeneration SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) has leased a 400ha moorland site in the Flow Country.
Camster Peatland Regeneration (CPR) is located mid-county at Camster in Caithness. The blanket bog which is being restored includes 50ha of hard ground – a grassy oasis in a sea of moss.
The leased land includes potential recreation/education areas for community use. CPR will consult with the community about walking on this land. The land can educate people about the history, art, heritage and culture of the people that used to live at Camster.
Public consultation events are planned for Watten Village Hall on Wednesday, August 28 from 1.30pm to 6.30pm and Latheron Hall on Thursday, September 5 from 1.30pm to 6.30pm.
Off the unclassified single-track road running between Lybster and Watten, south of the Grey Cairns of Camster, the land has seen many previous uses.
Factor, Peter Darmady said: “I’ve seen it as a sheep farm, grouse moor, monoculture forestry, home to families and wind turbines alike. The land has been deforested, mined, ploughed, drained, over-grazed, reforested and exploited over the millennia. Now is the time for the land to fight back.”
A change of ownership brings new thinking to the area; alongside peatland restoration, tree planting and path-making will open up the land for recreational use. This net zero, environmental and educational project removes 50 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year. Green features include the millefiori tapestry of sphagnum mosses and star mosses.
There are 130ha of the 400ha that have already been subjected to a £150k peatland restoration project, part of Peatland ACTION, fully funded by Scottish Government. This part of the Flow Country land is included in the recent successful bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Camster Peatland Regeneration SCIO has plans to restore a further 220ha with another 40ha having improved public access, providing socio-economic and job opportunities. The scheme includes a network of disabled access paths linking several archaeological sites including brochs, a cemetery, a grave-watcher’s hut and stells as well as viewpoints.
Open to the public, paths take in areas of birch, alder, willow and blueberry. Interpretative panels will describe what Caithness was like in neolithic times moving through the differing eras to the present day. The pathways for the planned walks will be mown by a quad-pulled rotary mower.
Creative thinking during the two planned workshops will be influenced by moods, weather and the seasons, helping participants formulate imagery to be included on the interpretive panels. The panels will be placed at the features listed above and will be developed (content and artistic form) in public workshops led by a creative artist.
