Flow Country World Heritage bid moves forward after visit by climate change experts
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The Flow Country has taken another step towards achieving Unesco World Heritage status following a visit and assessment by an international group of climate change experts.
The team from James Cook University in Australia took stock of the current risks to the globally important blanket peat bog that covers much of Caithness and Sutherland and stores approximately 400 million tonnes of carbon – more than all the UK’s forests and woodlands combined.
Their assessment, using the Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI), will boost the case for making the site the first expanse of peatland on Unesco's World Heritage list.
Scott Heron, associate professor in physics at James Cook University’s College of Science and Engineering, and lead developer of the index, said: “The CVI is a systematic, rapid assessment tool developed to assess impacts of climate change on World Heritage properties.
"For the first time, we’ve applied part of the process to look at climate risks for a nomination, workshopping the CVI in collaboration with the Flow Country Partnership to help identify likely climate impacts over the next 30 years.”
With funding support from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a meeting in Helmsdale enabled Prof Heron and his team to apply the CVI concept to gauge the impacts of climate change on eight key values and processes of significance within the Flow Country.
Dr Steven Andrews, the Flow Country Partnership’s World Heritage project coordinator, said: “This was a hugely significant visit for the future of the Flow Country. With the help of Prof Heron and his colleagues we are getting a head start in assessing future climate impact on this vitally important landscape, through a process that has been restricted in the past to use in already-inscribed natural World Heritage properties around the world.
“Outputs from the initial workshop confirmed that, while the Flow Country overall was in good condition, some changes have occurred and there is reason to be concerned about the effects of recent climatic trends. We now have a better idea of how, over time, changes in temperature and rainfall can damage areas of the Flow Country, particularly if they increase the risk of wildfires.
“On a more positive note, it was highlighted that the Flow Country peatland is a highly resilient ecosystem if cared for appropriately. Our hope is that by securing Unesco World Heritage Site status for it we can do more to protect this vital area – and the culture and livelihoods it sustains – for future generations.”
If successful, the Flow Country will become Scotland’s only mainland World Heritage property listed for purely natural criteria, and only the fourth (for natural criteria) in the UK.
The bid, which comprises an extensive nomination dossier and management plan, will be submitted to Unesco by the UK government at the end of 2022. Following a site inspection, the outcome will be decided in mid-2024.
Unesco – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
