Unesco status for Flow Country in Caithness and Sutherland shows importance of managing land responsibly
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has welcomed the Flow Country’s new status as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The charity said it puts the area on a par with the Great Barrier Reef, Yellowstone National Park and the Galápagos Islands as one of fewer than 250 natural World Heritage Sites.
RSPB Forsinard Flows is part of the designation area and includes a viewing tower that overlooks the peat bogs and dubh lochans of the far north.
Anne McCall, director of RSPB Scotland said: “On the surface the Flow Country is breathtakingly beautiful, and internationally important for upland breeding birds including red-throated diver, golden plover and greenshank, along with hen harriers and golden eagles soaring overhead. While under the plants and lochans the peat contains more carbon than all of the forests of the UK combined.
“It is a place that demonstrates how the way we manage our land can tackle the nature and climate emergency.
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“The Unesco inscription recognises how important this inspiring landscape is for nature, but also the important role generations have played in protecting this special place. A legacy that continues today in the Flow Country Partnership as local communities and landowners work together as custodians of the world’s largest blanket bog.”
Roxane Andersen, professor of peatland science at the University of the Highlands and Islands, said: “As the most expansive and best example of blanket bog in the world, the Flow Country is very special as a functioning ecosystem, an extraordinary natural laboratory, and a stronghold for biodiversity.
“Peatlands play a critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate, because they slowly but steadily take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it as dead vegetation, or peat, for millennia. In doing so, they cool the climate.
“This recognition for the Flow Country will lift the profile of peatlands globally and provide inspiration for how they should be protected and managed responsibly. It also rightly designates the Flow Country as a place of global significance in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.”
