Chris Monk
Well-known member
Safe havens planned for capercaillie
JEREMY WATSON
[email protected]
ONE of Scotland’s most iconic birds - the capercaillie - will get extra government protection from tomorrow in an attempt to save it from extinction.
The Scottish Executive will announce an extension of its network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for the threatened species. Numbers have plunged from 20,000 to 2,000 over the past 35 years through hunting and habitat destruction.
New capercaillie SPAs are to be declared in Novar in East Ross-shire and at Inverey on Deeside, which both have remnants of ancient Caledonian pine forest, the bird’s natural environment. SPA status allows landowners to apply for grants to improve natural habitats.
The European Union warned the government earlier this year that it wasn’t doing enough to ensure the species survived.
The bird’s importance was underlined when the Forestry Commission scrapped plans for a mountain biking centre in the Cairngorms because of potential risk to capercaillie habitats - even though only one bird had recently been seen in the area.
JEREMY WATSON
[email protected]
ONE of Scotland’s most iconic birds - the capercaillie - will get extra government protection from tomorrow in an attempt to save it from extinction.
The Scottish Executive will announce an extension of its network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for the threatened species. Numbers have plunged from 20,000 to 2,000 over the past 35 years through hunting and habitat destruction.
New capercaillie SPAs are to be declared in Novar in East Ross-shire and at Inverey on Deeside, which both have remnants of ancient Caledonian pine forest, the bird’s natural environment. SPA status allows landowners to apply for grants to improve natural habitats.
The European Union warned the government earlier this year that it wasn’t doing enough to ensure the species survived.
The bird’s importance was underlined when the Forestry Commission scrapped plans for a mountain biking centre in the Cairngorms because of potential risk to capercaillie habitats - even though only one bird had recently been seen in the area.
