Scottish Mink Initiative

Building on the success of the Cairngorms Water Vole Conservation Project, the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) is supporting the Scottish Mink Initiative in order to protect nationally important populations of water voles, salmonids, ground nesting birds and other native riparian wildlife from an invasive non-native predator - the American mink.

The original Water Vole Conservation Project was set up in March 2006 and was a partnership between the CNPA, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the University of Aberdeen, and the Scottish Mink Initiative is continuing the previous work and expanding the work area to cover more than 20,000 km2 of north east Scotland.

The much larger scale initiative is a new partnership between CNPA, Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland (RAFTS), Scottish Wildlife Trust, SNH, the University of Aberdeen, and 16 other organisations.

American mink are native to North America and were introduced to the UK in the 1920's via fur farms. Mink that had escaped were recorded soon after but it wasn't until the 1950's that they were found to be breeding. As a predator, American mink adapt their feeding behaviour accoring to the prey available so once they have exhausted one food source, they simply switch to another. This results in a wide range of species being at risk. More information about mink ecology, behaviour and impact can be found on the Initiative website.

Aims

The Initiative is aiming to eradicate breeding mink by working with local communities to establish a newtwork of mink rafts along rivers, burns and lochs. Initiative staff will also be working with local groups and volunteers to develop a long-term strategy to ensure that the work continues after the Initiative ends.

Opportunities

There are a number of ways you can help protect your native wildlife by reporting American mink sightings or helping monitor a mink raft. Please let us know if you have seen water voles recently as they are often the firs to disappear when there is mink in the area.

Partners

There are lots of organisations involved with the Initiative including: the Cairngorms National Park Authority; Rivers and Fisheries Trust of Scotland; Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, the University of Aberdeen and 16 other organisations.

Funders

The Initiative is funded by the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Highland, Moray, Rural Aberdeenshire and Rural Tayside LEADER 2003 - 2007 Programmes, SNH through the Species Action Framework and Tubney Charitable Trust.

Contact

For more information contact Cat Robinson on 07825 185 178 or email cat@rafts.org.uk

Website by Heehaw Digital