Cairngorms Moorlands Project

Project Introduction

About moorlands

Moorland includes many types of habitat, such as bogs, juniper scrub, streams and grassland as well as heather moorland or 'heath'.

Heather moorland is the mainstay for red grouse, as sub species of willow grouse, only found in the British Isles. It is also the home to many other exceptional birds such as the hen harrier, peregrine falcon and the golden eagle, all of which prey on the red grouse and other moorland bird species. The active management of moorlands is beneficial for many other species such as golden plover, curlew and greenshank.

The overall diversity of species encountered in moorland is remarkable. In the Cairngorms National Park, 41% of the landscape is dominated by heather moorland.

(Photograph: Glen Logie, Angus.  Courtesy of Gail Renwick)

Background to the Cairngorms Moorlands Project

The Cairngorms Moorlands Project was a partnership project set up to demonstrate how sound managements could enhance the biodiversity and landscape value of moorland. The funding partners were: the Heritage Lottery Fund; the Cairngorms National Park Authority;  Scottish Natural Heritage;  Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise, Tayside.

The project was steered by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, the Game Conservancy Trust, the Heather Trust, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association and Scottish Natural Heritage.

The project also aimed to help communicate the value of Scotland's moorlands to the wider public and approximately 1500 people were involved in talks, guided walks and other interpretative activities up to September 2006.

Project Update

The project commenced in 2003 but failure to secure long term funding meant that the project finished in 2006.

The Cairngorms Moorland Project website continues to provide a wealth of valuable and fascinating background information on moorlands and their management.

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