Scotland
Key theme
To create access and interpretation with involvement from the local community, for an internationally important peatland to improve peoples appreciation and understanding of bog habitats.
Pilot project lead body
Other group partners
Lomond and Rural Stirling Leader+
Overview of Scottish peatlands
Peatlands are a very prominent feature of Scotland, especially in the north and west of the country, where there are huge blanket bogs. These include the world’s largest single expanse of a particular kind of blanket bog in Caithness and Sutherland.
Overall, more than half the land surface of Scotland is covered by peatland and heather-dominated moorland. Scottish peatlands are some of the most extensive and ancient areas of natural habitat in the United Kingdom.
Surviving lowland raised bogs in the UK are principally in the lowlands of central and north-east Scotland and in Wales and Northern Ireland. Of these, the Leader+ peatlands project site at Flanders Moss in Stirlingshire is both the largest remaining area of lowland raised bog in the UK and probably the biggest remaining raised bog in Western Europe.
Historically, there has been massive reduction in Scottish raised bogs, as elsewhere in the UK. Reasons for loss include agricultural intensification, afforestation and commercial peat extraction, with further damage due to drainage. Public perception of Scottish peatlands is more linked to awareness of traditional cutting of peat from blanket bogs for use as fuel than to the natural or cultural heritage values of lowland raised bogs. In recent centuries, such places have often been viewed as ‘wastelands’ best modified to suit other land uses, such as farming.
Scottish peatland site involved in the LEADER+ project
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