Anger Grows as CNPA Reject Conservation Plea

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Written by Administrator

Category: Debates

Published: 27 April 2012

As a result of bad planning a lochan in Aviemore could be tesco-ed needlessly destroying the home of the UK’s scarcest damselfly the northern damselfly (see Scottish Invertebrate News PDF).

BSCG is disappointed that our call to CNPA staff for a flawed planning paper to be withdrawn has been rejected .

The response by the CNPA to our call contained in a letter to senior CNPA staff  fails to explain why CNPA planners  have appeared to disregard guidelines on translocation that their own specialists have advised.

As reported on the front page of the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald (25 April) we have commented that:

“The translocation has to be demonstrated to be successful before the donor pond is destroyed and made into the Tesco car park. It is self evident that the existing donor lochan on the site must be safeguarded until several generations of the rarest species such as the northern damselfly have been proved to have successfully bred at any new pond”.

In our view the CNPA  planners are unnecessarily pursuing a course of action which rides roughshod over  the 2004 Nature Conservation Scotland Act.  As the CNPAs adviser has made plain  A translocation programme should follow the guidelines for translocating species as laid down by the JNCC “A Policy for Conservation”

BSCG will be making public how board members who are also standing for council elections will vote to help conservation minded voters make their choice in the forthcoming elections.

BSCG welcomes Botanical Society initiative

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Written by Administrator

Category: Resources

Published: 23 April 2012

The first ever checklist of vascular plants of the Cairngorms National Park has been compiled based on an analysis of 281,000 botanical records collected and compiled by the BSBI. The Checklist : The Flora of the Cairngorms National Park - An Annotated Checklist by Andy Amphlett is intended to be of interest and use to local and visiting naturalists, landowners and managers, professional agencies and visitors. Hopefully it will also be a stimulus to further recording. The Checklist is made freely available as a download from http://www.bsbi.org.uk/site_floras.html

The Checklist is available in summary pdf format, and as an Excel file. The latter provides the greatest flexibility for assessing the flora of any individual site against the CNP as a whole. This provides a powerful analytic tool to assess conservation significance, and will hopefully inform development decisions.

Heath cudweed Gnaphalium sylvaticum one of the scarce
plants BSCG has found at at a threatened site in Carrbridge.

The Checklist lists 1699 unique taxa, plus 34 aggregate taxa. 67.8% of taxa are native to the CNP, 6.4% archaeophyte (ancient introductions to GB) and 25.8% neophyte (recently introduced aliens). 123 taxa are endemic to Great Britain, of which 19 are endemic to the CNP and a further 57 endemic to Scotland. 1428 taxa (82.4%) have been recorded over the last 25 years, 1987 – 2011, while 106 taxa (6.1%) have not been seen since before 1970.

The table below summarises those native and archaeophyte taxa:

• Of international or national conservation concern.
• Rare in the CNP.
• Not recorded for >25 years in the CNP.
• Whose hectad (10km grid square) frequency in the CNP indicates that the CNP population is of moderate, high or very high significance within Great Britain.

The next phase of this project will be to compile a Cairngorms National Park Rare Plant Register. This will list the most recent record at each known site, for all c.758 taxa which are of national conservation concern or that are rare in the CNP.

BSBI especially through its system of vice-county recorders provided the bulk of the data. In the acknowledgements to his Check list the author lists the support provided by BSBI and Scottish Natural Heritage in undertaking the project. He further thanks NESBReC, NTS, RSPB, FES, and individual recorders for additional records and Tim Rich, Bert Reid and Mark Hill for support. Andy Amphlett and those who have helped him produce this important checklist are to be congratulated.

Capercaillie Talk: Boat of Garten

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Written by Administrator

Category: Cairngorms National Park

Published: 16 April 2012

RSPB's caper project officer (Tim Poole) is giving a public talk on capercaillie on Monday 30th April at 7.30pm in Boat of Garten Community Hall.

Strathspey supports most of Scotland's population of this, one of most endangered and extraordinary birds.

The entry charge £4.50 (£4.00 for RSPB members) includes refreshments. Please note this talk is not organised by BSCG and is the first of a series of wildlife talks on Monday evenings in Boat of Garten Community Hall.

Illustrated Talk: Mussels - A Story of Culture, Crime and Conservation

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Written by Administrator

Category: Meetings

Published: 15 April 2012

Illustrated Talk by Dr Iain Sime SNH, Freshwater Specialist.

Carrbridge Village Hall Wednesday 25 April 7.30pm

All welcome ~ Free ~ Donations welcome

Further information Tel 01479 821491

Please download and print event poster.

Standing up for Keystone Ant Species

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Written by Administrator

Category: Resources

Published: 14 April 2012

Wood ants are one of the most important ecological players in Caledonian pinewood forest and are also found in forest edge and some rich lowland heathland and bog woodland habitats. These 'keystone species' can be viewed as good indicators of the health of some of our most iconic habitats.

The narrow headed ant has its most northern known UK population  at
Carrbridge where this photo was taken on a threatened site.

In Strathspey we have all the four kinds of wood ants that occur in Scotland, including the largest and most northern known surviving population of the narrow headed ant (Formica exsecta) in the UK. This ant is a UK Red Data Book 1 species. Two of our wood ants, the hairy or northern wood ant and the Scottish wood ant (F. lugubris and F. aquilonia), are on the Scottish Biodiversity List. This list contains species considered by Scottish ministers to be a priority for conservation (for purpose of the Nature Conservation Scotland Act). The blood red slave-maker ant (F. sanguinea) is believed to have declined in recent years in our district and tends to make a less elaborate nest than other wood ants and is easiest to find on sunny days in relatively open habitats.

The shining guest ant (Formicoxenus nitidulus) makes its home in the nests of various wood ants. It is considered to be at the northern limit of its range in the UK in our district, where it is rare. The gallows spider (Dipoena torva) feeds on wood ants. Both these species associated with wood ants are also on the Scottish Biodiversity List. The gallows spider has been found on two sites controlled by developer Tullochs. Both these sites are currently threatened by inappropriate development and are included in the legal challenge taken against the local plan of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. At least two species of wood ant are also found on the threatened An Camas Mor site.

With other organisations that recognize that wood ants need friends BSCG is supporting the wonderful wood ants initiative see:

www.woodants.org.uk
www.facebook.com/pages/Wonderful-Wood-Ants