Celebrating 30 years of conservation at RSPB Forsinard Flows
By Milly Revill Hayward, peatland engagement and communications officer for RSPB Scotland at Forsinard Flows
Nestled in the centre of the Flow Country, RSPB Scotland Forsinard Flows nature reserve is marking a significant milestone in 2025 as we celebrate 30 years of peatland restoration and research, biodiversity conservation and education.
In 1995, the RSPB put down roots in the far north with the acquisition of Forsinard Estate in the heart of the Flow Country, establishing RSPB Forsinard Flows nature reserve and committing to the protection of nature at the site.
Since then, the reserve has expanded and now encompasses more than 21,000 hectares of blanket bog, farmland, riparian and freshwater habitats.
The Flow Country is the common name for the vast blanket bogs which lie across Caithness and Sutherland. Peat has been forming here for thousands of years and reaches, in places, up to 10 metres in depth.
The Flow Country is one of the best examples of blanket bog in the world, as recognised by its recent inscription as a Unesco World Heritage Site. The peatlands here are well worth paying attention to – they store over 400 million tonnes of carbon and are a stronghold for peatland wildlife.
After remaining largely untouched for millennia, the Flow Country underwent a massive change in land use in the 1980s. Due to tax breaks, significant areas of peatland habitats were destroyed or damaged through drainage and planting of commercial conifer plantations.
This resulted in degraded habitat as the bogs dried out, and instead of the bogs storing carbon from the atmosphere, the degrading peat emits carbon to the atmosphere. Destruction of peatland habitats also resulted in the disappearance of specialised flora and fauna; including breeding waders, peat forming sphagnum mosses, and wetland dependent invertebrates such as craneflies.
The RSPB has been involved with partnership campaigns to protect the Flow Country from even before the nature reserve at Forsinard was established; working in collaboration to champion the protection, awareness, and restoration of peatlands.
For the Flow Country, this includes promoting the prevention of further drainage and planting of non-native conifer plantations, and facilitating peatland restoration throughout the region.
RSPB Scotland Forsinard Flows has been undertaking innovative peatland restoration since the 1990s. In collaboration with research bodies, we use best practice techniques and state-of-the-art technologies.
Throughout the last 30 years, the RSPB has carried out peatland restoration on more than 4800ha at Forsinard Flows. Of this, 2600ha has been pioneering forest to bog restoration, where forestry plantations are felled, sometimes mulched or stump-augured, and re-wetted.
Each year, the team also actively works to remove regenerating conifers from an additional 564ha of ground, preventing self-seeding trees from re-establishing on the open bog.
The mosaic of habitats provides a home for the specialised wildlife of the Flow Country. To name just a few, you’ll find otter, adder, common hawker, salmon, sphagnum mosses and dwarf birch. The reserve is particularly important for bird species – at Forsinard Flows breeding species include dunlin, greenshank, golden plover, common scoter, black- and red-throated diver and wigeon.
Related articles:
• ‘Nature and climate’ recognition for Flow Country Partnership at RSPB Scotland awards
• ‘A tremendous feeling’: We’ve now got a World Heritage Site on our doorstep
• King Charles unveils plaque to commemorate The Flow Country’s UNESCO World Heritage bid success
The team spend time throughout the spring and summer breeding season monitoring bird populations across the reserve. This shows that the re-wetting of drained peatland has allowed bog mosses and other vegetation to recover, attracting invertebrates back to the area and in turn, important wading bird species.
Additionally, through forest to bog restoration efforts, breeding birds like hen harriers, short-eared owls and meadow pipits are returning to areas that were previously planted as non-native forestry.
Whilst the reserve is focused on protecting the nature of the Flow Country, the importance of connecting people to the peatlands is a priority.
Over the past 30 years, Forsinard Flows has become a hub for researchers, volunteers, visitors and educational activities. In 2016, the opening of the Flows Field Centre meant a new education room, laboratory and bunkhouse, enabling new opportunities for visits to the Flows.
The visitor trails, Flows Lookout Tower and visitor centre offer a wide range of people the opportunity to learn more about the global significance of this incredible landscape and experience it for themselves.
The team at RSPB Scotland Forsinard Flows remain committed to protecting and enhancing the blanket bog and associated habitats for future generations. Ongoing work from RSPB Scotland, the Flow Country Partnership and other organisations working in the Flows, benefits both nature and the climate, as well as the people of the Flow Country.
Keep an eye out for special events throughout 2025 in celebration of our 30th anniversary or get in touch with the Forsinard team at Forsinard@rspb.org.uk.