Flow Country world heritage bid to be subject of talk at Highland conference on climate change
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The bid to get world heritage site status for the Flow Country will be the subject of a talk at a special conference later this month.
The site which covers parts of Caithness and Sutherland will also be mentioned in two other talks at the Highland Climate Change Conference which is taking place over October 21 and 22 – just over a week before the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 26 in Glasgow. COP 26 will bring together heads of state from around the world to join forces and face the climate and ecological emergency.
The Highland event will showcase some of the work being done in the far north to reduce the impact on global warming, boost biodiversity and support resilient Highland communities.
The conference will take place online and feature talks from experts in renewable energy, peatland management, electric vehicle infrastructure, food systems, forestry, green finance and the wellbeing economy. It will also include community voices and a keynote talk from Ariane Burgess, the Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands. In addition, workshops will be held over the two days of the event.
The chairwoman of Highland Council’s climate change working group, Trish Robertson, said: "The conference is a fantastic opportunity to bring people together from across and beyond Highland to discuss the climate and ecological emergency."
She added: "Within the context of COP26 [Conference of the Parties] being held in Glasgow, this is set to be the most important and impactful climate change conference we have ever held.
"Unlike last year's one day event, this year’s conference and associated workshops will all take place online and over two days. It will be completely free to attend. It will feature speakers from government, organisations, climate groups and community groups. Here, we have an opportunity to get together again to learn more about what we can do to address the climate emergency."
Joanne Allday, strategic business development manager at the Port of Cromarty Firth and a conference speaker, added: "We’re delighted to support this year’s Highland Climate Change Conference, particularly in light of the exciting renewable energy and decarbonisation projects which Port of Cromarty Firth are involved in.
"There is a multi-billion pipeline of sustainable opportunities for the Highland region linked to offshore wind, floating offshore wind and green hydrogen, and the Cromarty Firth is uniquely placed to support these high growth sectors.
"We are working closely with Highland Council to drive forward the region’s decarbonisation ambitions and meet our net zero targets."
To sign up for this year’s conference, and access the links for each day, search for The Highland Climate Change Conference’ in Eventbrite.
Conference updates can be found on a dedicated Highland Council web page or on Twitter @Carbon_CLEVER.
The Flow Country covers about 200,000 hectares and is the largest expanse of wild habitat in Europe.
Blanket bog only forms in cool places with plenty of rain. The plants that grow there don’t rot away but build up to form deep layers of peat. The Flow Country’s bogs have been growing for over 10,000 years, ever since the glaciers melted away at the end of the last Ice Age. The peat is now up to 10 metres deep.
