World heritage status bid for Flow Country in Caithness and Sutherland gathers pace with public consultation set to start over boundary
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The organisation behind a bid to gain world heritage status for the Flow Country in Caithness and Sutherland is poised to launch an extensive public consultation exercise.
The Flow Country Partnership is preparing to seek feedback on the proposed boundary for the site, mapping of which has now been completed, with the map made public today.
It is planned to hold talks and drop-in events over the next few months as well as engage with local schools and undertake a region-wide mail drop.
The draft boundary encloses some 160,000 hectares stretching across Caithness and Sutherland and incorporating some of the highest quality examples of blanket bog environment in the world.
Far North councillor Karl Rosie has said the award of world heritage status would put the two counties “on the map globally” with the potential to “bring significant benefits to the area".
Mapping of the site was led by scientists at the Environmental Research Institute in Thurso and NatureScot.
A Flow Country Partnership spokesman said: “The new draft boundary has taken into consideration all of the comments made during the first consultation, which took place in mid-2019 and highlighted nearly 80 per cent support for the project from local communities.
“Accompanying the boundary is a rationale that lays out what the boundary aims to encompass. In this case, taking in the blanket bog that is in the best condition and displays the attributes that make it outstanding on a global scale.”
The Flow Country Partnership said the next step was to consult local communities over the boundary.
“It is now time to start gathering the views of all interested parties to help ensure that the boundary, and the wider project, is further shaped by the communities which live and work in and around the site,” said the spokesman.
"Consultation is set to start over the next few months with talks being provided to various interest groups and engagement with local schools."
He continued: “As we move into spring, more detailed information will be delivered to everyone in the region through a mail drop which will include instructions on how to access an online consultation portal and the dates and locations for in-person drop-in events. This will hopefully be held from May to June.
“A series of public talks will then be held to close the consultation process and allow the information to be collated and fed into shaping the final submission."
The Flow Country Partnership expects to be ready to make a submission for world heritage status to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) by the end of the year.
The submission, comprising an extensive nomination dossier and management plan, would be made by the UK Government.
Following a site visit, the outcome of the bid would be decided in mid-2024.
If the bid is successful, the Flow Country will become Scotland’s first world heritage site based on purely natural criteria and only the fourth in the UK. It would also be the first peatland site on the World Heritage list.
And it would sit alongside global treasures on the UNESCO list such as Vatnajokull National Park in Iceland, and the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks in the USA.
The Flow Country Partnership comprises a wide range of stakeholders and funding for the project is being provided by Highland Council, NatureScot, RSPB and Wildland Limited.
