A group behind a bid to secure world heritage site status for the Flow Country hopes to press its case at the COP26 climate conference this year.
The Flow Country Partnership is seeking to have the renowned area of peatland stretching across Caithness and Sutherland recognised alongside the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef as a natural world heritage site.
The area passed the technical evaluation stage last year and is now the UK’s official candidate site for world heritage site inscription.
The next step is to put together a full nomination to UNESCO (the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation) which will make the final decision.
It is felt November’s UN climate change conference in Glasgow offers an important opportunity to promote the bid for the Flow Country to become the world’s first peatland world heritage site.
The partnership has applied for a presentation slot at the conference to showcase the world heritage site bid and the Landscapes as Carbon Sinks project, which aims to make the whole of Scotland a net carbon sink.
The nomination is being spearheaded by Steven Andrews, the partnership’s newly-appointed project coordinator. He said: “Having grown up in Sutherland, it’s a great pleasure to be able work on a project that will help bring global recognition to the very special Flow Country landscape.”
The Flow Country is widely considered the best example blanket bog in the world. Its peatlands are seen as internationally important as a wildlife habitat an also because of the amount of carbon stored in the peat bogs – some 400 million tonnes, more than double the amount in all of Britain’s woodlands.
The partnership says world heritage site status could bring significant social, cultural and economic benefits to Caithness and Sutherland, including income from international eco and heritage tourists.
It could also act as a catalyst for further research into the peatland habitat and the cultural history of The Flow Country.
As the second stage of the project moves ahead, the partnership will consult further with communities to get feedback on the project and the proposed site boundary.