Why huge soggy Scottish bog could be next world wonder

On a busy agenda, item 8B - Nominations to the World Heritage List – is the one which has the potential to have most impact for Scots. There, among the Natural Sites listed for inscription to the prestigious list between Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China and the remarkable Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil, with its 40 plus miles of sand dunes that fill with rainwater to create freshwater lagoons, sits Scotland’s vast peaty bog.  

Alongside the Flow Country’s nomination is the clearest sign  so far that Scotland is set to have a new World Heritage Site within weeks: the letter I, indicating a recommendation for inscription.

If rubber stamped, the Flow Country, 400,000 hectares of mist and midges, ancient boggy marshland and rare mosses, of which around 45% is in dire need of regeneration and other parts beautifully unspoiled, and home to a vast range of plants and wildlife, will have a new claim to fame.

World Heritage site status is reserved for places of particular cultural, historical or scientific significance, judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity".

Inscription will put an area that straddles Caithness and Sutherland and one of the largest areas of blanket bog anywhere in the world, on the map alongside the likes of the Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon and the Pyramids.

Achieving the status is no mean feat: just one of several sets of criteria that Natural Sites must display in order to be considered, requires them to “contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance".

Confirmation of the UNESCO bid’s success will bring to a conclusion years of work by a partnership that includes the RSPB, NatureScot and the Highland Council to have the site recognised.

The move is more than a message on a signpost welcoming NC500 tourists to Scotland’s peaty World Heritage Site – although encouraging visitors to slow down to appreciate the natural wonders of miles of blanket bog growing since the last glaciers departed more than 10,000 years ago and which store 400 million tonnes of carbon, is one hope.

Another is that UNESCO World Heritage status can be a springboard to fresh opportunities for local communities, lead to new rural jobs and boost for green industries, even helping to position Scotland as a leading force in addressing the twin problems of climate change and nature loss through major regeneration projects to repair decades of damage.

“There is growing excitement across the region about the potential to create a wide spectrum of advantages for people living and working in Caithness and Sutherland by maximising the Flow Country’s environmental, economic and wellbeing benefits,” said Dr Steven Andrews, Flow Country World Heritage Project coordinator at a recent meeting with the Flow Country Partnership.

Echoing his enthusiasm at the same event, Environment Minister Gillian Martin said: “The Flow Country World Heritage project has the potential to help not only Caithness and Sutherland, but Scotland as a whole.
“Peatland restoration and protection is a critical part of Scotland’s response to the twin crises of climate change and nature loss and  the Flow Country can provide a huge boost to our efforts.”
At the University of the Highlands and Islands, Roxane Andersen, Professor of Peatland Science, says the inscription will be particularly special.  

Roxane Andersen, Professor of Peatland Science at the University of the Highlands and Islands (Image: Contributed)

“If successful, the Flow Country will become Scotland’s first World Heritage site inscribed for purely natural criteria.

“As the most expansive and best example of blanket bog in the world, the Flow Country is very special as a functioning ecosystem, an extraordinary natural laboratory, and a stronghold for biodiversity.

 “Peatlands play a critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate, because they slowly but steadily take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it as dead vegetation, or peat, for millennia.

“In doing so, they cool the climate. The Flow Country peatland area alone is estimated to store around 400 million tonnes of carbon, more than double the amount in all of Britain’s woodlands combined. It is also home to a unique assemblage of specialised plants and wildlife and is an internationally important site for upland breeding birds.

“Recognition of the Flow Country as a World Heritage Site would lift the profile of peatlands globally and provide inspiration for how they should be protected and better managed.

“It would also rightly designate the Flow Country as a place of global significance in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.”

One recent study commissioned by the Flow Country Partnership and North Highland Initiative suggested Flow Country regeneration could be worth £400 million to the far north economy and create more than 200 jobs by 2042.

Widening access to enable farmers and crofters to sell carbon credits could unlock a further £1.4billion to £4.2 bn over the course of a century.

As well as economic impacts, a healthy, regenerated peatland supports biodiversity, leads to improved water quality, flood and drought prevention and mitigates against wildfires.

Rebecca Tanner, Project Co-ordinator for the Flow Country World Heritage site, says: “If the World Heritage site status bid is successful it would realise a wide range of environmental, cultural and economic benefits for the north of Scotland.

Rebecca Tanner, Project Co-ordinator for the Flow Country World Heritage site (Image: Contributed)

“It would harness Scotland’s unique natural capital for northern communities and businesses including unlocking opportunities in landscape restoration and conservation, growth in sustainable tourism and hospitality and the potential of added value to new green finance models to attract global investment to the area.

“It would also support more people to visit the outdoors and explore and enjoy the region on foot or by bike, improving wellbeing and reconnecting local people to the Flow Country on their doorstep.

“Although we don’t perceive a disruptive influx of visitors, a successful bid will promote eco and slow tourism encouraging some existing tourists to head inland, spend time and money locally, and experience the special landscape.”

The Flow Country supports rare mosses and wildlife

She adds: “World Heritage site status has been shown in other areas to help attract investment in business and new infrastructure, particularly which supports the tourism industry.

“By securing inscription, we would also shine a spotlight on the future of children and young people and the sustainability of their relationship with the environment over future generations.

“The Flow Country could become a new symbol of the practical steps that can be taken to protect the natural world and the place of young people in it.”

For landowners and farmers, however, World Heritage status may spark concerns for what might come to their door.

Genevieve Duhigg, chair of North Highland Initiative, however, points to three key peatland restoration projects already underway which she says prove there’s a way to work in partnership with long term benefits, funding support and community benefits.

“Wherever World Heritage Sites have been granted it not only gives significant protection for future generations but offers economic opportunities for the area,” she adds.

“World Heritage Sites bring a different kind of tourist, they are interested in the landscape, environment and nature. They tend to stay longer, some take a working holiday.

“It is a real positive for people and for peat – it’s not one or the other.”

Artist Magi Sinclair grew up surrounded by the peatlands – today they influence her award-winning art; the wild Caithness landscape of soft boggy marsh, mosses and still pools are the heart of her work.

She hopes the new status will encourage others to see the value of a landscape that at first glance might seem barren and dull.

“I think it would be a great achievement and wonderful for the area,” she says. “It would make people realise the importance of this huge area of peatbog both locally and further afield. 

“From the carbon store that lies beneath the peat to the delicate plants, wildlife and animals that roam freely over it.

Artist Magi Sinclair's Flow Country inspired work, Flow Mist Rising (Image: Magi Sinclair)

“It has long been viewed as potential for various business schemes and looked at as valueless land only fit for forestation, wind farms and pylons.”

She recently won the Environmental Prize at the newly Formed Scottish Landscape Awards with a piece called Flow Mist Rising – a poignant link to what is now on the horizon.

“Hopefully the mist is now rising on this very special land,” she says. “I hope the benefits will be positive for all.”