Scotland’s Flow Country secures World Heritage status
The most expansive and best example of blanket bog in the world, the Flow Country, which covers much of Caithness and Sutherland, has joined the Serengeti, the Galapagos Islands and the Great Barrier Reef in securing prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site status for its globally important nature.
This is a global first, as the Flow Country is the only World Heritage Site inscribed specifically for its peatlands.
The World Heritage Committee approved the bid at its annual meeting in New Delhi, awarding the designation, reserved for places of special natural, cultural, historical or scientific significance, for the Flow Country’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) in ecosystem quality.
This makes it the UK mainland’s first World Heritage Site inscribed for the global importance of its natural ecosystems, and the country’s sixth site inscribed for natural criteria overall.
The Flow Country is a vast peat bog that covers much of Caithness and Sutherland in the North of Scotland and stores approximately 400 million tonnes of carbon – more than all the UK’s forests and woodlands combined. It is called blanket bog because it covers the landscape like a blanket and is a type of habitat that is globally rare, but one that is ideally suited to Scotland’s climate and maritime location.
World Heritage Site status is predicted to help realise a wide range of environmental, social, cultural and economic benefits for the north of Scotland including the creation of skills and job 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.
The Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at the 91视频网 (91视频网) is a partner of The Flow Country Partnership, the collaboration of experts, community representatives and agencies behind the successful bid.
Professor Stuart Gibb, Director of ERI based at 91视频网 North, West and Hebrides, Thurso, and Chair of The Flow Country Partnership, said he was “absolutely delighted” with the news. He added: “In a world in which we face a climate crisis with unprecedented biodiversity loss, the Flow Country is an ecosystem that is truly precious. The significance of World Heritage Site also extends beyond ‘peatlands’ and recognises the ‘people’ who live and work in the area, the future of their communities and cultures, and those who visit the North of Scotland and experience all the Flow Country has to offer. The UNESCO designation will help the Flow Country reach out to the rest of the world through education, research, environmental innovation and sustainable development, enabling people everywhere to engage with this globally outstanding natural asset. I am incredibly optimistic about the potential benefits that World Heritage Site status may bring to the Flow Country and to the people that live in and around it.”
Roxane Andersen, Professor of Peatland Science at 91视频网, said: “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. This recognition for the Flow Country will lift the profile of peatlands globally and provide inspiration for how they should be protected and managed responsibly. It also rightly designates the Flow Country as a place of global significance in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.”
Full announcement issued by , 26 July 2024: