Grasslands project gets £30,000 boost

A PROJECT to safeguard rare species in Perthshire has been granted £30,000 to help conserve and restore habitats.

The Scottish Agricultural College has been awarded the budget by a number of funding sources including the Tayside Biodiversity Action Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage, recycling and waste management company Sita UK and the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

It will be channelled over the next three years into the Highland Perthshire Calcareous Grassland Project, which aims to increase awareness of and restore areas of rare calcareous grasslands in the region.

The scheme has been formed in partnership with several local farmers.

SAC conservation adviser and project officer Christine Hall said: “We needed to try to get a few different funding people together to cover different aspects of the project.

“The farmers I’ve approached have all be really enthusiastic about it.

“There are a number of rare species in these habitats with one of the most rare, the Mason bee, only found in two sites in the UK. We’re really pleased to have it on at least one of our sites as there are so few of them about and we can try to do a bit more work to find out more about them.”

An SAC spokesman said grasslands were often overlooked in favour of higher-profile habitats, such as woodlands and heather moorland. The highland areas of Perthshire are important for wildflower grasslands, with many rare plants and species. Sites to benefit from the grant are near Killiecrankie, Blair Atholl and Glen Fincastle.

The money will be used to fund restoration work on the sites, and to hold two open days per year. It is hoped that through the project more farmers will become involved in restoring and managing their grasslands, and the public will become more aware of their importance.