Threatened capercaillie to get 1,000-acre safe haven

Published on Tuesday 20 September 2005 01:03

A 1,000-ACRE community-owned woodland is likely to be designated a haven for the threatened capercaillie.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will this week begin a consultation exercise on proposals to establish Anagach Woods near Grantown-on-Spey as a Special Protection Area (SPA) because of its importance as a habitat for Scotland's largest game bird.

Capercaillie numbers in Scotland have reduced significantly over the past 30 years from about 20,000 to around 1,900. The main problems are said to be poor breeding success, deer- fence strikes and poor-quality habitat.

Despite being so close to a town and with a large number of visitors, Anagach Woods have important numbers of breeding capercaillie. As an SPA, Anagach would form part of Natura 2000, a network of conservation sites across the EU designed to protect rare and vulnerable habitats and species.

The wood, which was planted in 1776 using seeds from the ancient Caledonian pine forest, was bought from Seafield Estates for just under 1 million by a community trust in 2002. Residents had feared the land would be sold privately, restricting community access to the wood.

SNH's consultation exercise will last 12 weeks, after which it will report to the Executive.