Scottish island’s dinosaur site given legal protection status

Legal protection has been given to a site in Skye where dinosaur fossils and footprints from the Jurassic Age have been discovered.
Jurassic sites on Skye have been granted a Nature Conservation Order to protect them for future generations. PRESS ASSOCIATION PhotoJurassic sites on Skye have been granted a Nature Conservation Order to protect them for future generations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo
Jurassic sites on Skye have been granted a Nature Conservation Order to protect them for future generations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo

The site at An Corran in Staffin, previously described as the “dinosaur capital of Scotland”, has provided evidence of how the creatures and other early mammals lived millions of years ago.

Discoveries include the fossil evidence of dinosaur parenting, with a rock slab found with the footprints of baby dinosaurs next to the print of an adult.

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A Nature Conservation Order (NCO) has now been signed by the Scottish Government in order to protect the site.

In 2016, an attempt to take a plaster cast of a dinosaur footprint at An Corran risked causing significant damage.

Scottish natural environment minister Mairi Gougeon said: “Skye lays claim to the most significant dinosaur discoveries of Scotland’s Jurassic past and this Nature Conservation Order is a vital step in protecting and preserving this important part of our natural heritage for future generations.

“The order gives extra legal protection to these special sites whilst providing for important artefacts to be collected responsibly for science and public exhibition.

“I hope the order gives even greater awareness of the significance of these important sites, and the important and valuable role everyone has in helping protect them.”

The NCO will aim to prevent rare vertebrate fossils from being damaged through irresponsible collection and removal from Skye’s globally important fossil sites.

It will also attempt to encourage local people and the wider public to take an interest in and report any potentially important fossil finds.

Scottish Natural Heritage geologist Colin MacFadyen said: “This vital extra legal protection is important to ensure Skye’s unique dinosaur heritage is available for everyone to learn from and enjoy.

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“The NCO covers areas of coastline where 165 million year old Middle Jurassic sedimentary rocks are gradually being eroded by the sea.

“It is crucial that the footprints and actual skeletal remains of dinosaurs and other vertebrates that are being revealed by nature are protected.”

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