Claish Moss is an upland

blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses o ...

on the south side of

Loch Shiel :''See Glen Shiel for the much smaller Loch Shiel in Lochalsh.'' Loch Shiel ( gd, Loch Seile) is a freshwater loch situated west of Fort William in the Highland council area of Scotland. At long it is the 4th longest loch in Scotland, and i ...

, in the

Sunart Sunart ( , Scottish Gaelic: ''Suaineart'') is a rural district and community in the south west of Lochaber in Highland, Scotland, on the shores of Loch Sunart, and part of the civil parish of Ardnamurchan. The main village is Strontian, at the head ...

district of the west highlands of Scotland The Moss is designated as a Ramsar site of international importance (designated in 1981), a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(designated together with Kentra Moss), and a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. The remote and difficult to access 568 ha reserve, at an elevation of 11 m - 55 m (average: 22 m), is home to a nationally important population of 9 different

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

species. The Moss is an example of a patterned raised mire system in good condition, which are rare in western Europe. Divided by several burns, the ground is very wet and the water quality is excellent. The reserve supports 14 different species of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

, as well as scarce

higher plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

are

culled In biology, culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific tr ...

annually to prevent

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...

, as they lack natural predators with the extinction of the

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

in Scotland. Visitors are not encouraged to visit the reserve as it is dangerous to walk over, with the many partially hidden bog pools often being of a great depth. It is in any case difficult to access, except by private boat. The only established footpath to the edge of the reserve is the forestry track at Sròn na Gaoithe, south-east of Ardshealach. There are no paths within the actual reserve. Due to the inaccessibility of the site, Claish Moss had its status as a national nature reserve removed in 2011.

References

Lochaber Bogs of Scotland Landforms of Highland (council area) Ramsar sites in Scotland Special Areas of Conservation in Scotland Sites of Special Scientific Interest in South Lochaber {{Highland-geo-stub

See also

References