Abernethy Forest is a remnant of the Caledonian Forest in Strathspey, in the Highland council area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It lies within the Cairngorms National Park, close to the villages of Nethy Bridge, Boat of Garten, and

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is po ...

. The forest is an RSPB reserve, close to

Loch Garten Osprey Centre Loch Garten ( gd, Loch a' Ghartain) is a large Highland freshwater loch near Boat of Garten, in the Strathspey area of the Cairngorms National Park, in Scotland. It is surrounded by the tall pine trees of the Abernethy Forest, a large area (adja ...

, which is also owned by the RSPB. It is popular with walkers, as there are various trails throughout the reserve. The forest forms part of the wider Abernethy National Nature Reserve. There is approximately 4,000 hectares of forest within the reserve, and just under half of this is native caledonian pine forest. Abernethy Forest is one of the largest remaining remnant of caledonian pine forest in Scotland. The forest is home to a variety of birds and mammals, including Scottish crossbill, red squirrel,

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

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 we ...

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...

crested tit The crested tit or European crested tit (''Lophophanes cristatus'') (formerly ''Parus cristatus''), is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and north ...

and

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. There is also a capercaillie lek.

Abernethy National Nature Reserve

The Abernethy National Nature Reserve (NNR) extends to 12,755 hectares, and encompasses the majority of Abernethy Forest along with much of the adjoining landscape. The Dell Woods section of Abernethy NNR is managed by NatureScot, whilst the rest is under the management of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Originally the reserve covered only the core forested section of the currently designated area, and was named Abernethy Forest NNR. The Dell Woods section was added 1988, forming a 375 hectare extension to the existing NNR. In 2007, the NNR was greatly extended, becoming the new Abernethy National Nature Reserve, which extends from Abernethy Forest itself up into high

Cairngorms The Cairngorms ( gd, Am Monadh Ruadh) are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 S ...

, taking in

Loch A'an Loch A'an is a remote freshwater loch set deep within the central Cairngorms plateau, in the Cairngorms National Park, located in the eastern Highlands of Scotland. Loch A'an, also called Loch Avon, is the source of the River Avon. Loch A'an ...

and the mountains of Bynack More, Beinn Mheadhoin and the southern side of

Cairn Gorm Cairn Gorm ( gd, An Càrn Gorm) is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is part of the Cairngorms range and wider Grampian Mountains. With a summit elevation of above sea level, Cairn Gorm is classed as a Munro and is the seventh-h ...

. The Abernethy NNR is classified as a Category II protected area by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

. Over 200

vascular plant 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 ...

species have been recorded at Abernethy NNR, including some nationally scarce species like

twinflower ''Linnaea'' is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, the genus included a single species, ''Linnaea borealis''. In 2013, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, the genus was expanded to include species f ...

and creeping lady's tresses. Heath cudweed is also present in the reserve, classed as an endangered species. The NNR also supports a diverse population of birds, with over 70 species recorded at the Reserve. These include the Scottish crossbill,

and capercaillie, which are all relatively rare species in Britain. Other birds present at the Reserve include

buzzards Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, a ...

s, great spotted woodpeckers and sparrowhawks. A variety of mammals have also been recorded at the reserve, including

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

and

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

; red squirrels; common pipistrelles; more elusive

otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weas ...

and

pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...

s; and possible sightings of

s. NatureScot has reported fourteen species of butterfly at the Reserve, including the

pearl-bordered fritillary The pearl-bordered fritillary (''Boloria euphrosyne'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found in Europe and through Russia across the Palearctic to the north of Kazakhstan. Description The adult butterfly is orange with black spots on ...

, a UK Biodiversity Action Plan species.

Conservation management

The RSPB's primary conservation aim is to expand the area covered by the forest. On 24 August 2011 the RSPB received consent from the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

to expand native woodland through natural regeneration and planting, since when they have begun the planting of 60,000 aspen, birch, juniper and willow trees within an area of approximately 590 hectares. They are also working to improve bog, moorland, scrub, rivers and mountain habitats, both within the area of the reserve and in partnership with neighbouring estates. Historic forestry management practices have favoured the clearance of dead wood from the forest, and the RSPB are now seeking to increase the amount of lying dead wood, and dead trees and roots. To this end, on 19 October 2006, the RSPB began using explosives to blast off the crowns of nine Caledonian pine trees, between 100 and 200 years old. Referring to this use of explosives, Desmond Dugan, RSPB Site Manager at the Forest Lodge, said:

"Explosives may seem extreme but the effect will be no less catastrophic than a wind snapped, lightning struck or avalanched tree"

James Reynolds, RSPB Head of Media and Communications, said:

"We've been simply felling trees and trying to create dead wood habitats in that way before, but we don't think it allowed the process to get going quickly enough"

Other conservation designations

The Abernethy National Nature Reserve overlaps with several other designated areas, including: * Abernethy Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)Abernethy Forest SSSI Designated area on Bing Maps
/ref> * Abernethy Forest

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

(SPA) * Cairngorm Lochs Ramsar Site * Cairngorms Site of Special Scientific Interest * Cairngorms

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 a ...

(SAC) * Cairngorms

* Cairngorms National Park * Eastern Cairngorms Site of Special Scientific Interest * Northern Corries, Cairngorms Site of Special Scientific Interest *

River Spey The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...

Special Area of Conservation The reserve also borders two other national nature reserves,

Mar Lodge Estate Mar Lodge Estate is a highland estate in western Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which has been owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) since 1995. Its principal building, Mar Lodge, is about west of the village of Braemar. The estat ...

and Glenmore Forest.

References

External links

RSPB Abernethy Forest & Loch Garten

The Story of Abernethy National Nature Reserve
- NatureScot {{Authority control Badenoch and Strathspey Forests and woodlands of Scotland Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in Scotland Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Badenoch and Strathspey Protected areas of Highland (council area) National nature reserves in Scotland

Abernethy National Nature Reserve

Conservation management

Other conservation designations

See also

References

External links