Saving species on the edge

An innovative and ambitious conservation programme is touring the Inner Hebrides and Argyll.

 

Species on the Edge is a new partnership programme of NatureScot and seven conservation charities, dedicated to improving the fortunes of 37 threatened and vulnerable species found along Scotland's coast and islands.

 

Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the partnership consists of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bat Conservation Trust, Buglife, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, NatureScot, Plantlife and RSPB Scotland.

 

The project will be at Bunessan Show on Isle of Mull on August 4; Skye Agricultural Show on August 5; Salen show on  Mull on August 10 and at Islay, Jura and Colonsay  on August 10.

 

For four years, Species on the Edge will be active in seven areas across Scotland with the Inner Hebrides being the largest of the project areas, stretching from Skye in the north, out west to Tiree and south to the Mull of Kintyre.

 

Four project officers will be delivering activities to help conserve 19 vulnerable species in the area from the great yellow bumblebee, medicinal leech, lapwing, curlew, four species of bat and four species of burnet moth.

 

Much of the Inner Hebrides and Argyll is home to species that have disappeared from elsewhere in Scotland and it is thanks to generations of crofters, using low intensity agricultural practices that many of Scotland’s threatened species continue to survive here, says Species on the Edge people engagement co-ordinator Sarah Duly.

 

Sarah added: “We are offering a range of training and engagement opportunities for people to get involved in practical conservation, citizen science and creative events and projects. We’ll be listening to and working alongside our communities to enable more people to connect with their natural heritage.”

 

Buglife has three priority species in the Argyll and Inner Hebrides project area: the short-necked oil beetle; medicinal leech and the northern colletes mining bee. Once found only on Coll, increased awareness and surveying has resulted in short-necked oil beetle populations being discovered all over the Hebrides, with the beetle now also found on Barra, Islay, Tiree and Uist. Short-necked oil beetles are vulnerable to extinction due to their small, scattered populations.

 

Over the next four years, Species on the Edge will be talking to landowners about how they can manage their land to provide the right conditions for the short-necked oil beetle and other invertebrate species.

 

With only two known populations of medicinal leech in Scotland, Buglife is leading crucial work to support the resilience of existing populations, working with the Kildalton Estate on Islay to secure habitat management for the lochan where the leeches are found and with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland to establish a captive breeding programme with a view to introducing them to other lochs on Islay.

 

The RSPB is also leading work on Coll and Tiree to monitor populations of one of the rarest UK bumblebees, the great yellow bumblebee.

 

Conservation work, led by Butterfly Conservation, will focus on removing invasive species and working with landowners to achieve levels of grazing beneficial to the moths. Surveys so far this season have shown the presence of the burnet moths on Mull, Ulva, Gometra, Skye, Eigg and mainland Argyll.

 

Species on the Edge is also working with Islay veterinary practice which is trialling a new technology with local livestock owners, using image-based software to test livestock for worms and fluke accurately and quickly to reduce overall use of veterinary medicines.

 

Caption: Great yellow bumblebee.

 

Photograph: Pieter Haringsma.

 

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