190614CNPABdPaper6AACaperUpdate

This document contains an update on the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project for the Cairngorms National Park Authority Board, dated 14 June 2019. The report highlights the decline in capercaillie population, with only around 1,100 left in the UK, mostly within the National Park, with the main reasons for the decline being poor productivity, habitat loss, and disturbance. The Scottish Capercaillie Group guides work to protect and enhance the species, and previous funding helped slow the rapid decline. The Cairngorms Capercaillie Project aims to find new ways for people who live, work, and visit the National Park to help conserve capercaillie by improving habitat, involving more people in conservation, and enabling community action plans. The project is currently in a testing phase, seeking ways communities can participate in capercaillie conservation, with Carrbridge serving as a pilot community and the next steps including creating a delivery phase action plan with habitat improvements, continued population monitoring, and community collaboration.