Taing dhan

A’ Mhaoin-Dual­chais

Made pos­sible with

Her­it­age Fund

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Per­form­ance Com­mit­tee Paper 1 Annex 1 29/10/2021

Cairngorms

NATION­AL PARK

Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

Cairngorms Caper­cail­lie Project

Pro­gress Report: 1 July — 30 Sep 2021

The inform­a­tion in this doc­u­ment is sub­mit­ted and dis­cussed as part of the

Cairngorms Caper­cail­lie Project’s quarterly report­ing to the Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund.

Pro­ject summary

The Cairngorms Caper­cail­lie Pro­ject is work­ing to secure the long-term sur­viv­al of caper­cail­lie in the UK.

Fun­ded by the Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund until 2023, the project’s actions for caper­cail­lie are being

delivered across the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.

The project’s key actions are:

■ to enable com­munit­ies to devel­op and deliv­er their own com­munity-led actions for capercaillie;

■ raise aware­ness of the plight of caper­cail­lie and how people can help;

■ research the genet­ic diversity of caper­cail­lie in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park to help inform action;

■ improve and cre­ate more hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie and under­take pred­at­or con­trol in key areas;

■ strengthen cur­rent caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing to enable more informed decisions

The pro­ject is led by the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity and delivered in part­ner­ship with the Badenoch &

Strath­spey Trail Asso­ci­ation, Bal­mor­al Estate, Brook Forestry, Cairngorms Busi­ness Part­ner­ship, Carrbridge

Caper­cail­lie Group, Devel­op­ing Moun­tain Bik­ing in Scot­land, Forestry and Land Scot­land, Groves Forestry,

Rothiemurchus Estate, RSPB, Scot­tish Forestry, NatureScot and Seafield and Strath­spey Estates.

Pro­ject start date 22 July 2020

Grant expiry date 30 July 2023

1

Pro­gress towards the project’s approved purposes

Green Deliv­ery is on track

Amber Minor issues are impact­ing delivery

Red Major issues are impact­ing delivery

The project’s three-step mod­el for enabling com­munity-led action for capercaillie

Stage 1: Why? This stage is about defin­ing the cause. Why does (or might) caper­cail­lie conservation

mat­ter to the com­munity? This is about identi­fy­ing the key interest groups and lead­ers in

the com­munity and listen­ing to them to identi­fy the issues and themes at play related to

caper­cail­lie conservation.

Stage 2: How?

Stage 3: What?

This stage is about identi­fy­ing how the com­munity feels about the cause by identi­fy­ing the

views held in the wider com­munity, how wide­spread those views are and where the

com­mon ground is.

This stage is about enabling the com­munity to take action for the cause using the data

and ana­lys­is from Stage 2 and help­ing the com­munity plan how to mon­it­or and

eval­u­ate the actions they deliv­er in response.

Approved pur­pose Sum­mary of pro­gress Status

Empower Car­rbridge com­munity – Stage 3

com­munit­ies to help The Car­rbridge Caper­cail­lie Group have delivered the fol­low­ing actions

ensure the sur­viv­al from the Car­rbridge Caper­cail­lie Con­ser­va­tion Strategy:

of caper­cail­lie Con­sul­ted all landown­ers and the Car­rbridge & Vicin­ity Community

through com­munity- Coun­cil on draft design con­cepts for improv­ing paths and out­door spaces

led con­ser­va­tion, by around Car­rbridge to enable thriv­ing caper­cail­lie areas around the village

imple­ment­ing the and paths and out­door spaces for all res­id­ents and vis­it­ors to enjoy.

Car­rbridge Developed plans to con­sult the com­munity on the draft design concepts.

Caper­cail­lie Two drop-in ses­sions will be held in Car­rbridge Vil­lage Hall and residents

Con­ser­va­tion will be able to share their views online. The con­sulta­tion will be open for 4

Strategy and weeks from Sat 16 Oct.

devel­op­ing, Pub­lished FAQs about the con­sulta­tion on the vil­lage notice­board and

agree­ing and Face­book page.

imple­ment­ing action Main­tained the Car­rbridge Caper­cail­lie News­let­ter to keep the community

plans with addi­tion­al informed.

com­munit­ies. The Com­munity Ranger has developed an autumn pro­gramme of guided

wild­life walks around the vil­lage for res­id­ents and visitors.

Issue: An updated Action Plan for the Car­rbridge Caper­cail­lie Conservation

Strategy is out­stand­ing. The Car­rbridge Caper­cail­lie Group are in the

pro­cess of identi­fy­ing a way for­ward sup­por­ted by the Pro­ject Manager.

2

Approved pur­pose Sum­mary of pro­gress Status

Moun­tain bik­ing com­munity – Stage 3

A com­munity action plan (pro­ject plan) has been developed based on the

goal and actions developed and agreed by mem­bers of the moun­tain biking

com­munity in Feb­ru­ary 2021 and the pro­gress made since. The plan will be

reviewed and updated every 3 months from Janu­ary 2022. The actions and

goal — to unlock 100 hec­tares of hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie with no net loss of

trails — is now known as the Trail Feath­ers project.

The Moun­tain Bike Map­ping Intern, employed as part of the Trail Feathers

pro­ject, has begun to research and digit­ally map moun­tain bike trails,

sig­nage and inform­a­tion about trails in Badenoch and Strathspey

along­side caper­cail­lie data to help the MTB com­munity devel­op a

stra­tegic plan for trail devel­op­ment and man­age­ment in the area. The

plan will be developed by mem­bers of the MTB com­munity from October

to Decem­ber through a series of work­shops and con­sulta­tions with

land­man­agers and oth­er key stakeholders.

Busi­ness com­munity – Stage 2

The online sur­vey for busi­nesses — to identi­fy how the busi­ness community

feels about pro­mot­ing the area’s nat­ur­al her­it­age and ways to enjoy it

respons­ibly — has been com­pleted by 131 busi­nesses, allow­ing a 95%

con­fid­ence level in the res­ults. The sur­vey is now closed. Fol­low-up phone

calls are in the pro­cess of being com­pleted with busi­nesses that opted to

share their views in more detail. The res­ults of the sur­vey and follow-up

phone calls will be ana­lysed in Octo­ber to identi­fy areas of con­sensus and a

draft com­munity action plan (Stage 3) will be developed in response.

Vis­it­or com­munity – Stage 2

The online sur­vey for vis­it­ors to Glen­more Forest Park, Aber­nethy and

Rothiemurchus — aimed at identi­fy­ing the motiv­a­tions of dif­fer­ent types of

vis­it­ors to those areas, includ­ing those who live loc­ally — has been completed

by 1,227 people. The sur­vey is now closed. The tar­get sample size was

1,200 to ensure views were gathered from a wide vari­ety of vis­it­ors. Further

research will be con­duc­ted in Octo­ber through a series of focus groups. The

res­ults of the sur­vey and focus groups will be ana­lysed in late Octo­ber and a

draft com­munity action plan (Stage 3) will be developed in response.

Deeside com­munit­ies – Stage 2

The first stage of research in Deeside is com­plete. The aim of the research

is to identi­fy the val­ues, atti­tudes and beliefs held about the Deeside area

and caper­cail­lie con­ser­va­tion to inform the action plan­ning pro­cess (Stage

3). Listen­ing ses­sions have been con­duc­ted with 30 key people con­nec­ted to

the area. The res­ults of the inter­views are in the pro­cess of being ana­lysed to

identi­fy areas of com­mon ground. Res­id­ents and vis­it­ors will be invited to

share their views about those areas via an online sur­vey to identi­fy degrees

of con­sensus in the wider com­munity. The sur­vey will go live in Octo­ber and

the res­ults will be used to inform the action plan­ning pro­cess from November.

3

Approved pur­pose Sum­mary of pro­gress Status

Raise aware­ness The pro­ject has been selec­ted as a final­ist in the Con­ser­va­tion Award

and increase cat­egory in the Help­ing It Hap­pen Awards 2021, organ­ised by Scot­tish Land

under­stand­ing of the & Estates. The win­ner will be announced on 27 October.

chal­lenges facing This quarter the pro­ject web­site received 3,196 unique pageviews and

caper­cail­lie through attrac­ted 829 new users. A pro­ject Face­book page was launched in August

a vari­ety of means and cur­rently has over 400 followers.

includ­ing social The fol­low­ing media have fea­tured the pro­ject this quarter:

media activ­it­ies and Scot­tish Field (July)

events, a new online Deeside Piper (July)

engage­ment BBC Radio Scot­land (Septem­ber)

plat­form, volunteer

work, a pub­lic app, To date volun­teers have donated 1,657 hours to the project.

new resources An autumn pro­gramme of volun­teer ses­sions has been launched. The

for schools and ses­sions — already over­sub­scribed — will involve volun­teers improving

genet­ics ana­lys­is. caper­cail­lie hab­it­at on Seafield, Rothiemurchus and Bal­mor­al Estate.

A winter pro­gramme is in the pro­cess of being developed.

An online ses­sion has been held for land­man­agers and oth­ers who work in

caper­cail­lie areas, e.g. CNPA Con­ser­va­tion Officers, to intro­duce them to the

caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing app. This marks the first stage of rolling out the app

to tar­get groups, before pro­mot­ing the app more widely.

Work with The fol­low­ing hab­it­at improve­ment work has been delivered this quarter,

landown­ers to improv­ing over 7,800 hec­tares of hab­it­at for capercaillie:

imple­ment plans to Bad­den­gorm Woods: 1,900 trees have been planted to expand hab­it­at and

improve and increase cov­er. Track­side edges have been screened with turf and shrubs

man­age around to help reduce disturbance.

9,000 hec­tares of Bal­mor­al Estate: 1,100m of fen­cing has been removed to avoid collisions.

hab­it­at across six Rothiemurchus Estate: Foxes and crows have been con­trolled to enhance

estates for the caper­cail­lie survival.

bene­fit of Seafield Estate: Foxes and crows have been con­trolled to enhance

caper­cail­lie; enable caper­cail­lie sur­viv­al and mark­ing has been replaced on a strategic

landown­ers to play fence to avoid collisions.

their part in Hab­it­at improve­ment work fun­ded by the project’s grant scheme is underway.

caper­cail­lie The work involves restruc­tur­ing wood­lands to expand caper­cail­lie habitat;

con­ser­va­tion via a mark­ing fen­cing over 1km from an act­ive caper­cail­lie lek to avoid collisions;

third-party grant and cut­ting heath­er to pro­mote blae­berry growth and enable move­ment of

scheme tar­get­ing caper­cail­lie and their broods with­in and between wood­land blocks.

land­hold­ings in Issue: Hab­it­at improve­ment plans for Rothiemurchus Estate and Tom an Uird

caper­cail­lie areas. Forest are cur­rently under review as some ele­ments are no longer viable. The

Pro­ject Man­ager and Caper­cail­lie Advis­ory Officer are work­ing with both

land­hold­ings, NatureScot and Scot­tish Forestry to resolve this.

4

Approved pur­pose Sum­mary of pro­gress Status

Mon­it­or, test and A brood sur­vey has been con­duc­ted in the Castle Grant area of Seafield

eval­u­ate ideas Estate to help meas­ure the impact of the pred­at­or con­trol work being

through­out deliv­ery, delivered in the area as part of the pro­ject. (A brood sur­vey commissioned

apply­ing learn­ing by the pro­ject was con­duc­ted in the same area in 2020)

from the pro­ject to A tender — advert­ised on Pub­lic Con­tracts Scot­land — has been awar­ded to

refine activ­it­ies RZSS to ana­lyse 60 caper­cail­lie drop­pings col­lec­ted this lek sea­son to

includ­ing hab­it­at identi­fy the most effect­ive stor­age meth­od for the drop­pings. The findings

improve­ment work, will be used to inform plans for a tri­al genet­ic lek sur­vey in 2022. The aim of

sur­vey tech­niques, the genet­ic lek sur­vey is to estab­lish wheth­er the use of genet­ic material

pro­mo­tion­al provides a feas­ible altern­at­ive to cur­rent sur­vey meth­ods used to estimate

activ­it­ies and the pop­u­la­tion size which are reli­ant on caper­cail­lie sightings.

com­munity action Issue: A Mon­it­or­ing and Eval­u­ation Frame­work is out­stand­ing. The Project

plan­ning mod­el. Man­ager and pro­ject ment­or (assigned by NLHF) are work­ing with the

con­tract­or to resolve this.

Devel­op an The Mon­it­or­ing and Eval­u­ation Frame­work will include tools to

innov­at­ive and mon­it­or and meas­ure the suc­cess of the model.

rep­lic­able mod­el for James Hut­ton Lim­ited have begun to inter­view the mem­bers of the

com­munity-led moun­tain bik­ing com­munity involved in the Trail Feath­ers pro­ject to

spe­cies con­ser­va­tion doc­u­ment — on film — the pro­cess and out­comes of the pro­ject over the next

that enables two years to provide inspir­a­tion, learn­ing and evid­ence in a way that can

com­munit­ies to stim­u­late fur­ther debate and learning.

suc­cess­fully coexist

with their natural

her­it­age, shar­ing the

project’s find­ings

intern­ally and

extern­ally with UK

organ­isa­tions, and

fur­ther afield, to

cre­ate a leg­acy of

learn­ing.

5

Mile­stones

Green Deliv­ery is on track

Amber Minor issues are impact­ing delivery

Red Major issues are impact­ing delivery

Recruit­ment

Recruit Pro­ject Officer, Com­mu­nic­a­tions Officer, Pro­ject Admin­is­trat­or, Com­munity Ranger and Caper­cail­lie Advis­ory Assistant

Rais­ing awareness

Devel­op a Comms Plan

Launch a new pro­ject website

Com­mis­sion the design of caper­cail­lie related resources for primary schools

Devel­op an online caper­cail­lie hub

Genet­ic research

Ana­lyse DNA from caper­cail­lie feath­ers col­lec­ted from across the Nation­al Park

Deliv­er an action plan­ning work­shop in response to find­ings from the DNA analysis

Tri­al a genet­ic lek survey

Hab­it­at improvement

Improve over 300 hec­tares of hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie in Aber­nethy Forest

Improve over 30 hec­tares of hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie in Bad­den­gorm Woods

Improve over 400 hec­tares of hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie on Bal­mor­al Estate

Improve over 300 hec­tares of hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie in Tom an Uird Forest

Improve over 4,500 hec­tares of hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie on Rothiemurchus Estate (includes pred­at­or control)

Improve over 3,000 hec­tares of hab­it­at for caper­cail­lie on Seafield and Strath­spey Estates (includes pred­at­or control)

Launch a grant scheme to enable fur­ther hab­it­at improve­ment for capercaillie

2020 2021 2022 2023

6

Caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing 2020 2021 2022 2023

Launch a pub­lic caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing app

Con­duct brood, lek and occu­pancy surveys

Pro­ject mon­it­or­ing and evaluation

Devel­op a Mon­it­or­ing and Eval­u­ation Framework

Com­munity-led action — Car­rbridge com­munity (research­ing com­munity views was com­pleted in the pre­vi­ous phase)

Plan actions

Deliv­er actions

Com­munity-led action – moun­tain bik­ing community

Research com­munity views

Plan actions

Deliv­er actions

Com­munity-led action – vis­it­or community

Research com­munity views

Plan actions

Deliv­er actions

Com­munity-led action – busi­ness community

Research com­munity views

Plan actions

Deliv­er actions

Com­munity-led action — Deeside communities

Research com­munity views

Plan actions

Deliv­er actions

7

Risks and Issues

Risk / Issue Like­li­hood Impact Mit­ig­a­tion Priority

1. The diverse range of Medi­um Medi­um All part­ners and areas of work are High

interests, organ­isa­tions rep­res­en­ted on the Oper­a­tion­al Increased

and groups involved in the Man­age­ment Team. from

pro­ject presents medium

chal­lenges to effect­ive The Oper­a­tion­al Man­age­ment Team last

part­ner­ship work­ing. oper­ates under a Part­ner­ship Agree­ment. quarter

Mem­bers of the CNPA Board and Senior

Man­age­ment Team are mem­bers of the

Pro­ject Board.

The Pro­ject Board oper­ate under a

Memor­andum of Agreement.

2. Com­munity-led ele­ments Medi­um Medi­um All learn­ing cap­tured from the High

are not con­duc­ted in an devel­op­ment phase (and ongo­ing learn­ing Increased

effect­ive, trans­par­ent and in the deliv­ery phase) is being applied. from

defens­ible way lim­it­ing medium

bene­fits and caus­ing The Oper­a­tion­al Man­age­ment Team last

dis­en­gage­ment and (respons­ible for help­ing to strengthen the quarter

mis­trust in com­munit­ies. project’s com­munity-led work) comprises

of rep­res­ent­at­ives from all the community

groups and organ­isa­tions involved.

A three-stage mod­el is in place to

ensure work with oth­er com­munit­ies is

only car­ried out if it’s con­sidered within

the scope of the pro­ject and the

com­munity is con­sidered viable to work

with with the pro­ject resource available.

3. Pro­ject inform­a­tion is Medi­um Medi­um Pro­ject Board have stra­tegic respons­ib­il­ity High

used to under­mine pub­lic for pro­ject com­mu­nic­a­tions. Increased

sup­port for the pro­ject. from

A Comms Plan is in place. medium

All pro­ject doc­u­ments are writ­ten for a last

pub­lic audi­ence and pub­lished on the quarter

pro­ject web­site (as far as appropriate).

A pro­ject Face­book page has been

cre­ated in part to provide a new

oppor­tun­ity to dis­pel myths and correct

mis­un­der­stand­ings.

4. Hab­it­at improve­ment work Medi­um Medi­um Part­ners apply­ing for FGS fund­ing are High

delayed or unvi­able due to exper­i­enced in the pro­cess and have a Increased

changes onsite, delays in good track record of secur­ing fund­ing. from

the pro­cess of apply­ing for medium

FGS fund­ing and or Addi­tion­al resource is provided by the last

con­flict­ing advice. pro­ject to help strengthen applic­a­tions. quarter

Scot­tish Forestry and NatureScot are

pro­ject part­ners and mem­bers of the

Oper­a­tion­al Man­age­ment Team.

8

Risk / Issue Like­li­hood Impact Mit­ig­a­tion Priority

5. Mon­it­or­ing and eval­u­ation Low High A Mon­it­or­ing and Eval­u­ation Frame­work High

inform­a­tion and pro­cesses will be in place. No change

are not used effect­ively to

strengthen the pro­ject; A cul­ture of reflec­tion is embed­ded in the

inform leg­acy plan­ning; and pro­ject and pro­fes­sion­ally facil­it­ated where

help safe­guard the pro­ject possible.

from inher­ent risks.

6. Cov­id related restric­tions Low High Pro­act­ive approach taken to ensure

lim­it pro­ject activ­it­ies and activ­it­ies con­tin­ue with­in cur­rent guidelines No change

pace. and meet­ings take place in per­son where

pos­sible to improve pro­ductiv­ity and help

build rela­tion­ships.

7. The pro­ject increases Medi­um Medi­um Staff are work­ing closely with landowners,

caper­cail­lie dis­turb­ance or land­man­agers and com­munity mem­bers No change

is per­ceived to do so. to stay informed and respond to any issues

or per­cep­tions related to disturbance.

The Oper­a­tion­al Man­age­ment Team is in

place and able to identi­fy ways forward

when neces­sary to address issues or

per­cep­tions related to disturbance.

Comms assets are act­ively shared with

part­ners and third parties to reduce the

need for caper­cail­lie film­ing and

pho­to­graphy.

All sur­vey work is com­pleted under

licence and all hab­it­at improve­ment and

mon­it­or­ing work is car­ried out in

accord­ance with rel­ev­ant legislation.

The pro­ject oper­ates with­in the

Caper­cail­lie Data Shar­ing Policy.

8. Pro­ject activ­it­ies con­flict Low Medi­um Organ­isa­tions involved in poten­tially Medium

with oth­er ini­ti­at­ives, e.g. con­flict­ing activ­it­ies are pro­ject part­ners No change

wader con­ser­va­tion. rep­res­en­ted on the Operational

Man­age­ment Team and Pro­ject Board,

oper­at­ing respect­ively under a

Part­ner­ship Agree­ment and

Memor­andum of Agreement.

9. Con­tin­ued cold and wet Low Medi­um Con­tin­ue deliv­ery — the project’s work is Medium

weath­er dur­ing caper­cail­lie vital to enhance caper­cail­lie sur­viv­al, No change

nest­ing and breed­ing even in dif­fi­cult years; maintain

sea­son could over­whelm pro­act­ive comms intern­ally and

the bene­fits of the pro­ject. extern­ally; review the issue at Project

Board to identi­fy a way forward.

10. Genet­ic ana­lys­is reveals Low Medi­um Con­tin­ue deliv­ery and fast track the action

caper­cail­lie pop­u­la­tion in the plan­ning work sched­uled in response to

UK is at risk of becom­ing the genet­ic ana­lys­is; review the issue at

func­tion­ally extinct. Pro­ject Board to identi­fy a way forward.

9

Budget

Income Expec­ted Received to date

Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund 2,033,600 360,239

CNPA 60,280 50,280

Nature Scot 50,000 35,000

Scot­tish Forestry 28,000 8,000

Forestry Grant Scheme 133,473 0

RSPB 40,000 25,000

RSPB Aber­nethy 10,000 3,080

Seafield and Strath­spey Estates 217,347 68,852

Rothiemurchus Estate 41,669 0

Bal­mor­al Estate 11,500 2,500

Bad­den­gorm Woods 48,240 0

Devel­op­ing Moun­tain Bik­ing in Scot­land 75,000 1,440

Volun­teer time (in-kind) 125,750 32,850

RSPB in-kind (tech­nic­al sup­port for the app and online hub) 27,800 1,470

Total 2,902,659 588,711

Break­down of income / con­tri­bu­tions received

Part­ner / Fun­der Nature of con­tri­bu­tion Total to date

Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund Grant 360,239

CNPA Dona­tion 50,280

Nature Scot Dona­tion 35,000

Scot­tish Forestry Dona­tion 8,000

RSPB Dona­tion 25,000

RSPB Aber­nethy Con­tract­or pay­ment — field lay­er sur­vey pri­or to heath­er cut­ting 3,080

Seafield and Strath­spey Estates Con­tract­or pay­ment — fence remov­al & repair pri­or to replant­ing 36,092

Seafield and Strath­spey Estates Con­tract­or pay­ment — ground­work pri­or to felling and replant­ing 17,460

Seafield and Strath­spey Estates Con­tract­or pay­ment — fence remov­al, replace­ment and mark­ing 15,300

Bal­mor­al Estate Con­tract­or pay­ment — remov­al of 1,100m of deer fence 2,500

Devel­op­ing Moun­tain Bik­ing in Scot­land Con­tract­or pay­ment — trail main­ten­ance and inspec­tion train­ing 1,440

Total 554,391

10

Part­ner / Fun­der Nature of con­tri­bu­tion (Added value — not in the ori­gin­al budget) Total to date

CNPA 6 month intern­ship to sup­port MTB com­munity work 6,762

Forestry Grant Scheme Fence mark­ing on Seafield Estate 22,752

Forestry Grant Scheme Scar­i­fy­ing to pro­mote nat­ur­al regen­er­a­tion on Seafield Estate 5,672

Total 35,186

Volun­teer time (in-kind con­tri­bu­tion) Total to date

Car­rbridge Caper­cail­lie Group 12,469

Moun­tain bik­ing (Trail Feath­ers) group 9,024

Volun­teers deliv­er­ing hab­it­at improve­ment work 1,236

Caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing 1,746

Digit­al volun­teer (pro­ject web­site design and devel­op­ment) 8,375

Total 32,850

RSPB (in-kind con­tri­bu­tion) Total to date

Caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing app devel­op­ment 1,470

Total 1,470

Break­down of expendit­ure / investment

Com­munity Com­munity-led action Total

Revised nation­al caper­cail­lie pop­u­la­tion estim­ate to help inform action 2,400

Study of pred­at­or activ­ity in caper­cail­lie areas in Kin­veachy Forest to help inform action 7,260

Car­rbridge Print­ing and pro­duc­tion of tri­al signs to encour­age respons­ible access in caper­cail­lie 453

areas around Carrbridge

Path sur­veys and feas­ib­il­ity work to enable thriv­ing caper­cail­lie areas around Car­rbridge 4,965

and paths and out­door spaces for all res­id­ents and vis­it­ors to enjoy

Total 15,078

Com­munity Com­munity-led action Total

Equip­ment to repair trails to reduce hab­it­at loss and frag­ment­a­tion 1,146

Moun­tain bik­ing Print­ing and pro­duc­tion of tri­al signs to encour­age respons­ible rid­ing in caper­cail­lie areas 160

Trail Asso­ci­ation web­site to increase vis­ib­il­ity, build aware­ness and sup­port 454

Total 1,760

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Con­tract­or Work Total

High­land Field & Forest / Instinct Brood sur­veys to help meas­ure impact of hab­it­at improve­ment work, 5,172

pred­at­or con­trol and com­munity-led action to reduce disturbance

RZSS Research­ing the genet­ic diversity of caper­cail­lie in the Cairngorms 62,768

Nation­al Park to inform action

RZSS Devel­op­ing a new approach to estim­at­ing the size of the UK 9,853

caper­cail­lie pop­u­la­tion using genet­ic material

James Hut­ton Insti­tute Eval­u­ation film to share the learn­ing and achieve­ments of the 18,000

moun­tain bik­ing com­munity; work­ing to deliv­er conservation

solu­tions in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park

The Eval­u­at­or Mon­it­or­ing and eval­u­at­ing the pro­ject to meas­ure impact and share 24,850

learn­ing

The Eval­u­at­or Research­ing pub­lic atti­tudes and beliefs about the Deeside area and 7,443

caper­cail­lie con­ser­va­tion to inform com­munity-led action plan­ning in

Deeside

Her­it­age Pathfind­er Ltd. Research­ing vis­it­or atti­tudes and beliefs to inform action to enable 20,000

thriv­ing caper­cail­lie areas and high qual­ity, sus­tain­able visitor

exper­i­ences

Total 148,086

Land­hold­ing Hab­it­at improve­ment work Total

Aber­nethy Heath­er cut­ting (with a rob­ocut­ter) to improve c300 ha of hab­it­at 50,000

Bad­den­gorm Replant­ing wood­land with nat­ive spe­cies to expand hab­it­at 6,800

Bad­den­gorm Mark­ing fen­cing with wooden mark­ers to avoid col­li­sions 5,000

Bal­mor­al Estate Heath­er cut­ting, fence remov­al and mark­ing fences with wooden 18,900

mark­ers to improve c400 ha of hab­it­at and avoid collisions

Cran­nach Nature Reserve Heath­er cut­ting to improve hab­it­at 1,290

Lynamer, Nethy Bridge Restruc­tur­ing wood­lands (remov­ing non-nat­ive trees) to expand hab­it­at 2,673

Rothiemurchus Estate Screen­ing track­side edges to reduce human dis­turb­ance 1,600

Rothiemurchus Estate Heath­er cut­ting and cre­at­ing grit beds to improve hab­it­at 5,450

Rothiemurchus Estate Mark­ing fences to avoid col­li­sions 1,600

Rothiemurchus Estate Pred­at­or con­trol to enhance caper­cail­lie sur­viv­al in key areas 83,315

Seafield and Strath­spey Estates Plant­ing nat­ive trees to expand hab­it­at by c90ha 58,290

Seafield and Strath­spey Estates Remov­ing, repla­cing and mark­ing stra­tegic fences to avoid col­li­sions 15,300

Tombain Plant­a­tion Mark­ing fen­cing with wooden mark­ers to avoid col­li­sions 4,944

Total 255,162

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Work

Pro­ject staff

Caper­cail­lie Advis­ory Assist­ant (P/T) Caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing to inform work and meas­ure impact

Total *

44,700

Caper­cail­lie Advis­ory Officer (P/T) Stra­tegic sup­port for caper­cail­lie mon­it­or­ing & hab­it­at improve­ment 59,350

Com­mu­nic­a­tions Officer (P/T) Rais­ing aware­ness and under­stand­ing about caper­cail­lie & the pro­ject 91,350

Car­rbridge Com­munity Ranger Sup­port­ing Car­rbridge com­munity-led action 103,150

Game­keep­er Pred­at­or con­trol on Seafield Estate 168,014

High­land Devel­op­ment Co-Ordin­at­or Stra­tegic sup­port for com­munity-led action 40,000

Pro­ject Coordin­at­or (P/T) Sup­port­ing pro­ject deliv­ery and provid­ing admin sup­port 77,200

Pro­ject Man­ager Man­aging the pro­ject as a whole, includ­ing staff and con­tract­ors 170,700

Pro­ject Officer (P/T) Sup­port­ing pro­ject deliv­ery 105,900

Total 860,364

* Total costs for the deliv­ery phase, i.e. 3 years (2020 — 2023). Costs include equip­ment and overheads.

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