Cairngorms Upland Advisory group - February 2020 - East Cairngorms Moorland Partnership update

Jos Mil­ner

EAST CAIRNGORMS MOOR­LAND PARTNERSHIP

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East Cairngorms Moor­land Partnership

Part­ners

• Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority
• Bal­mor­al Estates
• Glenavon Estate
• Glen­liv­et – Crown Estate Scotland
• Inver­cauld Estate…
• Mar Estate
• Mar Lodge – Nation­al Trust Scotland

Cov­ers 138,000 ha (c. 30% CNP)

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East Cairngorms Moor­land Partnership

Object­ive

Land­scape-scale col­lab­or­a­tion to deliv­er pub­lic bene­fits along­side private interests

• Wood­land & scrub expansion
• Peat­land restoration
• Land­scape enhancement
• Con­ser­va­tion of rap­tors & oth­er pri­or­ity species

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East Cairngorms Moor­land Partnership

Cur­rent projects

• Wader pro­ductiv­ity monitoring
• Moun­tain hare monitoring
• Rap­tor audit
• Map­ping muir­burn areas
• Identi­fy­ing wood­land cre­ation opportunities
• Peat­land restoration
• Pub­lic interpretation

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Wader pro­ductiv­ity monitoring

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Wader pro­ductiv­ity monitoring

BTO

Wader nests mon­itored with tem­per­at­ure loggers

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Some nests also mon­itored with wild­life cameras

BTO

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BTO

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BTO

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BTO

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Wader pro­ductiv­ity monitoring

BTO

Res­ults from 2018 & 2019 seasons

Out­come	Nests
Hatched	115
Failed	54
Unknown	13
Total	183

Spe­cies	Total	Hatch­ing success
Cur­lew	17	75%
Lap­wing	102	54%
Oyster­catch­er	59	65%

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Wader pro­ductiv­ity monitoring

BTO

Res­ults from 2018 & 2019 seasons

Cause of Fail­ure	Total no. nests
Aban­doned / weather	8
Agri­cul­tur­al operations	4
Sheep (trampled)	1
Sheep (pred­ated)	1
Badger	1
Stoat	3
Pine marten	3
Jack­daw	1
Com­mon gull	2

Full report: Jar­rett, D., Cal­lad­ine, J., Mil­ner, J., Wernham C. & Wilson, M. 2019. Invest­ig­at­ing wader breed­ing pro­ductiv­ity in the East Cairngorms Moor­land Part­ner­ship Area using col­lab­or­at­ive meth­ods. Research Report no. 723. ISBN: 978−1− 912642−11−3 36pp Down­load Report (PDF)

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Wader mon­it­or­ing

BTO

Res­ults from 2018 & 2019 seasons

No effect of dis­tance to trees or % wood­land cov­er on hatch­ing success

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Hare mon­it­or­ing

All ECMP estates have had GWCT training

2018 Encounter rates

Aver­age = 16 hares / km (range 9 – 30 / km) across 10 sites cov­er­ing 40 km²

Moun­tain Hare

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Rap­tors

2016 – 18 ECMP	No. occu­pied sites
Mer­lin	22
Golden eagle	12
Per­eg­rine	14
Hen har­ri­er	3
TOTAL	51

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Map­ping the Muir­burn Code

• 88,000 ha of moor­land across ECMP
• < 40 % is under rota­tion­al muirburn
• No burn­ing on deep peat, steep slopes or wind clipped heath

Demon­stra­tion Event

CNPA & ECMP estate staff met for dis­cus­sion & demon­stra­tions in March 2019

Muir­burn

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Wood­land expansion

• Cur­rent wood­land cov­er approx. 10% of ECMP
• Expan­sion across ECMP over last 10 yr: 1,500 ha
• Regen­er­a­tion & plant­ing over next 10 yr: 2,500 — 3,000 ha with & without fencing

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Scrub expan­sion

A rare eco­tone at wood­land / moor­land edge

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Peat­land restoration

• 700 ha of degraded peat­land in ECMP worked on by end of 2018
• Equi­val­ent to sav­ing 8,667 t of CO2 per year
• Fur­ther 225 ha awar­ded fund­ing for 2019 but lim­ited by con­tract­or capacity

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