Conservation Grant Application

APPLICATION FOR PROJECT GRANT FUNDING Organisation: Balquhidder Upland Forest Initiative (BUFI) Project Title: Highland Peatland Carbon Restoration and Biodiversity Recovery Funding Requested: £85,000 Project Duration: 24 months PROJECT SUMMARY The Balquhidder Upland Forest Initiative is a Scottish charity established in 2018 with the mission of restoring native woodland and degraded peatland habitats across the Balquhidder and Strathyre valleys in Perthshire. This application requests funding to restore 340 hectares of degraded blanket bog across three land parcels in the catchment of the River Balvaig, with parallel actions to control the invasive Rhododendron ponticum which has colonised approximately 180 hectares of the project area. PROJECT RATIONALE The project area contains significant areas of degraded blanket bog that are currently net carbon emitters rather than carbon sinks. The primary cause of degradation is historical drainage for agricultural improvement, carried out between the 1960s and 1980s, which has resulted in oxidising peat soils and collapsed sphagnum communities across large sections of the catchment. Blanket bog in good condition can sequester between 0.5 and 1.0 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per hectare per year according to published research by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, degraded blanket bog can emit between 4 and 10 tonnes CO2e per hectare per year, making it a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions rather than a sink. Restoring the 340 hectares in this project to functioning blanket bog condition is therefore estimated to avert between 1,360 and 3,400 tonnes of annual CO2e emissions by project completion, as well as establishing the conditions for long-term carbon sequestration over subsequent decades. The UK holds approximately 13% of the world's total blanket bog habitat, making it one of the globally most important countries for this habitat type. Scotland holds the majority of the UK resource, with approximately 23,000 square kilometres of blanket bog across the uplands. Despite this significance, it is estimated that only 20% of Scottish blanket bog is in good ecological condition, with the remainder degraded through drainage, burning, overgrazing, or atmospheric nitrogen deposition. BIODIVERSITY CONTEXT Blanket bog and its associated habitats support a distinctive assemblage of bird species of national and international conservation significance. The project area provides breeding habitat for dunlin (Calidris alpina), golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria), and curlew (Numenius arquata), all of which are red-listed as Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK. Site surveys conducted in 2023 recorded 4 breeding pairs of curlew within the project area, representing a 60% decline from a baseline count of 10 pairs in 2008. Curlew is one of the UK's most rapidly declining bird species, with the UK population having fallen by approximately 48% since 1994 according to the British Trust for Ornithology. The project area also supports populations of water vole (Arvicola amphibius), which underwent a 90% decline across Britain during the twentieth century and remains one of the UK's most endangered mammals. Recent surveys indicate a small but viable population persists along the River Balvaig corridor, and peatland restoration is expected to benefit this species through improved bankside vegetation structure. RHODODENDRON CONTROL Rhododendron ponticum, introduced to the UK as a game cover plant in the nineteenth century, has naturalised across large areas of Scottish upland and has proven particularly invasive in west-facing glens where Atlantic climate conditions support year-round growth. The species forms dense monocultures that shade out native ground flora, acidify soils through leaf litter, and provide cover for deer that prevents native tree regeneration. In the project area, rhododendron colonisation has prevented natural regeneration of native Scots pine and birch woodland on approximately 180 hectares of ground. Control will be conducted across two seasons using a combination of cut-and-stump herbicide treatment (for established large plants) and foliar application for regrowth and smaller plants. Herbicide treatments will use glyphosate applied by trained contractors, with all work conducted outside the bird nesting season (April to July). The estimated cost of rhododendron control is £180 per hectare for initial treatment and £60 per hectare for follow-up treatment, based on costs achieved on comparable projects elsewhere in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. PEATLAND RESTORATION METHODOLOGY Drain blocking will be the primary restoration technique for degraded blanket bog. Approximately 3.7 kilometres of drainage ditches will be blocked using a combination of peat dams and plastic piling bunds, following methodology developed by the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Drain blocking raises the water table, rewets the surrounding peat, and creates the anaerobic conditions necessary for sphagnum moss establishment. Re-introduction of sphagnum mosses by nurse planting (transferring donor material from healthy peat elsewhere on the estate) will supplement natural recolonisation in areas where the sphagnum seed bank has been depleted by prolonged drying. The project will also remove secondary scrub vegetation that has established in dried-out areas, particularly cottongrass tussocks that can trap water flow and prevent uniform rewetting. MONITORING AND EVALUATION Carbon sequestration rates will be monitored using waterlogged peat cores and CO2 flux measurements at a network of four monitoring stations established at project outset. Bird populations will be monitored against the 2023 baseline through annual breeding bird surveys conducted by trained volunteers using standard BTO methodology. Rhododendron control effectiveness will be assessed through annual photographic monitoring of treated areas. ORGANISATION CAPACITY BUFI has a track record of delivering land management projects on a similar scale. The organisation currently manages habitat restoration on three estates across Perthshire totalling approximately 1,200 hectares. Our team includes a full-time ecologist, a part-time project coordinator, and established working relationships with specialist contractors used on previous projects. Financial management is overseen by a Board of Trustees with professional expertise in accountancy, land management, and conservation. CONCLUSION Peatland restoration delivers multiple co-benefits simultaneously: greenhouse gas mitigation, biodiversity recovery, and improved water quality through reduced sediment runoff. The Balquhidder project represents a cost-effective opportunity to restore a significant area of degraded habitat in a nationally important landscape and to contribute to Scottish Government emissions reduction targets.