Lottery win for Capercaillie

The Heritage Lottery Fund has committed almost £350,000 to help Scotland’s declining Capercaillie population.

The organisation has pledged £346,500 to the 18-month development phase of the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project (CCP), with a further £2.25 million possible for the delivery phase. Official figures put the Capercaillie population in Scotland at just 1,114 individual birds but funding from The National Lottery will hopefully change all that over the next five years. 

Male Capercaillie (Lee Fuller).

The CCP is being hailed as an innovative and ambitious project with the potential to save the species for future generations. The CNP has the last viable populations of the species, with the Badenoch and Strathspey area being particularly significant. With that in mind, the village of Carrbridge has been chosen as a pilot community where residents will have a major say on key elements of the project, helping to work up practical ideas that can be tried and tested; successful initiatives will be replicated throughout the National Park in the future.

The five-year project will be focusing on two main areas: providing suitable, improved habitat for Capercaillie and involving the public in its future survival. Healthy habitats are extremely important, with enhanced pine forests and better connectivity, but what will be key to the project’s success is how Capercaillie and people can live together.

New jobs will be created, including a Project Manager to co-ordinate and manage the scheme and a Capercaillie Community Ranger to develop the involvement of local people. Part-time project posts will include a Communications and Interpretation Officer and a Capercaillie Advisory Officer and Assistant to deliver advice and support to landowners.

Peter Argyle, the CNPA’s Board Convener said: “This is absolutely fantastic news for Capercaillie and for the CNP. Capercaillie will only survive in its stronghold if the people who live and work in the area want to protect and conserve their bird. Putting people at the heart of conservation is innovative and exciting and is exactly what this project is about. [It] aims to inspire a love for Capercaillie, and central to its success will be the work done with communities to find practical ways for people to enjoy the woodlands alongside the birds.”

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham commented: “The Heritage Lottery Fund’s decision to provide funding to the CNP could be the catalyst for the long-term preservation of one of Scotland’s best-known but most elusive animals. The Park Authority has some fantastic, ambitious plans in place for how they hope to help the bird to thrive in the area, and I particularly liked the initiative in enlisting the help of local residents, who arguably feel most passionate about protecting Capercaillie, given its intrinsic links to the Cairngorms area.”

Female Capercaillie (David Tattersley).

Carrbridge resident Frank Law added: “This is brilliant news for both Capercaillie and for our area. This funding is coming at a vital time for this wonderful bird, whose UK stronghold is now in Strathspey. The work that we can now do as a community will make a huge difference, both in the way people value these birds and also to the practical management of the areas where they frequent. We are delighted to be able to continue and to expand the effort to give this bird a chance to thrive in our local forests.”

The funding package overall – should the delivery phase get the go-ahead – equates to an investment of around £4 million in the park economy, with finance also coming from the lead partner – the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) – along a multiplicity of partners: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), RSPB Scotland, Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES), Cairngorms LEADER, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and The Highland Council through the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund.