Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere
Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere was designated in July 2012 as the first new style UNESCO Biosphere in Scotland. It is recognition of the fantastic array of landscapes, wildlife, cultural heritage and learning opportunities that South West Scotland offers for communities, businesses and visitors to experience and celebrate in a sustainable way.
Covering 5268 sq/km of SW Scotland its core area is centred on the hills and moors of the Merrick Kells Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Silver Flowe Ramsar site and the Cairnsmore of Fleet SSSI and NNR. Protecting the core is a buffer zone largely comprised of Galloway Forest Park which is also a gold standard international Dark Sky Park due to the very low levels of light pollution that you get in an area that is largely uninhabited. Surrounding the buffer is a transition area that is home to over 95,000 people working mainly in agriculture, forestry, tourism and the remnants of once thriving mining and engineering industries.
Covering 5268 sq/km of SW Scotland its core area is centred on the hills and moors of the Merrick Kells Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Silver Flowe Ramsar site and the Cairnsmore of Fleet SSSI and NNR. Protecting the core is a buffer zone largely comprised of Galloway Forest Park which is also a gold standard international Dark Sky Park due to the very low levels of light pollution that you get in an area that is largely uninhabited. Surrounding the buffer is a transition area that is home to over 95,000 people working mainly in agriculture, forestry, tourism and the remnants of once thriving mining and engineering industries.
What goes on there?
Our simple, yet powerful, vision for Galloway and Southern Ayrshire is to make life in the Biosphere better for people and nature. Cherishing our landscapes, nature and heritage through improved stewardship creates a sure foundation for long term sustainable development, improved prosperity, wellbeing and pride. We believe our Biosphere can provide a catalyst for new thinking; new economic opportunities, environmentally sustainable development, nature conservation and education. We work with local communities, businesses and schools to help them realise the benefits that the UNESCO Biosphere designation can bring to them, through branding local produce marketing towns and villages and promoting a more sustainable way of living. The Biosphere team also work with local land managers to encourage better management of priority habitats including Blanket and Raised bog, Upland heathland, Purple moor grass and rush pasture, Montane heath and montane scrub, Native upland oak woodland, Native wet woodland, Acid grassland, Oligotrophic lochs, Coastal Habitats, Traditional Field Boundaries, Calcareous and neutral grassland, Wetlands and Woodland Habitats. What makes it unique? The Silver Flow Ramsar is a series of patterned blanket mires that constitutes the least-disturbed and most varied extent of acid peatland in southern Scotland and is one of the most important systems of blanket mire in Great Britain. These mires, which have developed on the floor of a broad glacial valley in the Galloway Hills, exhibit a complete gradation from discrete mires along the valley bottom which, in their external features, have obvious affinities with raised mire topography to others at the head of the valley which are indisputably blanket mire. Within Merrick Kells SSSI there are two important end-moraine complexes (ridges of unconsolidated debris deposited at the end of a glacier), a rare landform in the Southern Uplands. The Tauchers moraine complex, in particular, is unique in terms of its size and multiple forms. These moraines may provide critical information regarding the climatic conditions during the Loch Lomond glacial re-advance and, together with the sediments of Loch Dungeon, provide important evidence of the Flandrian vegetational history of SW Scotland (which occurred some 17,000-18,000 years ago).Loch Dungeon has some of the best fossil pine remains in south west Scotland. The nationally rare azure hawker dragonfly is recorded at its most southerly location in Scotland and seventeen species of butterfly out of the thirty-four found in Scotland have been recorded on the biosphere reserve. The landscape and the people tending it are also renowned for having inspired both the past and present creative community of novelists, poets, painters, musicians, crafts people and sculptors who have made the Biosphere area thier home. From National Poet and one of Scotland’s most famous sons, Robert Burns who found his homeland a great inspiration to present day internationally acclaimed environmental artists such as Andy Goldsworthy who lives in the Biosphere and works with nature to create his installations in the landscape. Where is it? The Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve is in the south west of Scotland centred around the Merrick Kells Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Silver Flowe Ramsar site and the Cairnsmore of Fleet SSSI and NNR. Factfile: Location: Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve is in the South West of Scotland centred around the Merrick Kells Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Silver Flowe Ramsar site and the Cairnsmore of Fleet SSSI and NNR. Ecosystems: Temperate Broadleaf Forests and Woodlands. Terrain and habitats: Acid peat-stained lakes and ponds, acidic scree, blanket bog, clear-water lakes or lochs, grasslands, heathland and moorland. Vegetation: The are several rare plant species including hawkweed, downy willow, alpine saw-wort, purple saxifrage, and a localised species of liverwort and the silky swan-neck moss. The summit ridge of Cairnsmore of Fleet has two main types of mountain vegetation – montane grassland and dwarf shrub heath. Lower down on the blanket bog, the wetter moorland, there are numerous colourful mosses to be seen. Carnivorous plants, such as the round leaved sundew and common butterwort, are found on the blanket bog. These plants have sticky hairs on their leaves trap small insects, which the plants are able to digest through chemicals they produce in their leaves. Size: The biosphere covers 526,800ha Wildlife: Red Squirrel Water Vole Brown Trout Juniper Downy Willow Dragonflies and damselflies can be seen hunting along the banks of the River Fleet or over bog pools, including the rare azure hawker dragonfly, small pearl-bordered fritillary, large heath and broad-bordered white underwing and a montane moth species associated with woolly fringe moss heath found at over 600m. The bogs also contain a number of rare or locally scarce beetles, including the golden green ground beetle. The biosphere reserve is an important breeding site for mountain and moorland birds particularly Black Grouse, Golden Eagle, Curlew and Golden Plover. Wheatear, skylark, peregrine falcon, kestrel, raven and buzzard, hen harrier and merlin also hunt the moorland. Brown hares inhabit the lower ground with their cousin, the mountain hare, at higher altitude. Red deer and wild goat can be seen on the hill, whilst the Galloway Forest Park is stronghold for red squirrel. Otters are commonly seen in the Biospheres many water ways which are also home to water vole and brown trout. History Designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1976 Extended in 2012. Protection Classifications Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) Special Protection Areas (SPA) National Nature Reserve (NNR) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Ramsar Site For more information see the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve webpage |