Scottish Natural Heritage has announced funding of more than £2.4 million, in an effort to save one of Scotland's rarest and most threatened habitats. The money will be made available to protect the Scottish lowland peat bogs, which are designated as a site of special scientific interest, and are under threat from commercial peat extraction, the planting of conifers and agricultural improvement. Some of the bogs are up to 9,000 years old and cover the area from the east coast of Fife and the Borders to Stirlingshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire in the west. They have been described as the "Scottish Rainforests" and in addition to providing wildlife havens, also help to slow down global warming by trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The South Scotland Bog Scheme aims to reverse the gradual drying out of bogs caused by human activity through restoring and maintaining water levels in the peat. Eligible land managers can apply to the scheme and will receive payments and advice necessary to help them turn round the health of the bogs.
