Welcome to Making the Most of Moorlands (an education project)
Introduction to the Project
The Making the Most of Moorlands is an education project which began as the Moorland Education Project in 2009 with funding from Scottish Natural Heritage and LEADER Dumfries & Galloway. The project aims to enhance the understanding within the community of man's role in the management of the Moorland and ensure the involvement of the community in the progress of the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project. Making the Most of Moorlands follows on from the Moorland Education Project.
What's on this site
- Use the links at the top of this page to read the diary of Dr Barlow and find out what the project officer has been up to lately.
- You can see what public events have been arranged by her on the events page.
- The wildlife page has pictures of many of the interesting birds, mammals and other creatures to be found on the Langholm Moor.
- The gallery page shows pictures of some of the activities on the moor involving local people.
- The other pages show you where to find us and how to get incontact with us. There is a page of useful links
Hen harriers
One of the most interesting birds on the moor is the hen harrier. Last year video footage was taken at a harrier nest. Click here to see some short video extracts taken from the camera.
Hen Harrier Satelite tagging
The dispersal patterns of harriers in Scotland are generally not well understood, despite these having a probable influence on their survival and predation on prey during the winter. Since 2010 a proportion of the harrier chicks fledged at Langholm have been fitted with satellite tags which monitor their progress during the next year.
The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project has supported this because it is vital to know about the dispersal and fate of harriers so we can better inform national conservation frameworks, particularly about the proportion of harriers that disperse and/or die naturally away from grouse moors as this is currently not known. This year the Making the Most of Moorlands Project is contributing towards the hen harrier satellite tagging programme.
Some of the dispersal movements have been remarkable. One male chick, (tag code 58872) overwintered as far away as the north coast of Spain in 2010-11, returning to SW Scotland in May 2011. He has been nicknamed 'McPedro'. Click here to see a map showing his return journey from Spain to Scotland in Spring 2011.
Harrier Update
The final tagged harrier chick from Langholm this year, 58941, appears to be dead. The last transmission was just after midday on the 8th, and he had been static for a few days prior to this, with an intermittent signal. These final signals were from north west of Bayeux in Normandy. Thanks to the bulging address book of Bea Arroyo, we have been in touch with the French harrier network and hopefully the cadaver can be recovered.
To lighten our heavy hearts, the mighty McPedro still delights, holding court in Brittany just south of Carhaix, and keeping us guessing as to his next move.
The news ain't good
There has been no transmission from McPedro since the 29th of November, when he was in Brittany. There is no indication of a weakening signal, and he was always regular with transmissions. While the possibility remains that there is a transmitter failure, possibly related to the weather, it looks like the wild roving boy may be dead. In this case, all six harriers from Langholm fitted with tags are presumed dead, five in their first year. McPedro, the only bird to survive longer, did us proud.
Project Officer
The Project Officer is Dr. Cat Barlow, an educationalist and ecologist specialising in upland habitats. She is based at the offices of the Langholm Initiative in Langholm
Partners
In 2007 partners Buccleuch, Estates, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, RSPB and Natural England launched The Langholm Moor 10 Year Demonstration Project, with the aim of establishing Langholm Moor as a driven grouse moor which meets the nature conservation objectives for the SPA and SSSI.The eyes of Europe are on this high profile project, which was launched by Environment Minister Michael Russell, but the local community is largely unaware of the significance of the Demonstration Project or the potential economic benefits from the Moor to the community.
Awareness
The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project is one of the most important upland conservation projects in the UK and the Making the Most of Moorlands (an education project) is working alongside the Demonstration Project Staff to raise awareness of this vital project, both locally and further afield.
This project is funded by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Government and the European Community, Dumfries and Galloway LEADER 2007 -2013
