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• 1 4 Foreword 6 Scotland’s IPAs: facts and figures 12 Protection and management 13 Threats 14 Land use 17 Planning and land use 18 Land management 20 Rebuilding healthy ecosystems 21 Protected areas Code IPA name 22 Better targeting of 1 25 and resources and support 2 Mainland 26 and the 24 What’s next for 3 Harris and Lewis Scotland’s IPAs? 4 Ben Mor, Assunt/ 27 26 The last word Ichnadamph 28 Breadalbane Mountains 5 North Coast of Scotland 29 and Cover – Glen Coe 6 and ©Laurie Campbell Peatlands 30 Crieff Woods 7 31 -Blairgowrie 8 South West Skye Lochs 9 Strathglass Complex 32 Milton Wood 10 Sgurr Mor 33 Den of Airlie 11 34 12 Black Wood of Rannoch 35 Beinn Bheigier, 13 Moniack Gorge 36 14 Rosemarkie to 37 Isle of Cumbrae Shandwick Coast 38 Bankhead Moss, 15 and 39 Lomond Woods Morrich More 40 16 Culbin Sands and Bar 41 Roslin Glen 17 42 Clearburn Loch 18 and 43 Lochs and Mires of the 19 Rum Ale and Ettrick Waters 20 Ardmeanach 44 South East Scotland 21 Basalt Outcrops 22 Mull Oakwoods 45 River Tweed 23 West Coast of Scotland 46 Carsegowan Moss 24 Isle of Lismore 47 Kells

Citation Author Plantlife (2015) Dr Deborah Long with editorial Scotland’s Important comment from Ben McCarthy. Plant Areas Maps and data analysis by Plantlife: Beth Halski

Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 3 Foreword

On the edge of Europe and with the Atlantic crashing its shores, Scotland is home to a huge diversity of habitats that provide a haven to wildlife adapted to both the warm, dry continent and those that thrive in warmer, wet oceanic conditions. Add to this our rich geology and Scotland really is a treasure chest. Important Plant Areas (IPAs) are nature sites of exceptional botanical richness, supporting internationally significant wild plants. Just under 10% of Scotland is covered by IPAs, so recognising this kaleidoscopic diversity. This treasure trove needs to be cherished and protected. Careful management of the plant communities allows the ecosystems they drive to be more resilient and continue to provide key services such as clean water and carbon capture. But our wild plants offer so much more than this – they are key to our heritage, our culture and our livelihoods. They represent our most iconic landscapes: and the Breadalbane mountains, the machair of Harris and Tiree, the coastal grasslands of the north coast, home to Scottish primrose, and the Celtic rainforest of the west coast. This report showcases the fantastic and awe-inspiring Important Plant Areas that we have in Scotland. It provides an insight into how we are working to celebrate their significance and deal with the pressures they face. Together, we can build stronger and more resilient ecosystems and invest in Scotland’s future through its natural environment.

Why does Plantlife focus our conservation work on Important Plant Areas?

4 Foreword Aonach Beag in the Nevis range ©Dominic Habron Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 5 Burn in Plantlife’s Munsary reserve, Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands IPA ©Michael Scott/Plantlife • • maps: that using atwo-stage process IPA boundaries are identified facts and figures Scotland’s IPAs: 6 for expansion. for that identify areas with the greatest potential areas, filteredusing key environmental factors are shown aseries as of zones around the core if the land management is supportive. These which the key or habitats could expand, Zones of opportunity are adjacent areas, into a series of plant sites. area or several unconnected areas comprising habitats are present. They may consist of asingle areas Core Scotland’s IPAs: facts and figures where the qualifying species and and Sutherland Peatland IPA. Peatland Sutherland and Scaraig, part of the Caithness on the banks of the Allt-nan Below: and the Harris Hills beyond at Huisnis, backed by machair right: Bottom Taynish, in the West Coast IPA. Topright: the Leans of Munsary Atlantic woodland at at woodland Atlantic the sands Scotland’s Important Plant Areas Plant Important Scotland’s

River running through the Cairngorms IPA ©Bob Gibbons/Plantlife 7

Bryophyte rich Atlantic Woodlands, West Coast IPA ©Sue Cooper/Plantlife Number and size of IPAs Scotland is home to 47 IPAs, covering 698,703ha between them, 9% of the entire land cover. Scotland’s IPA network includes large mountain ranges, entire islands and coastal regions. Over 60% of the Scottish IPAs have an area of 1,000 or more hectares. Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands, Cairngorms and the West Coast IPAs are all larger than 100,000ha. Qualifying criteria IPAs have been identified using at least one of three standard, internationally agreed criteria: the presence of threatened species (examples pictured below), a very high diversity of species (see graphic opposite), and the presence of threatened habitats.1 IPAs can contain a wide range of habitats and species and are rarely identified on the presence of one type of plant or habitat or under a single criterion. For example, 81% of Scotland’s IPAs qualify because of the high species diversity and 68% qualify because they contain a threatened habitat. Eight IPAs qualify under all three criteria. ©Gordon Rothero Adelanthus lindenbergianus Adelanthus

Adelanthus lindenbergianus, a moss commonly known as Lindenberg’s featherwort, only found on Beinn Bheigier scoticum ssp. fontanum ©RoyalCerastium Botanic Garden Edinburgh IPA in Scotland. Cerastium fontanum ssp. scoticum, Scottish mouse-ear, found in the Cairngorms. Daltonia splachnoides ©Gordon Rothero

Daltonia splachnoides, Irish daltonia, found in the Atlantic woodland in the West Coast of Scotland IPA.

1. Anderson, S (2002) Identifying Important Plant Areas. www.plantlife.org.uk 8 Scotland’s IPAs: facts and figures Habitats with a large number of species-rich sites across Scotland

Broadleaved deciduous Inland cliffs, rock woodland 13 IPAs pavements & outcrops 10 IPAs

Coastal dune & sand habitats 9 IPAs Raised & Surface blanket standing 9 IPAs waters 9 IPAs

Alpine & sub-alpine grasslands 7 IPAs

Scotland’sScotland Important Farmland Plant Report Areas 9 Various habitats ©Plantlife Scotland’s IPAs are also home to awide range of habitat types. In Scotland, 27% of sites identifiedexceptionallyas species-rich IPAs are broadleaved A typical woodland ravine in may contain as many as 200 species, habitat type in Scotland Number of IPAs by threatened 10 water Inland species characteristic of Scandinavia, and the “temperate rainforest” zone, with species at typical of Scotland, is machair sites, which is home to ahigh diversity of coastal and sand home in very wet Atlantic woodland. This creates the special oceanic boreal forest, which is which is comparable to the richest tropical rainforests... deciduous woodland. This is largely due to the high diversity of bryophytes and lichens dune plants. In a1metre square patch of typical machair, up to 45 species can found. be found in these woodlands. Other species-rich habitats in Scotland include the Caledonian pinewoods, which lie at the intersection of the northern “boreal” zone, with habitats and rare globally, and has highly unusual communities. Athird type of species-rich landscape, 15 Scotland’s IPAs: facts and figures wetland & 14 Grassland 12 3. 2. that only grow in very clean fresh and salt water. unique underwater algae, many with acalcium carbonate structure, we might find the slender naiad,flexilis Najus water habitats and and bog wetland habitat types. These sites are where Freshwater habitat types feature strongly in IPAs and include inland Love, J (2003)Love, Machair N(2005) Liverworts and Mosses R&Hodgetts, Porley, & heath Scrub 12 Forest . Scotland’s Living Landscapes. SNH. Battleby. SNH. Landscapes. Living . Scotland’s 9 2 /stone Scree/rock 9 . The New Naturalist Library, Collins. London. Library, Naturalist New . The

, and stoneworts –ancient halophytic Coastal & 5 3 Dune 5 Major habitat types on IPAs

Major Total no. % of 100% >49% or Cover <25% or unknown habitat of IPAs total cover major 25% minor IPAs (47) cover –49% cover Mire, Bog & Fen 24 51 0 17 0 4 3 Woodland & Forest 22 47 0 16 0 5 1 Inland Surface Water 22 47 0 9 0 9 4 Grassland & Tall Forb 21 45 0 9 0 6 6 Inland Unvegetated/Sparse 17 36 0 6 0 5 6 Heathland, Scrub, Tundra 17 36 0 12 1 2 2 Coastal 15 32 0 8 0 7 0 Marine 6 13 0 2 0 4 0 Constructed, industrial 5 11 0 0 0 5 0 & other artificial habitats Other 4 9 0 0 0 0 4 Cultivated, Agricult, Domestic 2 4 0 0 0 1 1

Mire, Bog & Fen Woodland & Forest Inland Surface Water 24 Total no. of IPAs 22 Total no. of IPAs 22 Total no. of IPAs 17 >49% or major cover 16 >49% or major cover 9 >49% or major cover 4 <25% or minor cover 5 <25% or minor cover 9 <25% or minor cover 3 unknown 1 unknown 4 unknown

Grassland & Tall Forb Heathland, Scrub, Tundra 22 Total no. of IPAs 17 Total no. of IPAs 16 >49% or major cover 12 >49% or major cover 5 <25% or minor cover 2 <25% or minor cover 1 unknown 2 unknown

Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 11 Protection and management

96% of Scotland’s IPAs overlap, either wholly or in part, with some level of designation: 311 nationally important SSSIs overlap with 43 IPAs, and 114 Special Areas of Conservation of European importance overlap with 24 IPAs. However, these statutory designations do not necessarily translate into protection for the plant communities for which the IPAs have been identified. While an IPA may be recognised for its birds or geology in a site designation, its important plant communities are not necessarily included in that designation and therefore will not be managed or monitored.

No. of protected No. of IPAs areas that overlap overlapping with the IPA with the network protected areas Site of Special 311 43 Scientific Interest Special Area of 114 24 Conservation Special Protection Area 33 12 National Nature Reserve 48 16 National Park 4 4

12 Protection and management | Threats Threats

67% of Scotland’s IPAs have identified threats. Of these, the most frequent and significant threat is invasive species, including non-native species such as Rhododendron x superponticum. Invasive species have been listed as threats on 54% of IPAS in Scotland, 23% of these at a acute level. This is in contrast to the rest of the UK IPA network where the most frequent and high impact threat to IPAs is the “abandonment of land or reduction of land management”, ie cessation or inappropriate management. “Agricultural intensification” also presents a significant threat, which in a Scottish context relates more to grazing pressures and affects 51% of IPAs. Burning affects about 34% of IPAs in Scotland. “Development”, which in a Scottish context, relates to recreation and/or tourism, also affects about 34%. At Beinn Bhegier, which has no site protection, both burning and grazing are identified as key threats.

Top 6 threats to Scotland’s IPAs

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

Unknown Low 5 Medium High

0 of Consequences speciesinvasive (plant) Agricultural intensification Other Development Burning of vegetation change Climate rise level /sea No of IPAs

Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 13 Land use

The importance of landscape to Scotland’s image and economy is reflected in the high proportion of IPAs (83%) that list tourism and recreation as key activities. In 2010, the value to the economy of tourists touring and enjoying Scotland’s landscapes and scenery was £420 million per year (SNH Commissioned report 398). This vastly outweighs the amount of money being spent on conserving and managing these areas. With the condition of protected areas in favourable or recovering condition flatlining at 78% between 2010 and 2014, investing more of this income into the protection and management of these areas would conserve precious landscapes and nature and yield economic returns.

Top 5 land uses on Scotland’s IPAs

Land use Total IPAs 100% >49% or Cover <25% or unknown major 25%–49% minor Tourism/recreation 29 0 9 0 9 11 Agriculture (combined) 26 1 11 0 3 11 Nature conservation 25 0 11 0 5 9 and research Hunting 18 0 4 0 7 7 Forestry 13 0 4 0 5 4

Scotland’s IPAs are unique and varied. Each requires a different approach to provide a future for the plants that make these sites special. Since 2011, Plantlife has been working with land managers, owners and local communities to raise awareness of our IPAs and to help conserve them. Not only does this ensure continuity for these plant-rich habitats, it also works towards meeting Scotland’s commitments in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.4 While the Important Plant Areas concept has identified the very best places for plants across Scotland, the approach also brings a new set of solutions to common issues faced by important plant communities.

4. Plant Link (2014) Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. A review of the UK’s progress towards 2020. www.plantlife.org.uk

14 Land use Uath Lochans, Inschriach Forest ©Deborah Long Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 15 16 Planning and land use Planning and land use

Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Issue: Lack of appropriate management at a large enough scale. Solution: Working in partnership and establishing long-term monitoring to measure impact of successful management

The Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Important Plant Area has a core area of 143,538ha, roughly 4% of the world’s blanket bog habitat. The IPA is the largest and most intact peat mass in the UK, three times larger than any other in Britain or Ireland, and the largest area of blanket bog in Europe. Beyond the Core Area, the Zone of Opportunity for this IPA incorporates a much wider zone, all of which Peatlands reserve (left), the European protected supports the habitat for which the IPA was species marsh saxifrage grows in its largest known identified and in which IPA indicator species colony in Scotland, alongside scarce plants including could spread, given peatland restoration and cranberry and bog orchid. As well as being home appropriate management. for these species, key roles for the IPA in future focus on its role as a huge and growing carbon Restoration of peatlands and their hydrological store, as accumulating peat captures carbon. conditions conserves peatland plants and mosses, locks up carbon and regulates flooding. A healthy Between 2001–2005, the Peatland Partnership, peatland is one where wet conditions are increasing which included Plantlife, RSPB, Forestry Commission and peat is building. However, effective restoration and SNH, blocked drains and removed large areas of must be done at a large enough scale to rebuild conifer plantation. This enabled Sphagnum to grow entire ecosystems. In Caithness and Sutherland and peat regeneration to begin. At the same time, Peatlands, restoration means removing planted a monitoring mechanism was set up at Munsary trees and blocking drains. The scale of management Peatlands to record peat recovery and the impact needed to restore a peatland water catchment it had on plant communities and carbon capture can only be achieved by working in partnership across the site. with neighbouring land owners because peatland Monitoring since 2002 has shown that species catchments cross many ownership boundaries. characteristic of increasingly wet conditions, Land within the IPA is managed by Forestry particularly those species that colonise a bog Commission Scotland (33,325 ha) and NGOs, surface after damage, soft bog moss (Sphagnum including Plantlife, own and manage another tenellum) for example, have increased along with 21,500 ha. The rest is privately owned. These other sphagnum species that indicate active peat privately owned areas are largely managed for forming such as Sphagnum cuspidatum and stalking and grazing. At Plantlife’s Munsary S. capillifolium. This trend is further reflected in the change from ling to cross-leaved heath. The 1,300 hectares of peatland at Munsary are now recovering and reverting to active blanket bog, providing habitat for a wide range of bog species, regulating water flow and capturing carbon. , Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands IPA ©Michael Scott/Plantlife ©Michael Sutherland and Peatlands Caithness , IPA dubh lochans dubh Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 17 Land management

West Coast IPA Issue: Knowing what to do where and tackling invasive non-native species Solution: Enabling land managers to act

The West Coast IPA (right) is the most extensive IPA in the UK. It has two distinct elements, both of which are internationally important habitats: Atlantic woodland and oceanic heath. These woodlands and heathlands occupy the west There are two key threats to the West Coast IPA: the coast of mainland Scotland from spread of invasive Rhododendron x superponticum in the north to Crossaig Glen in . in the woodland and muirburn on the oceanic heath. Both these threats can be managed through The IPA process has mapped core areas for both appropriate management. For oceanic heath, habitat types along with zones of opportunity. These it is a case of identifying where muirburn would maps provide a clear spatial illustration of where land have a devastating impact on species and sites should be managed as oceanic heath and where land and avoiding those areas. For woodland, the should be managed for Atlantic woodland. Based on management decision-making is more complex. the ecological requirements of each habitat type, these maps are used to provide (a) precise advice Introduced as a garden plant in 1763, and first to land managers on which habitat will do best on a recorded in the wild in 1894, Rhododendron x particular piece of land, (b) where habitat fragments superponticum has since spread along the entire can be reconnected through habitat restoration and west coast of Scotland. It takes over the understory (c) which habitat should be favoured to gain the of Atlantic woodlands, shading out internationally best ecological results. This provides clear ecological important communities of bryophytes and lichens. reasoning for the difficult question of where These species grow in very damp and humid to plant trees or not and where muirburn should woodlands and are limited to Scotland, parts of the be conducted, or not. extreme western seaboard of Europe and the Atlantic islands including the Azores and Madeira. Species Mapping the IPA for both types of habitat has such as spotty featherwort, Wilson’s filmy fern, been a key part of Plantlife’s species management deceptive featherwort and Hutchin’s hollywort programme. The maps help identify where land have their world headquarters in Scotland. could be targeted for management and habitat restoration or creation. Where suitable options are Rhododendron removal takes many forms, some available under the Scottish Rural Development of which are less destructive for these mosses, Progamme, this approach can help identify which liverworts and lichens than others. Plantlife, with options could be useful. For land managers this can Forest Research, has developed guidance for land help them identify what they can do where. The next managers who want to remove rhododendron step then is to help identify what needs to be done. without damaging these internationally important communities. This guidance includes advice on how to identify and manage the habitat. Plantlife demonstrates the approach through regular demonstration days on sites throughout the IPA, working with land managers to support them in managing and creating this habitat for these species – providing the potential for them to spread and become more resilient to climate change.

18 Land management Soay Woodland, West Coast IPA ©Deborah Long Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 19 Rebuilding healthy ecosystems

Cairngorms Pinewoods Issue: Joining up fragmented habitats Solution: Using ecological maps to prioritise where to restore and create habitat

Scotland has 11 Important Plant Areas for The Cairngorms National Park Authority recently Caledonian pinewood. These are all located in published the Capercaillie Framework report to and around the mountains and include highlight the importance of connected forest pinewoods in the Cairngorms, the coast, expansion and identify priority areas to target Strathglass and , and the Black Wood of Caledonian pinewood expansion to benefit Rannoch. Home to a range of flowers and mosses capercaillie. A forest managers group, led by the and liverworts, these pinewoods support species like National Park, brings together land holdings to twinflower, juniper, wintergreens and ostrich plume collaborate on a landscape scale and across river feathermoss. Plantlife’s maps of the core areas and catchments, including Mar Lodge, Glenfeshie, the zones of opportunity identify where to restore Rothiemurchus, Glenmore and Abernethy. Caledonian woodland and where to plant tree species Caledonian pinewood consists of trees, plants, like pine, and juniper, to connect up isolated bryophytes, lichens and fungi. Without healthy fragments across the IPA and help to increase plants, the pinewoods are unable to support species habitat available to these species in future, building like capercaillie. To conserve the pinewoods, and all their resilience to ongoing environmental change. their species, it makes sense to use the IPA concept This approach contributes to ongoing landscape- and the advice it provides through management and scale plans to create a much larger network of demonstration days. Such landscape-scale planning, Caledonian pinewoods in the Cairngorms National based on plant conservation, is central to the drive Park. Here there are a number of public, private in Scotland to conserve not just habitats and species, and NGO land owners working to restore and but also the ecosystem services they provide. expand the forest, creating a connected expanse of native woodland not seen since the end of the 19th century (Dunlop 1997). Caledonian pinewood, ©Deborah Long Caledonian Cairngorms IPA

20 Rebuilding healthy ecosystems | Protected areas Protected areas

Clearburn Loch Issue: Inadequate protection for key plant sites and habitats, leading to their damage or loss Solution: Making the designated site network work harder for plants, mosses, liverworts and lichens by identifying those sites not currently afforded protection

Clearburn Loch is one of the best remaining small lochs in the Borders. It has been identified as an IPA because of the rich wild flower and bryophyte diversity there. In 2012 the loch remained one of the few relatively unaffected by run-off from conifer planted hills in the Borders, and is home to the largest population of holy grass in southern Scotland.

However, its location in the Borders and its lack of protection, means that the site and its plant populations are in danger of being lost. Recent applications to plant adjacent hillsides could reduce the status of this loch to the same status as most other lochs in the Borders, and would impact negatively on the internationally important plant and bryophyte communities there. Botanical assessments for IPAs (see pages 8–10) pick up internationally important sites that are not designated and identifies designated sites where the plant interest is not included in the designation. Of the 47 IPAs in Scotland, only two have no protection at all. These are subject to the increasing pressures of afforestation at Clearburn Loch and to muirburn at Beinn Bheigier. Without better protection the internationally important flora is susceptible to direct or indirect negative impacts. Holy-grass Gagg/Plantlife ©Andrew odorata Hierochloe

Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 21 Better targeting of resources and support

South-east Scotland Basalt Outcrops Issue: Widely spread, small sites that cannot be monitored by government agencies Solution: Increased local community awareness and volunteer involvement

The south-east Scotland Basalt Outcrops are a string of six separate rocky crags inland of the Forth estuary. These crags are extinct volcanoes with a distinctive and rare lichen flora. The lichens grow on the exposed rock crags and are surrounded largely by rough grazing, except at Minto Crags, which supports policy woodland. The sites are grazed by a range of animals including sheep and ponies. Visitors regularly access four of the sites. Since 2010, Plantlife has been training local volunteer Flora Guardians to monitor the populations of Berwick Law and Trapain Law are located close to the Ramalina polymorpha the bird-perch gristle-lichen, towns of North Berwick, East Linton and Haddington. a near threatened species limited to bird perch rocks. They are popular short walks and IPA walks have Volunteers were trained to recognise this species of been developed at both to show local communities Ramalina from other similar sea ivory lichens and and visitors the amazing plants and nature there. to monitor change in lichen populations over time Berwick Law is protected as an SSSI, although the using transects and photographic survey. Eight local citation and management statements do not refer volunteers are looking at the impacts of grazing, and to the lichen assemblage. This means that they now include lichens in their annual monitoring. Their remain unmonitored and are not taken into account work is showing us that while the lichen populations in management decisions. This leaves the rare are still present, longer grass, resulting from rabbit lichens vulnerable to decline. control, is having a negative impact. We are using these volunteer data to help the land managers assess grazing levels at the site with the aim of adjusting them to ensure a future for the bird- perch gristle-lichen. Local communities are keen to engage and as volunteer Flora Guardians are becoming custodians of their local IPA. Strong local support for Important Plant Areas is shown by the enthusiasm and the data these volunteers provide.

22 Better targeting of resources and support Surveyor at work at the South-east Scotland Basalt Outcrops IPA ©Stan de Prato Local volunteers are crucial to the future of rare plants on Scotland’s remote IPAs

Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 23 What’s next for Scotland’s IPAs?

We know where our IPAs are and which species and habitats are found there. However, to ensure a future for them, we need to take a number of steps:

Planning and land use Healthy ecosystems IPAs are critical in planning and establishing Natural Ecosystems only provide ecosystems services Ecological Networks in Scotland. Based on consistent when they function properly. Plants and fungi internationally applied criteria and with significant are fundamental to ecosystems and the services expert stakeholder input, IPAs identify where to they provide and should be the focus of efforts strengthen and rebuild Scotland’s natural networks. to strengthen and rebuild Scotland’s ecosystems. Proper integration into land use planning will be IPAs provide the best chances of success in crucial in building effective and resilient ecological building healthy ecosystems and preserving networks across Scotland. ecosystem services. Next steps: Next steps: • Recognise IPAs in national planning policy • Lead on working towards the commitments Scotland has already made in the Scottish • Integrate IPAs into the National Ecological Biodiversity Strategy and the CBD Strategy for Network as an essential part of network planning Biodiversity, by allocating a level of leadership and management and resources to enable progress to be made. • Use IPAs to prioritise land use in situations where These targets include: the choice of land use to build healthy ecosystems needs to be based on independent advice and • Protect and manage at least 75% of our IPAs sound ecology effectively (Target 5 of GSPC) • Base land use decisions on well understood • Halve and bring to zero, where feasible, ecosystems. IPAs provide this understanding the rate of loss of natural habitats and for plants and fungi, the basis of all ecosystems. reduce significantly habitat degradation This works towards meeting the Scottish and fragmentation. (Target 5 of the CBD Government’s targets in the 2020 Challenge5 Strategy for Biodiversity6) • Manage areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry sustainably, ensuring conservation of biodiversity (Target 5 of CBD Strategy for Biodiversity).

5. (2013) 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s biodiversity. Pages 11 & 43. www.scotland.gov.uk 6. UN CBD (2010) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 – 2020 – Aichi targets. www.cbd.int/targets/ 24 What’s next for Scotland’s IPAs? Protected areas Lack of resources and support Protected areas are a key element of wider habitat Reversing the decline in wild plants in the wider networks. The protected area network however is countryside and building healthy ecosystems to failing wild plants.7 Managing protected sites in continue to provide fundamental ecosystems services IPAs with wild plants in mind would maximise the is not a cheap option. With budgets under constant conservation impact of the protected site network strain, it would be impossible for government to and would provide the foundations of a truly achieve this alone. Building support amongst local sustainable site network. communities for their IPA, and involving local communities in their conservation and monitoring, Next steps: is crucial in making progress. • Ensure that protected sites that overlap with IPAs Next steps: are managed with their internationally important flora in mind • Celebrate local wild plant places through IPA walks, activities and volunteering opportunities • Manage IPAs for their plant interest, meeting Target 4 of the GSPC • Train volunteers to collect data that reflects ongoing change. This information can be effectively used • Use IPAs to target wider habitat restoration in and to inform ongoing management so a positive around protected areas to improve ecosystem change can be made, with local land managers health and combat fragmentation (Scottish and communities working together. Government 2020 Challenge).

7. Plantlife (2009) The Ghost Orchid Declaration. Saving the UK’s wild flowers today. www.plantlife.org.uk Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 25 The last word

26 The last word Conserving IPAs doesn’t just conserve plants. Conserving IPAs protects the ecosystem services we all rely on, and ensures future generations can enjoy Scotlands unique landscapes like machair and Caledonian pinewoods.

Scotland’s Important Plant Areas 27 Machair grassland, Isle of Harris, Harris & Lewis IPA © Damian Entwhistle/CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic We are Plantlife

Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales Plantlife is the organisation that is speaking up for our wild flowers, plants and fungi. From the open spaces Plantlife Scotland, Balallan House of our nature reserves to the corridors of government, 24 Allan Park, Stirling FK8 2QG we’re here to raise their profile, to celebrate their beauty, Tel: 01786 478509 and to protect their future. [email protected] Wild flowers and plants play a fundamental role www.plantlife.org.uk for wildlife, and their colour and character light up Plantlife is a charitable company limited by guarantee, our landscapes. But without our help, this priceless Company No. 3166339. Registered in England and Wales, natural heritage is in danger of being lost. Charity No. 1059559. Registered in Scotland, Charity Join us in enjoying the very best that nature Number: SC038951. ISBN number. 978-1-910212-14-1 has to offer. designbyStudioAde.com