Scotland reveals 100-year rewilding plan to boost biodiversity

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, There are calls to try to reintroduce the lynx to more areas

Conservationists and the Scottish National Trust have announced a 100-year rewilding plan.

Over the next century they aim to work towards restoring habitats and boosting biodiversity.

The plan includes improving up to 200 acres of land in a hope different species of all kinds will grow, breed and return to the land.

Plans are focussing on one site in particular in Scotland, at Kelton Mains, on the National Trust's Threave Estate.

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Image caption, The River Dee flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea

Named the Threave Landscape Restoration Project, the first steps of the plan are to un-drain parts of the land.

The land is a floodplain for the River Dee - this is the area at risk of flooding when the water level in the river rises above its banks.

Much of the land has been drained to prevent that flooding from happening. Reversing that process and restoring the landscape will allow water to flow in a more natural way.

According to the Trust, better-flowing water will mean better wetlands, and better wetlands attract more wildlife such as ducks, geese and swans.

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Image caption, Better wetlands would mean more cuties like this would make homes there, this is a signet - a baby swan

The plan is also to plant lots more trees, with an aim of creating 74 acres of native woodland.

Conservationists have said their project is to balance the recovery of nature with the needs of farming.

According to Dr Sam Gallacher, who is in charge of the operation, both researchers and other experts have been working on the 100-year plan for the past four years.

They announced their plan on International Day for Biological Diversity, earlier this week.

The project will be funded by Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Some conservationists in Scotland have been asking the Scottish parliament members to make commitments to re-wilding.

These commitments include re-homing beavers, as well as considering the re-introduction of the Eurasian lynx to Scotland, where there is both a suitable habitat for the creatures and local support.