In recent months we’ve been drawing up a Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) for the land that the Findhorn Hinterland Trust is responsible for. This has been drafted primarily by local ecologist Sean Reed, who we work closely with, and with input from various FHT Trustees and staff. It sets out the charity’s objectives for the next 5 years (2026-2031) with regard to the biodiversity on our land and details a work programme to protect the species that live here, as well as specific actions to restore suitable habitat for them.
This is an important piece of work as our land is home to various species that are rare in the UK and are in need of protection, owing to them being in decline and/or threatened elsewhere in their range. We have highlighted some of those as our ‘Star Species’, indicating that they are the flagship organisms upon which the most important elements of our LBAP are focussed. Those species include the red-banded sand wasp (Ammophila sabulosa), which is only known from one other site in Scotland, the bend-bearing blunt-brow spider (Silometopus incurvatus), a Nationally Rare species whose only other site in Scotland is in Culbin Forest on the other side of Findhorn Bay, matt pelt lichen (Peltigera malacea), an Endangered species listed in the UK’s Red Data book, and the sandy earthtongue fungus (Sabuloglossum arenarium) which is known from only a handful of sites in Scotland.
Sandy earthtongue fungus (Sabuloglossum arenarium) fruiting on sand, amongst pebbles; Matt pelt lichen (Peltigera malacea) in the dune heath area
Those species, and many of the other notable ones on our land, are dependent on sandy ecosystems that have limited amounts of vegetation growing in amongst bare sand dunes. However, that habitat that has become scarce in most of Scotland due to coastal housing developments, the increasing establishment of golf courses and the expansion of ports (eg for the North Sea oil and gas industries). Here at the Findhorn Hinterland the main problem is encroachment by gorse, which now covers much of the area that was formerly open sand dunes, and pine trees seeding from nearby plantations. While gorse provides a habitat in its own right for a limited number of species, its spread here directly threatens the survival of many of our Star Species.
The most significant element of the LBAP therefore is action to address the spread of gorse – to restore some areas of bare sand and provide an increased area of habitat for the special species associated with that ecosystem. We began this work in 2025, and the LBAP includes the further creation of more bare sand areas, albeit on a smaller scale, each year. Also planned is a continuation of the series of biodiversity surveys that we have been carrying out in recent years. Groups we will be focussing on during the next 5 years include wasps, bats and birds, as well as carrying out a detailed vegetation survey (as we don’t have a comprehensive list of all the plant species on the Hinterland at the moment). The Plan also includes detailed mapping and specialised research projects for two of our Star Species – matt pelt lichen and the sandy earthtongue fungus – to identify their extent on our site and any special relationships they have with other species.
Cutting back gorse to create bare sand area; Red-banded sand wasp (Ammophila sabulosa) on sand
Other important elements of the LBAP include a continuation and further development of our existing woodland work, in which we are gradually converting the uniform pine plantations in Wilkie’s Wood to become a more diverse native woodland with its full range of constituent species (most of which are broadleaved trees). We will also be carrying out detailed monitoring of the red squirrel population in our woodland and removing invasive non-native species such as Sitka spruce from where they are getting established.
Another significant aspect of our planned work will be the collation and mapping of the data we have about the biodiversity of our site, and the submission of this to the relevant national recording schemes. This is something that we have not done in any significant or systematic way in the past, and it will make a meaningful and important contribution to the wider dissemination of knowledge about the species that live on our land.
In conclusion, the LBAP provides a strategic framework and detailed action plans that will guide our work over the next 5 years to benefit the rare and special species on our land, as well as all the other life that can be found on the Hinterland.
Alan Watson Featherstone, Land Trustee, FHT
