A PERTHSHIRE estate instrumental in bringing beavers back to Scotland is preparing to go really wild and turn their land over to nature in a Scottish first.
Mother and daughter Louise and Sophie Ramsay have pledged to let native breeds of pigs, ponies and more roam free across 450 acres on Bamff Estate, Alyth.
They’ve stopped farming 12 fields and committed six plantations to the project, which comes 20 years after the family-run estate reintroduced beavers.
Sheep have been removed from the fields, and after a fallow year this land will be linked to the woods and beaver wetlands to form a single rewilding zone – the first of its kind in Scotland.
It’s hoped the eco-project will inspire other farms to return their land to an uncultivated state.
The family want to boost numbers of curlews, oystercatchers and lapwings by excavating pools and to bring in hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose, crab apple and hazel to provide better biodiversity, habitat and food for species like hedgehogs, dunnocks and warblers.
They also plan to erect platforms for ospreys and kites. Wildcat and newt initiatives may follow.
More than 800 trees and shrubs have already been planted thanks to support from the Woodland Trust and a £24,000 crowdfunder has reached 85% of its target with more than 270 people backing it.
Sophie says landowners “have a responsibility” to respond to climate change and biodiversity loss.
She said: “Bamff is an averaged sized landholding and could be an example for many similar farms.
“We will still grow food on other parts of the farm.
“We believe in more land given over for rewilding, and for connectivity of habitat but also in the importance of local food production.
“We hope this will encourage the Scottish Government to support widespread rewilding on marginal land across Scotland, to help meet our climate and biodiversity targets.”
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