Natural Heritage Projects

BCT's charitable objectives give it a general responsibility to encourage an interest in, and the conservation of, the parish's wildlife and natural habitats - its natural heritage. The Trust also has a particular responsibility to try and ensure that it conserves and enhances the natural heritage interest of the sites that it is involved in managing.

To help with this, BCT has set up a Natural Heritage Group of over a dozen local residents with a particular interest in wildlife. The group is currently discussing the surveys and other wildlife projects that the Trust hopes to do. There is plenty of scope for this work as Birse parish has a rich and varied natural environment that reflects its location as the most easterly parish in the Highlands.

Amongst the main surveys that BCT plans to do are the peatlands in the Forest of Birse Commonty; the relic burnside native woodlands and scattered trees in the Commonty; & the base rich vegetation associated with the limestone outcrops in the parish.

BCT is also in the process of producing a Natural Heritage brochure describing the work that is being done in the parish.