| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 The Flow Country, Forsinard, Sutherland, looking towards the Ben Griams | |
| Location | Scotland |
| Criteria | Natural: ix |
| Reference | 1722 |
| Inscription | 2024 (46thSession) |
| Area | 187,000 ha (460,000 acres) |
| Coordinates | 58°24′N3°42′W / 58.4°N 3.7°W /58.4; -3.7 |
  Flow Country Location of Flow Country in Scotland | |
TheFlow Country (Scottish Gaelic:Dùthaich nam Boglaichean)[1] is a vast area ofbogpeatland inCaithness andSutherland, northernScotland. It is the largestblanket bog in Europe, and covers about 4,000 km2 (1,500 sq mi). It is an area of deeppeat, dotted with bog pools, and is a very important habitat for wildlife. As peat is largely made up of the remains of plants, which are themselves made up ofcarbon, it locks up large stores of carbon for thousands of years. This carbon would otherwise be released to the atmosphere and contribute toglobal warming. In 2024 the Flow Country was awardedWorld Heritage status byUNESCO on account of its unparalleled blanket bog habitat.[2] It includes theForsinard Flows National Nature Reserve and theCaithness and Sutherland Peatlands.
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The Flow Country is home to a rich variety of wildlife, and is used as a breeding ground for many different species of birds, includinggreenshank,dunlin,merlin andgolden plover. Birds of prey found in the Flow Country include thebuzzard andhen harrier.
One of the most prevalent plant species of the Flow Country issphagnum moss, which can store large amounts of water, and eventually formpeat – the building block of a blanket bog. Carnivorous plants such asroundleaved sundew,greater sundew, andbutterwort feed on the multitude of insects that inhabit the Flow Country.
Large mammals such asred deer, and the less commonroe deer, roam the Flow Country all year round and can be heard roaring during the autumn rutting season.
The principal geological deposit within the area is of course peat but otherQuaternary superficial deposits are recorded, principally those associated with the ice age such astill but also post-glacialalluvium. All of these overlie bedrock which originates during four distinct intervals of geological time; theArchaean toPalaeoproterozoicLewisian gneiss, theNeoproterozoicMoine succession into whichOrdovician toSiluriangranite is intruded and the largelyDevonian ageOld Red Sandstone.[3]
"Flow" is a Scots word for a bog or morass, possibly derived fromOld Norse (compare theIcelandic wordflói, which has the same meaning).[4] The bogs of the Flow Country have been subject to human activity since the end of the last ice age. In the last 200 years, they have been affected by human activity, including sheep grazing and forestry.[5]
In the 1970s and 1980s, government tax breaks incentivised commercial forestry operations which drained areas of the bogs and planted non-native conifers, damaging the bogs and causing loss of some of the peatland.[5][6] In 1987 theNature Conservancy Council (NCC) released a report in London that was highly critical of the foresters.[citation needed] In 1988Nigel Lawson, theChancellor of the Exchequer, scrapped the forestry tax reliefs in light of the harm caused to the United Kingdom's wilderness, halting further planting.[citation needed]
In an effort to restore the damage, theRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have bought a large area in the centre of the Flow Country and have created theForsinard Flows national nature reserve.[7] More than 20 km2 has been bought back from Fountain Forestry and the young trees felled and allowed to rot in the plough furrow in the hope and expectation that, in 30 to 100 years, the land will revert to peat bog.
The RSPB was also a leading partner in the Flows to the Future Project,[8] an ambitious, far-reaching project which aimed to restore vast areas of the Flow Country and increase public and visitor awareness of the importance of the Flow Country. The project funded the award-winning[9] Flows Lookout Tower.
Around 1500 km2 of the Flow Country is protected as both aSpecial Protection Area andSpecial Area of Conservation under the nameCaithness and Sutherland Peatlands.[10][11]
The Flow Country was designated a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2024. It is one of three World Heritage natural landscapes in the United Kingdom. The others are theGiants Causeway in County Antrim and theJurassic Coast in Dorset.[12]
TheFar North Line connects intoForsinard station serving the area.
