Use: Immediate                                                                         Issue Date: Monday 16th May 2005

Scottish Biodiversity Week, from 21st to 29th May 2005, is nine days of events and activities across Scotland ranging from guided walks, wildlife gardening, exhibitions and talks to animal tracking.

The week is promoted by the Scottish Biodiversity Forum to raise awareness of biodiversity. There will be over thirty events happening in Highland during the week.

Participants will be watching puffins in Caithness; learning how to attract wildlife to gardens in Invergordon; becoming natural detectives in Aultbea; finding ‘wee green plants’ in Inverfarigaig; going ‘bat’ty in Beauly; taking part in a woodland art project on the Isle of Skye; and a joining in the family fun day with butterflies in Lochaber.

The biodiversity of Highland is of national, international, and global importance and includes black grouse, corncrakes, pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, rare mountain plant species and Atlantic oakwoods, all of which feature in Biodiversity Week in Highland.

Alice Brown, Highland Biodiversity Officer said: "Scottish Biodiversity Week is an opportunity to find out about the wildlife on your doorstep and the kinds of events that are happening in your local area, not just during this week but throughout the summer.

"Biodiversity is short for "biological diversity", and means "the variety of life". Wildlife is important to us in many ways: for its contribution to our quality of life, for the production of food and raw materials, to tourism and for its own sake."

The Highland Biodiversity Project produced Local Biodiversity Action Plans for each of the Highland areas to raise awareness of local biodiversity, identify priority habitats and species and suggest projects and actions that could be undertaken by individuals, communities and agencies in the next five to ten years.

A variety of awareness raising events and habitat and species management work has been supported and further projects continue to be developed through the Highland BAP Implementation Programme. The Highland Council, with support from Scottish Natural Heritage, has established a permanent Biodiversity Officer post to help support and take forward action for biodiversity in the area.

For a list of the Scottish Biodiversity Week events happening in Highland please go to www.highlandbiodiversity.com, or contact Alice Brown or Janet Bromham, Highland Biodiversity Officer on 01463 702274. For details of the events happening across Scotland go to www.ukbap.org.uk .

For background and more detailed information about the work of the Highland Biodiversity Project, go to www.highlandbiodiversity.com

Local Biodiversity Action Plans for Caithness, Sutherland, Skye and Lochalsh, Wester Ross, Ross and Cromarty (East), Lochaber, Inverness and Nairn and the Cairngorms are available at www.highlandbiodiversity.com

The Highland Biodiversity Project was funded by The Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise and the RSPB with match funding from the European Union under the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme. The Highland BAP Implementation Programme is funded by the European Union under the North and West Highland Leader+ 2000-2006 Programmes, Scottish Natural Heritage and The Highland Council.

The term ‘biodiversity’ short for ‘biological diversity’ – meaning the richness of nature or ‘variety of life’, came into use after the to the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Please contact Alice Brown or Janet Bromham, Highland Biodiversity Officer, Tel: 01463 702274. alice.brown3@highland.gov.uk / janet.bromham@highland.gov.uk

Date Last updated : 16/05/05