APPENDIX F: CITATIONS – NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE DESIGNATIONS

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EC Directive 79/409 on the Conservation of Wild Birds

SPECIAL PROTECTION AREA (SPA) CITATION
FOR PUBLIC ISSUE

RANNOCH LOCHS, HIGHLAND (UK9004021)

Site Description:

Rannoch Lochs Special Protection Area (pSPA) comprises a cluster of eight oligotrophic lochs centred upon Rannoch Moor in the southern Highlands of Scotland. The individual lochs are (west to east): Loch Dochard, Loch Ba, Loch Laidon, Loch na Tota, Loch na Sgeallaig, Loch Ossian, Lochan Loin nan Donnlaich, and Loch Finnart. These eight lochs support a typical oligotrophic fauna and flora. The Rannoch Lochs SPA comprises part of Black Wood of Rannoch SSSI (Loch Finnart), part of Rannoch Moor SSSI (Lochs Ba and Laidon) and the entire Rannoch Lochs proposed SSSI.

Qualifying Interest:

Rannoch Lochs SPA supports a population of European importance of black-throated diver Gavia arctica, an Annex I species. The site supports seven black-throated diver territories representing 4% of the British population. This cluster of lochs has a high productivity, averaging around one chick fledged every two years per territory during 1986 to 1998 in comparison with a national average of around one chick every three and a half years during the same period. The combination of large population size and high productivity means that the site makes a significant contribution to the production of fledged chicks in Scotland as a whole.

Area: 1171.3 ha

National grid reference: NN 214419, NN 325508, NN 364657, NN 365660, NN 387547, NN 390680, NN 468612, NN 523556.

OS 1:50,000 sheets - 41, 42, 50

November 1999
Scottish Natural Heritage

form

RANNOCH MOOR

SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST

Strathclyde Region, Tayside Region, Highland Region

Midas Reference: 1331

PLANNING AUTHORITY:		Argyll & Bute District, Lochaber District &
		Perth & Kinross District.
DATE NOTIFIED UNDER 1981 ACT:		19 April 1985
NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE:		NN 350520
OS:	1:50,000 SHEET NO:	41, 42, 50, 51
	1:25,000 SHEET NO:	NN 24/34, NN 25/35, NN 44/54, NN 45/55
AREA:		10,232 ha.

DESCRIPTION:

Botanical

Rannoch Moor is of international nature conservation importance. It contains the most extensive complex of western blanket and soliginous/valley mire in Britain and is of particular importance on account of its range of northern mire types. Rannoch Moor is the only remaining British locality for a nationally rare vascular plant species and contains several other nationally and locally rare plants.

Ornithological

There is an excellent range of open water and moorland breeding birds, including several uncommon species.

Limnological

Loch Laidon is a large unpolluted oligo/dystrophic loch; the smaller lochans are dystrophic with high humic acid concentrations. These are relatively uncommon types of open water in Tayside Region.

Entomological

The associated fauna includes a particularly large number of rare beetles, flies and moth.

PREVIOUS NOTIFICATIONS: Previously notified as Loch Ba and Lochan na-h’Achlaise SSSI 1957, 1962, Rannoch Moor SSSI 1955, 1972, 1975.

REMARKS

Boundary amended with a net reduction of 850 ha.
Nature Conservation Review Site, Grade 1.

Part declared under Section 19 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 as a National Nature Reserve on 15 April 1958 and 22 April 1960.

Area of site within Perth & Kinross District – 2,476.5 ha.
Area of site within Lochaber District – 856.5 ha.
Area of site within Argyll & Bute District – 6,899 ha.

NSA Description:

BEN NEVIS AND GLEN COE

EXTENT OF AREA

This western Grampian Mountains area extends from Glen Spean in the north to Glen Kinglass in the south, and from Rannoch Station in the east to the mouth of Loch Leven in the west.

DESCRIPTION

There is a great variety of landform and scenery within this area, attributable in the main to the intricacy of its geological structure. Granite outcrops form the dominant features around Ben Nevis, Glen Etive and Rannoch Moor, while Glencoe is of volcanic origin. The variety of scenery throughout the area is witnessed in hills that may be smooth or jagged, rounded or precipitous, grass or heather covered. The glens may contain moorland, meadow, arable or forest, and swift streams or calm lochs. The sea shore may be wooded and bayed as in outer Loch Leven, or fjord-like as in the inner loch and Loch Etive.

Many people would consider that Glen Nevis ranks with Glen Affric and Glen Lyon as one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland. No other part of the country has greater relative relief. But it is not scale alone which makes Glen Nevis memorable. The lower reaches are pastoral, with an alder threaded river and woodlands clothing the glen sides. The middle section exhibits a ‘Himalayan’ character, while the upper glen is a place of peaceful meadows, Alpine in feeling, enhanced by the presence of the graceful Steall waterfall. On the north side of Ben Nevis is Coire Leis,’…. the most splendid of all Scottish corries’ (Murray).

South of the Mamore Forest lies the fjord-like trench of Loch Leven. The soaring mountain walls rising from the deciduous wooded shores of the deep and narrow waters of the inner loch give it a character not replicated elsewhere in Scotland. Its beauty is further enhanced by the islands at the mouth of Glen Coe, and by the swift tidal race which flows through the narrows at Ballachulish below the sharp cones of Beinn a’Bheithir.

Glen Coe itself ‘…. must rank high among the most spectacular scenic experiences in Scotland’ (Whittow). Lying between the 6 mile-long notched ridge of Aonach Eagach and the truncated spurs of Bidean nam Bian, the highest mountain in Argyll (1141m), the glen is an ice worn valley mantled with screes and debris from the mountains. The place called The Study offers impressive vistas of the Three Sisters. Here the River Coe flows westwards over foaming cascades and through clear pools to the calm waters of Loch Achtriochtan. The peaty flats of the lower glen are in sharp contrast to the towering precipices and waterfalls around them.

Glen Etive is not of the same awe-inspiring grandeur, but nevertheless it is a deep cleft through towering peaks, notably the portal peaks of the Buachailles and the great slabs of Ben Starav. The River Etive with its numerous waterfalls is an important feature of the glen. To the east lies Rannoch Moor, probably the best known moor in Scotland. Its sometimes endless-seeming wastes have a beauty derived from the inter-relationship of water and islands with the moor, and the relationship of the moor to its surrounding mountains.

Based on an extract from "Scotland’s Scenic Heritage" The Countryside Commission for Scotland 1978