In the 1980s, Scotland planted commercial trees across parts of a 9,000-year-old peatland

A Common Greenshank stood on the edge of a pool of water. In the 1980s, Scotland planted commercial trees across parts of a 9,000-year-old peatland; decades later, conservationists are removing them to protect wildlife and keep its stored carbon in the ground.The massive project centers on the Flow Country, a vast area of wet bog covering over 400,000 hectares across Caithness and Sutherland in northern Scotland. In July 2024, UNESCO named the area a World Heritage Site, placing it alongside natural treasures like the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon. It became the world's first peatland to get this special status. King Charles III marked the event by visiting the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Forsinard Flows reserve to reveal a special plaque.Despite its global fame today, large parts of this ancient landscape were nearly ruined forty years ago. During the 1980s, tax rules and government grants encouraged forestry companies to drain the wet ground, build deer fences, put in roads, and plant long rows of commercial trees.Destruction of a wild habitatThe quick growth of these tree farms hurt the delicate bog. The trees pulled water out of the muddy ground, ...