Highlights from 2023

Eilidh Ross, Species on the Edge Communications Officer, NatureScot

Can you believe that we’re coming to the end of 2023? It’s been a massive year for us – after years of development, the Species on the Edge programme was finally launched! And what a fantastic kick-off we’ve had. Here’s a look at some of our favourite moments from 2023. 

We recruited our team and launched the programme!

By March of this year, the full Species on the Edge team was in place. 17 project officers were employed, spanning the length and breadth of the country - from Dumfries and Galloway to Shetland, from the Angus Coast to the Isle of Lewis. These 17 officers are coordinated and supported by a team of four NatureScot staff: the Programme Manager; People Engagement Officer; Finance and Administration Officer; and Communications Officer.

With everyone in place and raring to go, by June it was finally time to officially launch the programme. With the sun splitting the sky, we had a fantastic day at Logie Quarry near Tain, examining moth traps, building bird houses, learning more about the programme, looking for small blue butterflies, bumblebees, pond-dwelling invertebrates and more, and eating a lot of cake! It was a fantastic day, and a big thanks goes to our East Coast team for hosting the event and all the partners who came along to make the day as special as it was.

In October, after working together online for six-plus months, we were delighted to finally get the whole Species on the Edge team together at our first annual all-team conference. This proved to be a fantastic opportunity to share experiences, learning, and ideas, and to have a general natter and get to know each other!

Exciting times for our target species

In March, we had our first area-launch event – a short-necked oil beetle workshop in North Uist to kick off activity in our Outer Hebrides project area. We went in search of the rare and elusive beetle and were excited to find 24! Even more excitingly, having taken to Twitter to share our success, one of our followers went searching for the beetle on Tiree and was also successful! This recording marked the first time a short-necked oil beetle has been found on Tiree.

This autumn, another exciting moment for one of our rarest species occurred – the medicinal leech was officially recorded in Dumfries and Galloway for the first time! Once widespread, the medicinal leech is now one of the rarest invertebrates in Scotland, primarily due to historical overharvesting for use in medicine. Previous to this new record, the leech was only known to be found on Islay and in Argyll. However, following unverified sightings by a local naturalist, Buglife went looking for the rare leech and found it in three ponds near Carrick Shore on the Solway Coast.

The medicinal leech has had a very exciting year, as in addition to this new discovery, Species on the Edge has established Scotland’s first ever captive breeding programme for the leech, and activity for this project has kicked off! Buglife and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, who are delivering the breeding programme, have collected 14 leeches and transferred them to their new home - a specially designed facility at RZSS’s Highland Wildlife Park. There the conservation team will care for them and attempt to breed as many leeches as possible to then be released back into the wild.

Celebrating nature at the Outer Hebrides Wildlife Festival

With the programme having been officially launched less than a month prior, our Outer Hebrides team pulled a massive feat hosting the Outer Hebrides Wildlife Festival at the end of June. The team coordinated more than 40 events over the eight days of the festival, spanning the length of the Outer Hebrides. All events were community-led and included talks-and-walks, art exhibitions, workshops, boat trips, bumblebee safaris, water sports, and more. There was also the opportunity to climb inside a giant blow up whale.

It was fantastic to see so many people getting involved with the festival, both putting on events and attending, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year!

Young people leading the way

Pupils at Woodlands primary school have been proving they deserve their title as an ambassador school for the small blue butterfly. Together with East Coast officer Caitlin, they have been sowing wildflower and kidney vetch seeds and planting kidney vetch plug plants at Carnoustie Golf Course, all in an effort to expand and improve habitat for the local small blue population.

Up on the North Coast, we were excited to launch our first Conservation Summer School, in partnership with Dunnet Community forest. Young people attending gained a John Muir Award, and credits for Saltire and Leadership awards. Participants learned essential outdoor and fieldcraft skills and assisted with practical habitat management and surveys for our priority species.

We’ve also been very excited to have had such a positive response to our recruitment drive for Species on the Edge Youth Panel members. Applications opened in October and it’s been fantastic to see so many young people from all around the country eager to join the panel and get stuck in with helping support their local wild places and wildlife. Applications are still open in our Solway Coast, North Coast, Shetland, and Outer Hebrides project areas, so if you’re interested in the opportunity, or know someone who might be, head over to our youth panel page to learn more and apply.

Welcoming a new face

And to round off our busy year, we were delighted to welcome a new addition to the team – introducing Gareth Powell, our brand new People Engagement Officer for Shetland! 

Gareth hails from the Scottish coast, but quite a bit further down south than his new home! Having grown up in Ayr exploring the beaches and coastal grasslands looked upon by Ailsa Craig, he then spent a few years among the trees and mountains of the Cairngorms. For Gareth, this move up to Shetland feels like a return home to salty air and land shaped by the sea.

With a month now under his belt in his new position, he’s looking forward to continuing exploring his new home and meeting the communities and species he shares it with in the new year. Great to have you Gareth!

That’s a wrap!

It’s been a fantastic year, and there is so much more we could have tried to cover here. However, we’re going to stop there so you can get back to your office parties, secret santas, and mince pies, or back to trying to finish off everything you told yourself you would get done before the end of the year… Either way, that’s us done!

As always, remember to follow Species on the Edge on Twitter and Facebook and to join our mailing list to be kept up to date with everything we’re up to.

From all of the Species on the Edge team, have a fantastic festive period and we wish you all the best for 2024. Hopefully we’ll see you along on one of our work parties or numerous other events in the new year – we have 37 species that would very much appreciate the effort!