Black Law Windfarm Habitat Management Area
Land scarred by opencast mining and commercial forestry is being reclaimed by nature just a year after an ambitious habitat restoration project began at ScottishPower's Black Law Windfarm.
Around 1,440 hectares at the Lanarkshire site are being actively managed to create and improve conditions for birds and other wildlife.
Central to the Habitat Management Plan has been ScottishPower's restoration of an abandoned 150 hectare opencast mine and the clearance of around 400 hectares of non-native forestry.
In ScottishPower's most ambitious habitat creation scheme, the Climpy mine, with a capacity of 1.5 million cubic metres, has been filled in and developed as a wet grassland for breeding birds while the cleared forestry areas are being restored to blanket bog and acid grassland.
Vegetation monitoring began before the Conifers were harvested and, by spring 2006, just 12 months after the launch of the plan, there were encouraging signs of regeneration by typical upland vegetation such as Cotton Grass, Heather, Blaeberry and Bog Cranberry.
Meanwhile, there has been an increase in breeding waders with targeted species such as Northern Lapwing and Common Snipe present in greater numbers.
The second phase of habitat creation got underway in summer 2006 with a programme of planting trees, hedges and pockets of crops to improve conditions for farmland birds.
In consultation with Lanarkshire Farmland and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), three areas totalling 2.59 acres have been planted with a blend of grains and seeds. These will be left unharvested to provide feeding for finches and buntings over the winter.
"Ambitious habitat restoration project launched at ScottishPower's Black Law Windfarm..."
Farmland and Wildlife Advisory Group Conservation Advisor Rebecca Lyon welcomed ScottishPower's involvement in the "sacrificial crops" scheme and said: "This is a long term pilot and we want initially to establish what grows well in this upland habitat. It's a learning curve for everyone but it has the potential to make a difference to the numbers and diversity of birds."
It is hoped that planting deciduous woodland and scrub will encourage Black Grouse - a UK Biodiversity Action Plan species due to its decline in UK population - back to the area for the first time in 10 years.
Meanwhile, sensitive planting within six metres of the banks of the Abbey Burn, 300 metres of which were reinstated to their original course as part of the Climpy restoration, is aimed at encouraging Water Voles and Otters.
Nestboxes will also be provided around the Habitat Management Area as homes for a range of bird species, such as Kestrels, Barn Owls and small birds such as Blue Tits and Spotted Flycatcher.
ScottishPower Ecologist David MacArthur said: "Our Habitat Management Plan at Black Law goes well beyond mitigation work for the effects of the windfarm construction and operation.
"It is all positive conservation work and we hope to demonstrate at Black Law that our windfarm developments and the environment can go hand in hand."
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are represented on the habitat management group at Black Law and have offered encouragement and advice.
Simon Zisman, the RSPB's Central Scotland Conservation Officer, said: "Black Law Windfarm has taken a badly scarred site and vastly improved it. The terrible damage done by opencast mining has been reversed. This will benefit a range of wildlife - notably breeding waders and farmland birds.
"It would be fantastic to see the level of commitment and resources invested in this project by ScottishPower continued throughout the rest of the industry."