The Flow Country has been granted world heritage status (Alamy/PA) A large area of peatland in the north of Scotland has been granted world heritage status – a decision hailed as a “momentous moment”. The area known as the Flow Country has become the UK’s newest Unesco world heritage site, and is the first peatland site anywhere in the world to be given such status. Heritage chiefs recognised the importance of the area, which is widely considered to be the largest area of blanket bog in the world and covers around 1,500 square miles in Caithness and Sutherland.
The honour was announced on Friday at the 46th session of the organisation’s World Heritage Committee, and it makes the Flow Country the UK’s 35 world heritage site. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
It is the first natural world heritage site in Scotland, joining a global list that includes the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef. The Flow Country is the seventh world heritage site in Scotland, with the others including St Kilda and the Forth Bridge attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. The site is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including golden eagles, red-throated divers and short-eared owls.
It is considered to be of outstanding importance because of the home it provides for such species and for the role it plays in st.