Biodiversity week fun in the Highlands and Islands

Spotting corncrakes and learning about nettles are all part the celebrations taking place across the Highlands and Islands for Scottish Biodiversity Week from 21-29 May.

Organised by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and partners, the week has events for every taste, including a walk to search for corncrakes and other birds at Benbecula, learning about the many uses of nettles in Applecross ,and a one-day festival celebrating the forests of the Cairngorms in Aviemore.

For more information on these and many other events across Scotland, see www.snh.gov.uk/biodiversityweek.

Scottish Biodiversity Week organiser, Zeshan Akhter, said:

“We live in an extraordinary country where people can enjoy nature easily – whether it’s at a city park or on a remote western isle. So this week is a great chance to get out and enjoy the brilliant nature on our doorsteps.”

Scottish Biodiversity Week has been held every year since 2001, starting as a local initiative in Fife in 2000 and growing into a national event. Many organisations put on events, including park ranger services, councils, environmental charities, botanic gardens, businesses, schools and community organisations. For more information and event listings, see www.snh.gov.uk/biodiversityweek.

The theme for Scottish Biodiversity Week in 2011 is "Biodiversity is Life - Biodiversity is Our Life", emphasizing the critical links between humans and our amazing, complex world. Biodiversity, the variety of life on earth, is crucial to sustaining ourlives. It produces air for us to breathe, food to eat, water to drink and even medicines to cure our ills. It also provides value to us through activities such as walking or birdwatching and inspiration for art. We need it for our overall health, wealth and wellbeing.