A remarkable Scottish conservation project is bearing fruit, and the stunning results are visible via an accompanying photography study, with some of the images spanning 70 years.
The shots track the restoration of forest, woodland, and peatland across the Scottish Highlands. NatureScot has been documenting the changes at national nature reserves (NNRs) by recreating historical photos from the same locations and at the same times of year, Sky News reported in June.
Scotland has 43 of these NNRs.
Natural regeneration, tree planting, and deer management have increased woodland by 41% at Beinn Eighe NNR since 1951, when it became the first NNR in the United Kingdom.
At Invereshie and Inshriach, the tree population grew by 25% from 2017 to 2023 through natural regeneration and deer management.
And 200-plus hectares (over 494 acres) of peatland were restored at Ben Wyvis.
"Our aim over the years has been to restore nature to allow it to function naturally with minimal intervention on our NNRs," NatureScot NNR manager Ian Sargent told Sky News. "In turn, these nature-rich areas provide many benefits, including increased biodiversity, carbon storage, and resilience to climate change."
Such conservation and restoration projects are critical to ensure a sustainable future.
Since 1850, around the time when humans began deriving great quantities of energy from coal, oil, and gas, global temperatures have risen nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Most alarming, however, is that the pace of heating has jumped threefold since 1982.
This has stressed humanity and wildlife, resulting in premature deaths and countless other problems, including species collapses. It turns out plants are similarly vulnerable — if it's too hot, they may stop photosynthesizing.
Enter scientists, conservationists, and even regular citizens. Saving endangered areas can help us work toward the environmental balance that we've lost, allowing future generations to enjoy the natural world as those before us did.
As this and other undertakings have shown, with even the smallest helping hand, Mother Nature will spring up with a vengeance.
"Repeat photography allows us a fascinating look back in time and an insight into the dramatic but sometimes unnoticed changes to the landscape down through the years," Sargent told Sky News. "While, of course, these images can't tell us the full story of a place and its people, it is certainly encouraging to see and reflect on the restoration of woodlands and peatlands over the years at some of our most beautiful and special sites for nature."
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