Through a purple patch

The Garrows Estate is taking a conservation-focused approach to restoring the wildlife populations and biodiversity on the Scottish heather moorland.

- JOE DIMBLEBY

The picturesque 5,000-acre Garrows Estate, near Loch Tay in the Perthshire Highlands, is a magnet for bird photographers. Ronnie Kippen, who retired as headkeeper in 2018 after almost 40 years, remains employed by the estate. He said: “A photographer recently stopped me to say he’d just seen a golden eagle sitting on the cairn; it’s fantastic. I told him to tell his friends that he was in the heart of driven grouse country and was able to photograph an eagle.”

But there wasn’t always the abundance of wildlife that thrives on Garrows today. Game books dating back to 1887 do show that, historically, there were good numbers of grouse, and when the current owner, Sir John KempWelch’s family bought it in 1929, the population was healthy – as it was in the 1960s and 1970s. However, a decline began in the early 1990s and, by 2009, numbers had dropped dangerously low to less than 10% of previous figures.

Reversing the wildlife decline Determined to reverse the decline, the estate took several radical measures to try to improve the habitat, including dramatically reducing the number of sheep. Like most Scottish farms in the post-war period, the push for greater agricultural output had increased the size of the flock and allowed them to inhabit every area of the estate, which resulted in overgrazing, particularly of the moorland.

Sir John asked GWCT advisor, Adam Smith, to suggest a plan for habitat improvement. He said: “Over many years, we have received excellent advice from Peter Hudson, Dick Potts and Adam Smith of the GWCT and none of the actions to improve habitats would have happened without their guidance.”