NRN PARTNER: Harestone Moss

HARESTONE MOSS

Location:
Whitecairns, Aberdeen
Area Committed:
68 acres

Low-lying grasslands and peaty soil are the dominant feature of Harestone Moss, just north of Aberdeen. Intensively farmed for many decades, the site served as a ‘Q-site’ decoy airfield in the Second World War. It even has its own bomb craters to prove it. Now it is being transformed: the intensity of the farming is being significantly dialled back, a unique underground glamping enterprise is being created with recycled infrastructure, and nature is being allowed to flourish around restored wetlands.

Key rewilding commitments:

  • MORE SPACE FOR WATER: The key rewilding action is to reverse the effects of 1950s drainage by creating a series of ponds and wetlands and thereby re-wetting the peat.
  • JOINED UP HABITATS: Remove redundant fencing and agricultural waste and create species-rich hedgerow and woodlands for connectivity on the site’s northern boundary.
  • REINSTATE NATURAL GRAZING: Introduce native cattle for the purpose of conservation grazing. 

"We have an opportunity to create something amazing – a site where visitors can appreciate the restored landscape and the return of wildlife, and where we can earn a living in a way that doesn't harm the land. We hope that by reaching into a simpler, less extreme past, we can simultaneously honour our heritage and create a better future."

Gavin Drummond and Laura Hay, Owners