The Flow Country, as the vast peatlands of North Scotland are known, is arguably the largest area of blanket bog in the world, full of stunning and endangered birds, wildlife and plants. Unfortunately, vast tracks of this globally threatened habitat were destroyed in the 1980s as cheap land and ill-advised tax incentives encouraged the wide-scale plantation of non-native forests, damaging the vital carbon stores and releasing carbon into our atmosphere. New plantations sprung up on a huge scale across Caithness and Sutherland, resulting in the widespread loss of peat bogs. Although the tax loopholes have been tied up and no further trees are being planted on peat bogs, the existing trees and underlying drains are effectively sucking the bog land dry and destroying the precious habitat, which has taken thousands of years to create, contributing to the increase in greenhouse gases. With the loss of the peatland comes the loss of the rare and precious wildlife, which depends on this special habitat for survival. It is possible to reverse this habitat destruction, by removing the trees and blocking the drains to stop moisture bleeding out of the deep peat layers, and preventing further carbon loss. In the heart of the Flows, the RSPB, thanks to the support of many concerned individuals and organisations, has been carrying out an extensive land acquisition, tree-removal and ditch blocking programme, At our reserve at Forsinard, you can see how in a relatively short space of time, once trees have been removed the peatland’s scars begin to heal and the carbon sink begins to be restored. The wildlife then recovers and in the long-term, we aim to see restoration of the whole ecosystem. There are 2 ways you can help: 1.. We need around £100,000 immediately to continue the restoration work on the blocks we have already acquired. Specifically on some recently restored areas, trees are reappearing through seed dispersal and re-growth from young tree seedlings. This is particularly a problem in areas that have historically undergone intensive draining, resulting in drier ground and allowing the tough young tree roots to become more firmly established. As a matter of some urgency, we need to remove these young seedlings before they take root and cause detrimental, and possibly irreversible damage to the fragile hydrological system below and our atmosphere above. Over the next two years we estimate we need to remove seedlings from 240 ha of restored peat bog – and this will cost around £98,000. A donation of £10,000 will allow us to clear an area of approximately 20 ha -almost 50 acres -of seedlings and restore precious peat bog and in turn tackle climate change. 2.. We also need to build up a list of people we can turn to quickly when forestry blocks come up for sale to ask for funding support. We often need to act promptly to secure the land on the open market, and we have to pay competitive prices, which makes some of the more traditional grant sources with rigid application processes and lengthy decision times unable to assist. Forestry blocks vary in greatly price – anywhere between £200,000 - £500,000. We are grateful for any donation you can offer to help us in this immense task.