Ballogie Estate plays an active role in wildlife conservation. From the high heather hills, down to the banks of the River Dee, there is a rich diversity of habitat and species, which all have to be cared for in the context of running a successful, commercial business.
The River Dee is a Special Area of Conservation designated for salmon, otters and freshwater pearl mussels. Ballogie has been active in supporting the River Dee Trust in carrying out riparian management, primarily for the benefit of migratory fish species, but also for other species that live in the streams, such as lampreys. In addition, we have given support to the LIFE Funded Pearls in Peril (PIP) Scheme for the removal of croys from the Commonty Beat for the benefit of fresh water pearl mussels. We manage over 20 hectares of riparian woodlands, mainly on the Burn of Cattie, but the Burn of Angels in the Potarch Woods is also important.
Ballogie Estate supports the national Red Squirrel Project and for many years has been active in the control of mink for the benefit of the native water-voles.
There is a small, but resilient population of capercaillie on the Estate and we are involved in our second scheme in partnership with Finzean Estate to support the survival of this iconic Scottish bird.
We have a significant area of Caledonian Pine Forest, part of the Glen Ferrick native pinewood, which is the most easterly in the UK and we manage Lamahip as an expansion zone for the native pinewood. The forestry to a significant extent is managed under a continuous cover system, which encourages diversity of species. Some 27% of the total forest area has bio-diversity as a key management principal. This leads to very diverse areas such as riparian woodlands, old stands of mature Scots Pine or old birchwoods like the Balnacraig birch wood, which is marked on the Roy Map. Along the drive to Ballogie House is an interesting area of diverse policy woodlands and includes the Queen of the Firs, which is a Scottish Heritage tree and one of the largest Scots Pines on mainland Britain. Carlogie is designated an Ancient Woodlands site and we follow advice from Scottish Woodlands Trust and adopt the Forest Stewardship Council guidelines on managing these woodlands.
Ballogie Estate is proud to have been awarded Wildlife Estates Scotland (WES) accreditation. On the 2nd July 2016, Mr Malcolm Nicol was presented with the award at the Scottish Games Fair. To achieve accreditation the estate underwent "a rigorous and independent assessment of (our) wildlife, game and habitat management as well as our social and economic contribution to rural life."
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