2025 Highlights: A Year of Growth, Connection and Progress in the Flow Country

As we look back on 2025, it’s clear this has been a landmark year for the Flow Country Partnership, the Flow Country World Heritage Site, and the many communities, organisations and individuals who care so deeply about this extraordinary landscape. From major restoration milestones to cultural celebrations, community events and new partnerships, this year has been about building momentum together.

A Growing Team and a Growing Partnership

This year we were delighted to welcome new colleagues to the Flow Country Partnership team, including Marjoleine, Marcus, Janet, Sarah and Ben, strengthening our capacity and bringing a wealth of skills, experience and local knowledge.

Our partnership itself reached important milestones too. We celebrated our first birthday as a registered charity, held our first AGM, and continued to grow our membership and connections across Caithness and Sutherland. These moments marked an important step in shaping a partnership rooted in collaboration, transparency and community involvement.

One Year as a World Heritage Site

2025 also marked the first anniversary of The Flow Country’s inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A moment decades in the making, the anniversary gave us the opportunity to reflect on what that recognition means – not just internationally, but locally.

Over the past year, we’ve celebrated the World Heritage Site status through events, workshops and conversations that brought people together, sparked fresh ideas and helped build a strong Flow Country identity that communities can feel proud of and connected to. This first year has been about laying foundations and we’re only just getting started.

Restoring Peatlands at Scale

Peatland restoration remained at the heart of our work in 2025, with major projects reaching completion.

At Achentoul Estate, restoration works were successfully completed, showcasing the techniques and approaches being used to help degraded peatlands recover. This peatland restoration project was carried out from October 2024 to March 2025 by Bruce Todd Ltd, from Halkirk. The restoration work, 412.53 hectares, involved drain blocking and drain blocking in combination with re-profiling (standard peat dams), gully blocking (peat surface bunds), gully and hag re-profiling, and micro-erosion repair.

At Armadale Farm, an ambitious and transformative restoration project was completed across approximately 1,100 hectares, with around 163,913 metres of drains blocked and re-profiled. Delivered in phases outside the bird breeding season, this work is already showing positive benefits for nature, water management and wildfire resilience, while supporting local jobs, skills and livelihoods. The project reflects the power of collaboration, with land managers, contractors, advisers and partners working together through challenge, change and shared commitment to the land.

Partnerships and Shared Heritage

In 2025, we also strengthened links between natural and cultural heritage by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Caithness Broch Project for the Big Broch Build. This exciting partnership highlights how communities, heritage and sustainable tourism can work together, connecting the Flow Country World Heritage Site with wider stories of place, history and innovation.

Events, Learning and Looking Ahead

Throughout the year, we brought people together to share knowledge and shape the future of the Flow Country.

We hosted Flowing Forward: Shaping Sustainable Tourism for The Flow Country, with events in Wick and Armadale that brought together tourism providers, community members, stakeholders and policymakers to explore opportunities for responsible, community-led tourism.

We also took part in the 9th Flow Country Conference, hosted by UHI North, West and Hebrides, including a site visit to Achentoul and presentations on the Partnership’s work and priorities.

Celebrating Through Culture and Challenge

2025 saw powerful moments of celebration and inspiration. The world orchestral premiere of When Fish Begin to Crawl, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, marked the World Heritage Site inscription through a unique fusion of science, art and music. Performances at Eden Court and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall reached new audiences and closed a celebratory chapter while opening the next one focused on long-term protection and care.

A monumental achievement was made when FCP Trustee, Roxane, ran 110 km across the Flow Country in just 22 hours. This remarkable effort captured the determination, resilience and love that so many people feel for this landscape, and highlighted the strength of community support behind our work.

Connecting with Communities

Engagement remained central to everything we do. This year we attended job fairs, science festivals and local events across Caithness and Sutherland, welcomed school pupils onto restoration sites, and spoke with people curious about careers in peatland restoration and green finance. These conversations help ensure the Flow Country’s future is shaped with, and by, the people who live and work here.

Thank You

None of this would be possible without the support, dedication and passion of land managers, community members, volunteers, partners, funders, artists, researchers and supporters. Thank you for being part of the journey.

As we look ahead, our focus remains clear: protecting and restoring the Flow Country, strengthening community connections, and ensuring this globally important landscape continues to thrive for generations to come.