Bid to raise £8m to create red squirrel 'superhighway'

A conservation charity has proposed connecting habitats in a part of the Highlands to create a "superhighway" for red squirrels and other animals.

Woodland Trust Scotland hopes to raise £8m to buy 4,500-acre Couldoran Estate in Wester Ross, which neighbours land the charity owns at Ben Shieldaig.

The trust would plant native trees at Couldoran to form a "mosaic of habitats" for wildlife to move through.

More than 1,000 acres (405 ha) could be planted with woodland.

The trust said the 4,500-acre (1,821 ha) Couldoran Estate was largely bare of trees. It has launched a public appeal to raise the funds needed to buy it.

The charity said new woodland would help link Shieldaig Pinewood Site of Special Scientific Interest with Rassal Ashwood Site of Special Scientific Interest, enabling red squirrels to "move more freely" from tree to tree from one area to another.

The charity said lichens, mosses and insects would be also be able to spread.

Trust director Alastair Seaman said: "Next door at Shieldaig, we see birds such as golden eagle, peregrine, red-throated diver, greenshank and golden plover.

"Pine martens, water voles, badgers, red squirrels and mountain hares have also been spotted.

"If we can improve (tree) canopy cover at Couldoran, we expect to find many of these species moving in as their range and habitat improves and expands. Wildcats were in the area until the 1960s and we've heard of potential sightings more recently too."