A major programme of path repairs and upgrade work costing £200,000 has begun to address erosion on Suilven, Sutherland's famous community-owned mountain.
Due to increasing popularity, fragile soils and harsh climate, the most popular approach to Suilven (2398ft) beginning at Glencanisp, is rapidly deteriorating.
The restoration project will set out to repair an eroded 1.55mile section of the route to prevent further damage and maintain public access. It has been planned in such a way as to protect the rare habitat of peat bog and wet heath, along with the plants and wildlife it supports. It aims to create a high quality, but still natural-looking path.
Suilven was part of the Assynt Foundation's landmark community buyout in 2005 of the 44,000 acres on the Glencanisp and Drumrunie Estates, in the parish of Assynt in northwest Sutherland
It also includes the mountains of Canisp, Cul Mor and Cul Beag, and a traditional Victorian hunting Lodge, Glencanisp Lodge.
The Suilven Path Project is a partnership between the Assynt Foundation, and the wild land charity the John Muir Trust, which is managing the work.
The work will be carried by two contractors with strong local links to the area: Arran Footpaths, which will carry out hand-built work on the steep ascent to the summit. Meanwhile ATC Heritage will work on the approach stretch, using an excavator to quarry gravel onsite. A helicopter will fly in around 100 tonnes of stone for building cross drains and steps. .
Funding has been committed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, while the John Muir Trust has so far raised over £75,000 towards the work, including £18,000 which it won in a Euro-wide online poll in 2015.
Chris Goodman, Paths Officer, John Muir Trust said: “This is one of Scotland’s best-loved mountains and we’ll be treating it with the respect it deserves. We will only on those sections of the path where there is erosion, and we will make sure the repairs are carried out in a sensitive manner so that it blends in well with the landscape. Thanks to support from players of the National Lottery, this work should help ensure that both the spectacular views of the mountain and the enjoyment of walking up its slopes are protected.”
The project will create around 10 jobs during the construction phases which will run through the late spring and early summer of 2017 and 2018. There will also be opportunities for local artists and writers to be involved with documenting the work.
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