THE body which protects Scotland's natural heritage has withdrawn a threat to strip it of its protected status after protests from campaigners.

SNH said it would engage with the local community over the future of the Glen Roy National Nature Reserve instead of going ahead with an earlier plan to remove its status after a change in criteria focusing more on visitor experience.

However, the agency has approved plans to de-declare several other sites as national nature reserves (NNR). They include Ben Lui near Tyndrum, Kirkconnell Flow near Dumfries and Monach Isles, west of the Outer Hebrides. All of those are still classed as Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Glen Roy was given NNR status amid fears that trees would be planted to provide more timber. Officials say the area is given fuller protection as a SSSI than was available decades ago when it was first listed.

But after a board meeting in Inverness, Ian Ross, the SNH chairman, said: “Glen Roy is an important place, recognised locally, nationally and internationally for its geology.

"The SNH Board has listened to the many representations and recognises the significant support which exists within the local and wider Lochaber area for the Glen Roy NNR. It is also clear that there is existing good work to support visitors to the area.

“We have considered the concerns raised and decided to remove the threat of de-declaration and to engage with the local community and groups such as the Lochaber Geopark Association to explore ways of delivering the wider features required for NNR status.

"A NNR should be nationally important, well managed and be inspiring and accessible to the public, offering attractions for visitors to experience, savour, and enjoy. We have agreed we will review progress at Glen Roy in 18 to 24 months’ time.”

The reserve forms eight per cent of the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy SSSI - a site which inspired Charles Darwin, persuading him to switch his research from evolution to geology. They were carved into the mountainside by ancient glacial lakes as water repeatedly froze and melted before disappearing.

Almost 1,400 people have signed a petition to prevent SNH from changing its status.