Conservationists have accused energy giant SSE of producing one of the most worrying wind farm plans ever seen in Scotland, for an area currently being considered as a potential World Heritage Site.

RSPB Scotland is now formally objecting to an application for the 47 turbine Strathy South wind farm at the heart of Scotland's Flow Country, of Caithness and Sutherland. The peatlands there are one the world's rarest habitats.

SSE announced in July it was reducing by 30 the size from the original plan for 77 turbines on the site around nine miles south of Strathy village, and 22 miles south-west of Thurso. The development is proposed for non-native conifer woodland.

It was one of the many planted in the 1970s and 1980s because of a tax loophole, which allowed any investment in woodland to be written off against personal income tax.

Now RSPB is concerned that the wind farm development would undermine the large-scale work to restore huge swathes of precious blanket bog within the Flow Country. The area is home to a wide range of endangered breeding bird species.

Stuart Housden, Director of RSPB Scotland, said: "This is, without doubt, one of the most worrying wind farm applications we have seen in Scotland. Not only does it risk harming some of the UK's rarest species, it would make restoration of this core part of the globally important Flow Country much more difficult.

"The blanket bog and peatland habitat of the Flows is so special and rare that it is protected by law, and is currently the subject of a multi-million pound funding bid by the Peatlands Partnership for restoration and public engagement work."

Nicki Small, SSE's Strathy South Project Manager, said the global importance of the peatland habitat was being recognised by the company.

"We have discussed the proposals at length with RSPB, SNH and all stakeholders with a view to achieving the best outcome and we will continue to engage with RSPB in a pragmatic and scientific way should they be interested in doing so."