At Culbin Forest, thousands of rare wildflowers rescued from eroding Scottish coast

A shoreline rescue effort

The plants were moved from a vulnerable stretch of the Scottish coast at Culbin Forest, Moray. Between two and three metres of land have collapsed into the sea there in recent years.

Plantlife Scotland worked with Forestry and Land Scotland, NatureScot and 18 volunteers. The relocation followed a smaller trial and received support from the Scottish government’s nature restoration fund.

NatureScot biodiversity adviser Iain Macdonald said the plants would likely have been lost to the sea if they had remained at the site. He said their survival at the new location was still uncertain.

A rare woodland flower

One-flowered wintergreen is a tiny, star-shaped plant found in the UK only in pine woods in north-east Scotland. Plantlife Scotland says it remains at seven sites, and only three have healthy populations.

The number of genetically distinct individuals may be below 500. At one site, about 100 plants represented only two distinct individuals.

Protecting underground networks

To move the flowers, volunteers cut out sections of soil around them, preserving underground support systems and the fungi the plants rely on for germination and survival. The wintergreen gets energy through photosynthesis and can also draw energy from woodland fungi. That relationship has made the plant’s decline and recovery difficult to understand.

Plantlife says changes in forest management have affected conditions for the fungi. Hotter, drier conditions linked to the climate crisis have also reduced the soil moisture the plant needs.

Building future populations

Plantlife Scotland senior ecological adviser Sam Jones said the work could help prevent the endangered species from being lost. Macdonald said any survival would count as a success and that introducing plants to small existing populations could strengthen their ability to cope with environmental change.