Red Moss Nature Reserve

The Scottish Wildlife Trust managed Red Moss Nature Reserve, just south of Balerno, is not your ordinary reserve as it is one of the few remaining examples of a raised bog in the Lothian area. A raised bog is not only rare but ecologically vital and should be looked after with great care to ensure its survival.

Red Moss has formed since the last Ice-Age, around 10,000 years ago, through the colonisation of hollow depressions left by melting glaciers by specialist plants such as Sphagnum Moss. Over the years these plants would have died and been replaced and the dead material would not have decayed due to the oxygen-poor, acidic conditions. This material would go on to form Peat. As the peat builds up it creates a raised, dome shaped area, which is still very visible today.

The peat helps to lock Carbon away making it a great Carbon sink. Peatlands only cover a small percentage of the planet but they can store twice as much Carbon as the world's forests combined. If they dry out or the peat is cut for burning, then all of the carbon is released back into the atmosphere, adding to climate change.

A raised bog like Red Moss is only fed by rainwater, making it ombotrophic. This creates a nutrient poor environment in which flora and fauna must evolve incredible survival strategies. The main plants within Red Moss are the Sphagnum mosses which are like huge organic sponges that can hold many times their own weight in water. The various species can range from green in colour to red or orange and it is the red mosses which give the reserve its name.

As well as Sphagnum moss the bog also hosts plants such as the Round-Leaved Sundew, which has evolved to be carnivorous in order to survive. Its leaves have sticky hairs that trap insects allowing the plant to then digest them with specialist enzymes. You can also find Common Cottongrass, with its fluffy cotton like seed heads, Heather, Birch and Pine trees.

Unfortunately, the Birch and Pine trees drain the bog of water so need to be managed along with the heather which is becoming more dominant as the bog water table is lowered. Scottish Wildlife Trust is working hard on this at present and you can see the recycled plastic dams they have installed across the site to block previously dug drainage ditches. The dams hold water back making the area wetter which will hopefully allow the Sphagnum mosses to once again become dominant.

There is also plenty of bird and animal life supported by the nature reserve including dragonflies and damselflies, Curlew, Snipe and Willow Warbler, Roe Deer and Common Frogs and Toads. While most of these remained elusive on our visit we did spot one of the pools had large amounts of Frog Spawn in it, so hopefully there will be hundreds of Frogs to see later in the year.

The site is very good for accessibility as it has a boardwalk that loops around the bog, there is also a nearby lake with bird hide, again accessed via a path and then boardwalk. Red Moss, along with Bavelaw Marsh, forms the Balerno Common Site of Special Scientific Interest, first designated in 1971 and extending to 62.7 hectares.