Broadford Biodiversity

Protecting and restoring natural habitats

Safeguarding and enhancing our local flora and fauna.

Our area’s green and blue spaces are highly valued by both visitors and the local community. But non-native and invasive plants such as Fuchsia, Crocosmia, Knotweed and Sitka Spruce have started to dominate certain areas and are having a major impact on our local native flora and fauna. There is also a need to consider how to adapt existing habitats in the face of climate change.

We are committed to doing all we can to protect and enhance the biodiversity of our wide array of habitats and engage and involve people in caring for them. As the first step we commissioned a study of the current baseline of Broadford’s biodiversity and what priorities people would like to see. The study was published in early 2024 and can be downloaded from this page. The purpose of the study was to:

create a baseline biodiversity audit of the Broadford area
identify priorities for invasive species removal and native replanting
identify how best to work with volunteers and engage the public
create an action plan that can be used for funding applications and pilot projects.

During 2024 we will be fundraising to take forward the priorities in the Action Plan. We are also exploring the potential to make Broadford Bay a Local Nature Reserve and Local Nature Conservation Site.

A commitment to protecting to the environment is core to our organisation’s purpose, stretching back to BSCC’s beginnings as the Broadford Environment Group. Many of our early projects, such as beach cleans, were motivated by a desire to protect our natural environment. When we purchased the community woodland site in 2011 we worked with local volunteers to undertake biodiversity surveys and education activities. Since then we have undertaken a number of biodiversity initiatives, such as a wildflower area and a wildlife pond created in 2022 adjacent to the Growers Hub.

The 2024 Biodiversity Audit covers the Broadford area. It builds on previous informal volunteer surveys of Pier Road, Waterloo and the Community Woodland, which identified significant issues with escaped garden flora and other non-native species. Our hope is to extend the audit to the whole of the Broadford & Strath area in due course.