If you wonder why a lot of us got put out with Extinction Rebellion's claims of the Spaceport being built in the Flow Country, it's because many of us look to the original definitions from the (old) Nature Conservancy Council and RSPB.

Here for example is Mark Avery, ex RSPB Conservation Director, explicitly stating the Moine is outwith the Flow Country.

Pretty much no one has ever attempted to make a map of the 'Flow Country'. It's always a map of the peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland, of which the Flow Country is half. You will see maps like this banded about.

How do we know the Flow Country is half? This from the Peatland Partnership at the http://FlowCountry.org.uk 

“The Flow Country is an area of deep peat, dotted with bog pools, that forms the heart of the Caithness and Sutherland peatlands, covering about 200,000 hectares."

"Altogether, this corner of Scotland holds more than 400,000 hectares of blanket bog, making it the largest expanse of this remarkable, wild habitat in Europe."

Extinction Rebellion are suggesting that the Moine is part of the Flow Country because this sign can be found at Moine House, as part of the Flows to the Future project to "give panoramic views of the peatlands"

Also worth pointing out this viewpoint looks out towards Hope and Loyal, completely away from the proposed spaceport site. You have your back to the spaceport at this point.

This is a new definition of the 'Flow Country' which has come about in the last couple of years. I'm not saying it's the wrong definition but it doesn't fit well with many others which are much more widely accepted at a local level.

It's worth reminding ourselves that the 'Flow Country' is not a protected designation in itself, is a relatively modern construct used to describe an ill defined area of peatland in the Far North.

The peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland need protected and restored. This also needs balanced with the needs of the people who live in and around the peatlands. The spaceport plans show it will both avoid deep peat, and will lead to the restoration of 185 acres of peatland.

If we're going to protect areas they need to be properly defined, the 'Flow Country' is not. However we're lucky we have plenty of protected areas, that are properly defined, and recognised in planning.

The Spaceport infrastructure, not by accident, avoids these areas. See that big area with no designation, that's where the spaceport infrastructure is going?

So by all almost all accounts the spaceport isn't being built in the Flow Country. Want to learn more? Come visit us after lockdown, you can see some really cool peatlands, and some pretty cool rockets.