Intermediate wintergreen - update

The following are brief summaries of some of the action that we and our partners have done since the Species Action Framework was launched. They're in chronological order, with the most recent updates at the top of the page.

7 December 2009

The Cairngorms Rare Plant Project, a partnership of Scottish Natural heritage, Aberdeen University and the Cairngorms National Park Authority is being established to take forward further investigation and instigate action for intermediate wintergreen within the Cairngorms nation Park, its UK stronghold. This work will include:

1. Reviewing records -  Intermediate wintergreen is thought to have suffered from both under-recording as it can be easily overlooked if not flowering and possibly also over-recording by some botanists due to confusion with common wintergreen. Recent and past records for this species and the other wintergreen species within the Cairngorms National Park will be reviewed. A clearer picture of the extent of populations of wintergreens within the CNP will be established. A sample of old intermediate wintergreen records will be revisited to check how well this species is surviving at these locations.

2. A subset of strong populations of intermediate wintergreen from heathland and woodland habitats will be selected. Current and past management of these sites will be recorded in the field and, where necessary interviewing land mangers. Past and present management will also be recorded at a further subset of sites where intermediate wintergreen populations are known to be lost, declining or failing to reproduce.

3. Using the information collected, drawing on other published information as well as unpublished reports and advice, a series of management recommendations for intermediate wintergreen and its related species will be developed.

4. Project staff will provide encouragement and advice for land managers to apply for Rural Development Contracts (RDC) options which support the management recommendations. The aim would be to both secure the management of healthy populations of intermediate wintergreen and put in place management to restore populations which were struggling, in each case establishing a baseline for future monitoring. The potential to use translocation to restore or augment populations will also be investigated.

5. Project staff will work with Scottish Natural Heritage staff to maintain and develop the current interest in intermediate wintergreen in research institutions, conservation landowners and botanical NGOs to deliver scientific insight and understanding of wintergreens and to translate this into beneficial effective management on the ground.

Summer 2008

The Threatened Plants Project (TPP) was launched by the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI). Intermediate wintergreen was one of ten species selected for study in this first year of the project. The TPP is an initiative to learn more about threatened and near threatened species covered by the new British Red List. The project focuses on widespread species known to have undergone rapid declines but for which there is little information on distribution and ecology For each species the results provide basic information on population size and extent, habitats, management and threats. The sample survey also provides a baseline from which future population changes can be assessed and in doing so help us to better understand environmental changes (e.g. habitat loss, eutrophication, climate change). The project is also helping to refine the BSBI's approach to the recording rare species.

Find out more about the TPP and its result.  

March 2008

A seminar, Intermediate wintergreen and the Scottish Pinewood flora, was held at Great Glen House in Inverness. This brought together a range botanists, research workers and land managers with an interest in the characteristic and threatened plants of our pinewoods. The meeting attracted press interest with articles published in the Press and Journal, Herald and Scotsman. The meeting helped to inform the SAF Implementation Plan for Intermediate wintergreen. Further details of the day can be found here.