Cairngorms and N.E. Scotland Water Vole Conservation projects

The Projects

The purpose of this website is to provide information on current water vole conservation projects in Scotland, to raise awareness of the decline in water vole populations and the reasons behind this, and to encourage volunteers to get involved in protecting their water voles and native wildlife.

The Cairngorms Water Vole Conservation Project is a partnership project between The University of Aberdeen, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Scottish Natural Heritage. This website provides information on this project, as well as providing information on water voles and the main reason for their decline in the UK - the American mink. You can also find out how you can get involved by volunteering in your local area.

Therre is also information on work being carried out in the North East through the local biodiversity action group NELBAP. Click on the North East link on the left hand side for more information and how you can get involed here.

The Cairngorms and North East projects are directed by Professor Xavier Lambin at the University of Aberdeen.

More recently, a mink control project has been launched in the North West Highlands, click on the NW Highlands link on the left hand side to find out about the work that is being done here to prevent mink from colonising the North West, protecting native biodiversity here.

These three projects are now working in partnership to secure a large area of the North of Scotland as a mink free area where water voles and other native wildlife can thrive.

Our aim

The water vole has declined dramatically in the past few decades, decreasing by more than 96% since 1950. This has been primarily due to predation by the invasive predator, the American mink Neovison vison. Invasive species can have damaging impacts on native biodiversity and it is therefore a priority to develop effective management strategies to protect vulnerable species.

Expanding our knowledge

Knowledge of water vole and mink populations from previous research projects and surveys, many of which were carried out by the University of Aberdeen and SNH in the Cairngorms and North East, will increase the success of the projects.

Alongside our primary aim of reducing mink density, we will gather information on the distribution and dynamics of mink and water vole populations in order to inform other conservation projects.