Researchers from the University of the Highlands and Islands and other institutions are taking part in a new £2.7 million project exploring how Sphagnum moss could be made more resilient to drought and changing weather patterns and could help support the health of peatlands, which play an important role in carbon storage, biodiversity and water retention.
The research team will identify local populations of Sphagnum across the UK and Ireland that are naturally more resistant to drought and will also develop methods for producing new drought-tolerant varieties of Sphagnum, including controlled breeding, which has not previously been established for the moss.
A decommissioned American warship has been used as target practice and deliberately sunk in the Atlantic some 170 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. The vessel was struck by missiles and a torpedo fired by both the US and UK Navys.
A spokesperson for the US Navy said that the extensive preparations for the exercise included putting the vessel through a rigorous cleaning process to remove contaminants and old equipment, thereby assuring that the environmental impact of the exercise was minimal. Personnel were also said to have checked for the presence of whales and dolphins before the live-firing exercise started.
Dingwall Museum is looking to expand having taken on the lease of former shop premises in the town at 64 High Street. Initially the Museum will open a shop to replace its previous shop which had to close when the building at Eagle House was declared unsafe and in future it plans to create a heritage hub in part of the building with a meeting room, library and office to the rear.
One of the Museum’s trustees confirmed the hope is for the premises to be purchased with the aid of grant funding from the Scottish Land Fund making the Museum a feature of the High Street.
