Via Nostalgia
  • Chat
  • Trips
  • Explore
  • Saved
  • Themes
  • Routes
  • Essays
  • Books
  • Works
  • Heritage
  • Lists
  • Subscribe
Appearance
Sign In
Via Nostalgia
The Flow Country 1
The Flow Country 2
The Flow Country 3
The Flow Country 4
The Flow Country 5
© UNESCO World Heritage Centre
UNESCO WHCNaturalInscribed 2024

The Flow Country

Overview

The serial property, located in the Highland Region of Scotland, is considered the most outstanding example of an actively accumulating blanket bog landscape. This peatland ecosystem, which has been accumulating for the past 9,000 years, provides a diversity of habitats home to a distinct combination of bird species and displays a remarkable diversity of features not found anywhere else on Earth. Peatlands play an important role in storing carbon and the property’s ongoing peat-forming ecological processes continue to sequester carbon on a very large scale, representing a significant research and educational resource.

About The Flow Country

The Flow Country is a vast area of bog peatland in Caithness and Sutherland, northern Scotland. It is the largest blanket bog in Europe, and covers about 4,000 km2 (1,500 mi2). It is an area of deep peat, dotted with bog pools, and is a very important habitat for wildlife. As peat is largely made up of the remains of plants, which are themselves made up of carbon, it locks up large stores of carbon for thousands of years. This carbon would otherwise be released to the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. In 2024 the Flow Country was awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO on account of its unparalleled blanket bog habitat. It includes the Forsinard Flows National Nature Reserve and the Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands.

Read more on Wikipedia

Selection Criteria

(ix)

Components(7 locations)

Details

Countries
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
ISO Codes
GB
Area
187,026 ha
Coordinates
58.3992, -4.0461
View on UNESCO World Heritage Centre
← All UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Stay Nearby

The Flow Country

Attractions & Tickets

The Flow Country

Getting Here

The Flow Country