Out of Doors

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Out of Doors: Curling Stones, Alpacas and a Shinty Trail

Curling Stones, Alpacas and a Shinty Trail

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, Curling Stones, Alpacas and a Shinty Trail

Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith with stories from the great outdoors.

Euan meets Dr Juliano Morimoto, a researcher from Aberdeen University who is warning that current conservation policies are falling short of protecting insects from the threat of extinction.  He explains why insects are so important to life on earth.

In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark speaks to Ninian Stuart, the Steward of Falkland Estate.  We hear an excerpt of Ninian explaining how he views modern land ownership. 			

Newton Nursery near Elgin grows seven million of the 25 million trees Forestry and Land Scotland plants each year.  It recently celebrated its 90th birthday and Mark went to visit to hear about its history and the plans for the future. 
		
The Shinty Trail is an interactive storytelling resource and visual guide to the shinty heritage of Badenoch, in the Cairngorms National Park. Euan went along to find out more.

Alpacas and alpaca trekking have become increasingly popular in Scotland over recent years.  Mark visits an alpaca farm near Elgin to find out more about these friendly creatures. 

The Winter Olympics are underway and as always, team GB have their hopes on medals in the curling competition.  But the players aren’t the only Scottish thing on the ice, the stones have travelled all the way to Beijing from the island of Ailsa Craig in the outer Firth of Clyde.  We speak live to Dr Bob Gooday from National Museums Scotland about why the geology of the island makes it perfect for producing curling stones.

And this week’s mystery bird is an unusual one and certainly wouldn’t be found visiting your bird table.  Euan reveals all.

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