- Client
- A 2,600-hectare upland estate in central Scotland (anonymised)
- Sector
- Rural estates & land management
- Location
- Central Scotland
- Year
- 2024
A whole-estate biodiversity baseline for a Scottish upland estate
We gave a Scottish estate a clear picture of its birds and mammals to guide management and evidence its commitment to nature.
An upland estate in central Scotland. © Okala
2,600 ha
estate surveyed
52
camera-trap locations
74
bird species detected acoustically
The challenge
The estate is committed to protecting and restoring nature, but past bird surveys gave only a partial picture. Its managers wanted solid evidence of what lives where, to guide decisions on deer, woodland and wetland management and to demonstrate progress to others.
What we did
Between June and August 2024 we deployed 52 camera traps and 18 acoustic recorders across the 2,600-hectare estate and sampled its lochs for eDNA. Our AI pipeline processed the data, ecologists verified the results, and the estate team received access to NatureCube, with training.
The outcome
Acoustic monitoring detected 74 bird species and cameras recorded nine mammal species. The estate now has an evidence-based picture of the wildlife on its land, including how deer use the uplands and lowlands, to inform its deer, woodland and wetland management. Its team explores the data in NatureCube, so they can check records and answer questions without waiting for a report.
