The remnants of a 12,000-year-old bog that once covered the whole of central Scotland has been granted status as a National Nature Reserve, Scottish Natural Heritage said yesterday.

Blawhorn Moss near Blackridge, West Lothian, is a survivor of a huge area of peat that was dug out for fuel or drained for farming.

Bog habitat is still under threat nationally - almost 94% of the UK's lowland bog habitat has been lost since the end of the 19th century - and Blawhorn is home to important plants including sphagnum moss, heather, cotton grass, crowberry, hair moss and the insect-eating round-leaved sundew.

Part of the area - visited by birds such as red grouse, snipe, curlew, redshank, teal, skylark and hen harrier - has already been designated an NNR but it was extended yesterday.

Iain Rennick, SNH's area manager for the Lothians, said: "In the past, bogs were considered unproductive land suitable only for cutting or draining.

"Today, that view has changed, and people appreciate them as important places.

"Not only do they provide habitats for many plants and insects, but they also act as carbon sinks, trapping carbon dioxide and helping combat global warming.

"Blawhorn is one of the best examples in central Scotland. We hope that today's celebration will raise people's awareness of the site and encourage them to visit.

"It's particularly pleasing to see the interest which local children have taken in the reserve, and that it has inspired them to produce such excellent work."

Blawhorn is already a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.

The name Blawhorn is said to come from the days when the local village of Blackridge was a midway coaching station between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Blawhorn was used as a viewing point for watching coaches approaching, when a horn would be blown to signal to the coaching inn down the hill at Blackridge, hence the name "Blow Horn".

The site is one of over 50 NNRs in Scotland.

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