Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve

Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve
IUCN category II (national park)[1]
Clockwise, from top left: 1) an oak tree at Cartland Craigs; 2) one of the walkways at Chatelherault; 3) dense woodland at Cleghorn Glen; 4) Corra Linn within the Falls of Clyde.
Location	South Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Nearest city	Carluke, Hamilton, Lanark and Lesmahagow
Area	318 ha (790 acres)[2]
Designation	NatureScot
Established	1981; extended in 1987 and 2007.[3]
Owner	NatureScot, Scottish Wildlife Trust and South Lanarkshire Council

The Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve (NNR) comprises six separate woodland sites in the Clyde Valley region of South Lanarkshire, Scotland. These six sites are located along a 12 km section of the River Clyde and its tributaries, and lie close to built-up areas such as Hamilton and Lanark on the southern outskirts of Greater Glasgow. The sites can be easily accessed by about two million people living in the surrounding urban areas, making the reserve unique amongst Scotland's NNRs, most of which tend to be located in more remote areas.^[4] The six sites are:^[5]

• Cartland Craigs - managed by NatureScot
• Cleghorn Glen - managed by NatureScot
• Falls of Clyde- managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT)
• Hamilton High Parks at Chatelherault - managed by South Lanarkshire Council (SLC)
• Mauldslie Woods - managed by SLC
• Nethan Gorge - managed by SWT

The woodlands are located in steep-sided river gorges and contain outstanding examples of the ancient, semi-natural, deciduous woodland which would once have covered much of the Central Belt. Plant species found on the floor of the woodlands include bluebells, wild garlic, wood anemone and wood sorrel. The woodlands are also home to an unusual array of invertebrates including various species of beetles, hoverflies and caddisflies. Larger creatures include badgers and breeding peregrine falcons.^[4] At the Falls of Clyde in particular there are endangered peregrine falcons and rare tundra plant life that has survived on a cliff face since the last Ice Age.^[6]

The reserve was first established in 1981, when Cleghorn Glen was declared a National Nature Reserve. In 1987 Cartland Craigs was declared part of the reserve, which was renamed as the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve. In 2007 four additional sites (Chatelherault, the Falls of Clyde, Mauldslie Woods and Nethan Gorge) were declared parts of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve.^[3]