Bamff
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Bamff is the home of the Ramsays of Bamff, and is located within a 525-hectare (1,300-acre) estate in Perthshire, Scotland. Bamff House began as a fortified tower in the late 16th century and was added to and altered in almost every century since then. Bamff Estate is one of the pioneering examples of rewilding in the United Kingdom.[1]
History
[edit]The Ramsays held the lands at Bamff from 1232, Nessus de Ramsay having been physician to Alexander II. His descendant, Alexander Ramsay, was physician to both James VI and Charles I. It was his son, Gilbert, who was made baronet in 1666 in recognition of the bravery of his own son, James, at the Battle of Rullion Green. The current owners are Paul and Louise Ramsay.[2]
Bamff Wildland
[edit]In 1992, Paul and Louise Ramsay began rewilding at Bamff Estate by first beginning to take agricultural land out of production (barley, sheep, and domestic cattle) and planting native pinewoods and broadleaf trees, establishing an early foundation for habitat recovery and rewilding.[1] Bamff was one of the first places in Scotland to pilot a new, globally recognised conservation approach known as Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) aimed at protecting and enhancing biodiversity beyond traditional protected areas.[3]
In 2020, Bamff expanded its conservation efforts by removing around 300 sheep from 12 fields and installing a perimeter fence around a third of the estate to create a 170 hectares (420 acres) 'Bamff Wildland'.[4] Bamff Wildland is a member of the Northwoods Rewilding Network in Scotland as well as the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, Rewilding Britain, and Rewilding Europe.
The first Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) to return to Scotland since their extirpation 450 years ago[5] were not government sanctioned and were first observed in the River Tay watershed in 2001.[6] Western European beaver were kept in an enclosure at Bamff beginning in 2002, began breeding in 2005, and there were likely accidental escapees into the River Tay watershed by about 2007.[7][8]
Paul Ramsay was arrested at the Perth Police Station when a beaver gnawed the gatepost of a house between Bamff and Alyth. Charges where dropped when he explained that the dispersing beaver could have come from anywhere in the Tay watershed.[9] In 2010, Scottish Natural Heritage announced a plan to trap the beaver recolonizing the River Tay, and place them in zoos. The Ramsays formed a nonprofit, the Scottish Wild Beaver Group, to educate and oppose the plan. However, the first beaver placed in a zoo died and the government suspended the trapping program.[9] Adam Ramsay published a children's picture book in 2026 entitled My Dad Brought Beavers Back, depicting the rewilding efforts of his father on the estate.[10]
Multiple academic studies of the impact of rewilding Bamff with beavers have been published. A twelve-year study (2003–2014) of the reintroduction of beaver to an agriculturally-drained and degraded fen at Bamff Wildlands documented a 46% increase in plant species richness and a 148% increase in plant species abundance, illustrating the impact of the ecosystem engineers.[11] A parallel study over the same period found that macrocyte (vascular plant) species richness increased 300%.[12] A third study of the same 5.3 acres (2.1 hectares) wetland found that organic matter retention and aquatic plant biomass increased (7 and 20 fold higher respectively) in beaver ponds relative to unmodified channels.[13]
In January 2024, Deborah Kim Davy reintroduced 12 Exmoor ponies to Bamff. This ancient breed, which fell below 50 surviving animals after World War II, is the closest living descendant of the wild pony of Northern Europe and ancestral to all the British Isles breeds of hill pony.[14] The ponies have thrived at Bamff and now number almost 30 animals, after exporting some colts to other refuges. Bamff is now an important breeding centre for the Exmoor pony with translocations guided by experts to optimize genetic diversity.[15]
Recreation
[edit]Bamff Estate hosts 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) of the Cateran Trail, an 103 kilometres (64 mi) circular long-distance walking route in central Scotland.
Bamff Ecotourism provides access to wildlife observers to see the beaver which inhabit a 32-acre (130,000 m2) area of woodland and wetland. The Exmoor ponies and other wildlife also attract visitors.
Performance Art Studies at Bamff Wildlands
[edit]University of Edinburgh researcher David Overend has studied the rewilding of Bamff as a model for interdisciplinary performance art, likening parallels between beaver-related ecological processes that are often entangled, unpredictable and stochastic, continually practiced, and at environmental edges (ecotones) between different habitats and creative performance that embrace similar principles.[8] He further compared the diversity of habitat patches between Bamff's beaver wildlands and the anthropogenic world and suggests they could inspire performance researchers to further "disrupt imaginaries" and "set in motion new lines of thinking".[16] Similar research based on sharing space with Bamff's beavers and undertaking mimetic behavior argues that artistic research can no longer function only on a humanist model (humans collaborating with humans on human issues) but can learn from the natural world and even explore interspecies communication.[17]
Notable former resident owners
[edit]Bamff Photo Gallery
[edit]
Bamff House, circa 1850
Beaver dam and wetland
Rewilded Eurasian beavers drown and girdle non-native conifer tree at Bamff.
References
[edit]- 1 2 Louise Wilson (5 November 2021). "Pioneering rewilding project in Perthshire shows us nature can rebuild with our help". Holyrood Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ Ramsey, James H., Sir. Bamff charters A.D. 1232-1703. OpenLibrary.org. OL 6592163M.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Bamff pioneers new approach to nature conservation in Scotland (Report). Edinburgh, UK: Scotland: The Big Picture. 19 May 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ Sophie Ramsay, Nonie Coulthard (1 February 2025). Beaver-Led Wetland Engineering- The Eurasian Beaver as an Ecosystem Engineer (PDF) (Report). Geneva, Switzerland: Global Rewilding Alliance. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
- ↑ Lee Raye (2014). "The early extinction date of the beaver (Castor fiber) in Britain". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. 27 (8): 1029–1041. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ Duncan J. Halley (2010). "Sourcing Eurasian beaver Castor fiber stock for reintroductions in Great Britain and Western Europe". Mammal Review. 41 (1). Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ Jones K, Gilvear D, Willby N, Gaywood M (2008). "Willow (Salix spp.) and aspen (Populus tremula) regrowth after felling by the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber): implications for riparian woodland conservation in Scotland". Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 19: 75–87. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - 1 2 David Overend (2 January 2023). "Field works: wild experiments for performance research". Studies in Theatre and Performance. 43 (1): 70–90. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
- 1 2 Ben Goldfarb (2018). Eager: the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter. White River Junction, VT, USA: Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-60358-739-6.
- ↑ Ramsay, Adam (2026). My Dad Brought Beavers Back (Picture Book). Edinburgh: Scotland Street Press (published 15 August 2026). ISBN 9781917881067.
- ↑ Alan Law, Martin J. Gaywood, Kevin C. Jones, Paul Ramsay, Nigel J.Willby (2017). "Using ecosystem engineers as tools in habitat restoration and rewilding: beaver and wetlands". Science of the Total Environment. 605–606: 1021–1030. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Alan Law, Kevin C. Jones, Nigel J. Willby (2014). "Medium vs. short-term effects of herbivory by Eurasian beaver on aquatic vegetation". Aquatic Botany. 116: 27–34. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Alan Law, Fiona McLean, Nigel J. Willby (2016). "Habitat engineering by beaver benefits aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem processes in agricultural streams". Freshwater Biology. 61 (4): 486–499. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Deborah Kim Davy (2024). Investigating factors affecting the future survival of Exmoor ponies: implications for ecological restoration and management of the breeding population (Thesis). Glasgow, UK: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 19 September 2026.<ref>Deborah Davy, Anna Kinghorn, Alexandra Brumwell, Elizabeth Kilbride, Susan Baker, Philip M.C. Davy, Fatema Al-Ghaithi, Barbara K. Mable (31 October 2025). "Origins and diversity of Exmoor ponies: A mitogenome framework for assessing maternal lineage diversification in endangered pony breeds". Evolutionary Biology Repository: 48. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "The Exmoor Ponies at Bamff Wildland". Bamff, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland: Bamff Ecotourism. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ Overender, David (2023). "Chapter 2: Ecology: Patchy Performance at Bamff Beaverlands". Performance in the Field- Interdisciplinary Practice as Research. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. pp. 31–60. ISBN 978-3-031-21425-7. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
- ↑ Laura Bissell (8 June 2020). "Ecologies of Practice- Landscaping with Beavers". RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research. 14: 16. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
Further Reading
[edit]- Ben Goldfarb 2018. Eager: the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter. Chelsea Green Publishing (White River Junction, VT, USA). ISBN 9781603587396
- Adam Ramsay 2026. My Dad Brought Beavers Back. Scotland Street Press (Edinburgh, UK). ISBN 9781917881067