Lochaline Primary School Wildlife Garden

One of the action points in Live Life Morvern was to further develop the Wildlife Garden at Lochaline Primary School. Steve Hardy who has been involved in this project said:

“There has been a wildlife area at Lochaline Primary school since the early 1990’s. When the new school was built much of this was lost, but a small area, including a pond, was retained in the southwest corner. The pond was prone to drying out, so in 2020 a new liner was installed. This has meant that the pond no longer dries out, but shortly after the new liner was put in its level did drop, so it must have a puncture somewhere. However, although the level isn’t as deep as what would be ideal, at least it doesn’t dry out completely.

A Scottish Wildlife team built a bridge across the pond so that school children could use it for pond dipping and observations. This bridge was refurbished in 2024.

A new fence was erected around the school in 2025, and the wildlife area and pond are now outside of this.

The wildlife area is in need of some attention. It has become too enclosed by large trees, cutting out much of the light and usable space. Some tree thinning would be good. Also the paths need strimmed and maintained, and there is a rubbish pile at the back of the pond area that needs cleared away. Any clearance work should be undertaken outside of the bird breeding season. Also, any clearing / maintenance should be minimal, allowing better access and making the area child and people friendly, whilst maintaining a natural wild state for nature.

The school wildlife garden / pond area could become a much better resource for the school with a bit of time and attention.

The pond and wildlife garden is located at the end of the school access path that runs from the shop to the school. This path was put in place so that children could walk safely to and from school, avoiding the main road.

This path runs alongside an area of rough pasture to the west of the path and village, which is now being actively managed by Ardtornish estate to improve it for a rare butterfly, the marsh fritillary. Ardtornish will be grazing the area at certain times of the year, using cattle, and removing grazing at other times, following advice provided by butterfly conservation. It’s hoped that this grazing program will improve the habitat for the butterfly and improve biodiversity generally.

 “ There is great potential to improve the school wildlife garden, not just for the school, but also making it accessible to members of the public outside of school hours, as is the path already. There could be a bench / seating area at the pond.

Also, there could be some interpretation / a seating area along the path to and from the school / wildlife garden about the area being looked after for butterflies and nature that the path runs beside. 

The path and school wildlife area could link up to other paths around the village, and to potentially new ones.”