- Sunart
Sunart is a rural district and
parish in south westLochaber , Highland,Scotland , on the north shore ofLoch Sunart . Today is often labelled as part ofArdnamurchan . The main village isStrontian , at the head of theloch , which is the location ofArdnamurchan High School , the local fire station, police station and other facilities.The district is bounded to the south by the eastern half of Loch Sunart and by part of
Morvern , to the west by theArdnamurchan peninsula (beyond Salen), to the north byLoch Shiel , and to the east and north east by the district ofArdgour , from which it is divided by a range of high hills. Main access to the area today is viaGlen Tarbert , from theCorran Ferry , although there is also a road coming in fromLochailort , viaMoidart , to the north. Although the area may seem isolated now, in the past the main mode of transport in theWest Highlands was boat, and the district was well-integrated into the west coast economy and culture.Nearly all of the population live in a narrow ribbon of small settlements along the northern shore of Loch Sunart, with a southerly aspect. The inland, including the shore of Loch Shiel, consists of rough, hilly country, mainly
moorland ,peat bog and woodland, dominated by the main hill,Beinn Resipol , which is a Corbett.The main income for the area is tourism, with some salmon
fish-farming .Wildlife
The area is renowned for the richness of its wildlife, and it contains some of the best surviving remnants of the ancient
temperate Atlantic oak forest which once clothed most of the west coast of Scotland,Wales ,Cornwall andBrittany , but only survives in isolated pockets. Loch Sunart itself also has a richflora andfauna . In the past salmon andsea trout angling was important to the local hotels, but, like much ofEurope , the runs of fish in the spring and summer are much reduced.The area is reputed to have the widest variety of
fungi ,lichen andbryophyte species in the whole of Europe, due to the mild, wetoceanic climate .At present a campaign is underway to remove "
Rhododendron ponticum ", an invasiveintroduced species .Places in Sunart
*Achnanellan, Anaheilt, Ard Airigh, Ardery, Ardnastaing, Ariundle
*Drumnatorran
*Glenhurich, Gorstanvorran
*Polloch
*Resipole
*Salen, Scamodale, Scotstown,Strontian ee also
*
Ariundle Oakwood
*Claish Moss
*River Strontian
*Strontian Lead Mines
*Strontianite
*Strontium
*Sessile oak
*Tourism in Scotland External links
* [http://www.lochaber.com/sunart/index.htm lochaber.com - Sunart]
* [http://www.sunartoakwoods.org.uk/ Sunart Oakwoods Initiative]
* [http://www.nnr-scotland.org.uk/reserve.asp?NNRId=25 Ariundle Oakwood] ,Scotland's National Nature Reserves
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