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New Nursery to Save Scotland’s Twinflower

28 May 2026

Several twinflowers amongst leaves

New Cairngorms nursery for one of Scotland’s most delicate and distinctive wildflowers 

Plantlife Scotland and RSPB Scotland have established a new Twinflower Linnaea borealis nursery in the Cairngorms to give the rare species a chance of recovery.  

Twinflower, a pinewood plant once found across the Highlands, has suffered catastrophic declines over the past century due to widespread loss of native Scots pinewood habitat and is now considered ‘vulnerable*’ on the Red List. It is thought fewer than 800 individual plants remain in the UK, clinging on in fragmented patches mainly in and around the Cairngorms National Park. 

Plantlife has been leading a community of partners in pioneering restoration work, including advising on pinewood management and carefully translocating Twinflower populations to support cross-pollination. Through its Cairngorms Rare Plants Project, more than 1,000 Twinflower cuttings were moved or reinforced across 10 new sites to boost reproduction and help the species recover. 

Now, Plantlife and RSPB Scotland are taking the next step: creating a Twinflower nursery – developed on the site of a former tennis court at RSPB Abernethy Forest – that will rear young Twinflowers in a safe, controlled environment before planting them out into suitable wild habitats, which will support Twinflowers recovery in the long term.

“Twinflower is a jewel of the pinewoods and part of Scotland’s natural heritage,” said Sam Jones, Senior Ecological Advisor at Plantlife Scotland. “This new nursery will give us a lifeline for the species – ensuring that we can grow healthy plants and restore them to their rightful home in the pinewoods of the Cairngorms.” 

Volunteers have played a vital role in the project, with work beginning late 2025 to help build nursery beds and prepare the site. The first young Twinflowers were planted in April 2026 by the volunteer team. There are now 26 beds filled on site and the team aims to have all 98 beds completed and filled in a few years, alongside 150 translocations by 2040. 

Richard Mason, RSPB Abernethy Conservation Manager added: “We’re passionate about saving Scotland’s rare and endangered species and this exciting project, in partnership with Plantlife Scotland, will provide the opportunity to strengthen the abundance of this much-loved plant at Abernethy Forest and support its restoration in other forests so that it can thrive once again. We are grateful to Net Zero Scotland’s #NatureRestorationFund, managed by NatureScot for supporting this work.”