Caithness Lochs is a protected wetland area in the historic county of
Caithness
Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland.
Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded b ...
in the far north of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
. With a total area of 1,379 hectares, it covers six freshwater
loch
''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch.
In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...
s and a complex area of fen and swamp, and has been protected as a
Loch of Mey
Loch of Mey is a loch near the north coast of Caithness, Scotland, and one of the most northern water features of mainland Britain. It lies just to the south of Skarfskerry, and southwest of Harrow. Described as a "shallow ephemeral loch fringed ...
Loch Heilen
Loch Heilen is a loch in the civil parish of Dunnet in Caithness, Scotland. St. John's Loch and Loch Heilen are the two largest lochs in the parish. It is about inland from Dunnet Bay to the west, which is on the north coast of Scotland. The ...
,
Loch of Wester
''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch.
In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...
,
Loch Scarmclate
''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...
and
Loch Watten
Loch Watten is a loch in the River Wick drainage basin in Caithness, Scotland. The name is a tautology, consisting of the word "loch" (of Gaelic origin) and ''vatn'', a Norse word meaning the very same, found in such names as "Þingvallavatn" a ...
. These provide a variety of habitats for waterfowl and wading birds, including internationally important populations of greylag geese, white-fronted geese and
whooper swan
The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/) (''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, pronounced ''hooper swan'', is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type specie ...
s. It is also important for several species of reed, pondweed and water sedge.
As well as being recognised as a wetland of international importance under the
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...
, Caithness Lochs has also has been designated a
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...
and a
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...