Hi All, 
. 
Yesterday we had a huge breakthrough in our campaign to stop the windfarm in the Clashindarroch. As you know we have been trying for 2 years to get the information contained in the Confidential Annexes of the Environmental Impact Assessment carried out by Vattenfall, so it could be properly scrutinised by our wildcat experts. Vattenfall (a company owned by the Swedish Government) have literally tried everything they could to prevent us from getting access to this key information. Of course, the more they tried to retain the information, the more we suspected that they had something to hide and the more determined our team became to get it.  
 
After a huge amount  of work by our legal team, and with clear instruction from the Public Inquiry, Vattenfall have finally had no choice but to release the data to us.   
 
We received it yesterday and we now know exactly why they didn't want to us to get. It is game changing, transformational. The survey data we have received confirms exactly what we had known all along (and what our own data shows), that there is a significant population of Scottish wildcats in the Clashindarroch and that their presence is found throughout the whole forest. They have confirmed what we have been saying, that this truly is a 'Wildcat Wonderland'. Going further and even more damning, is the fact that they have even found wildcats on the exact site for the proposed new windfarm development. There can be no doubt now that this industrial development will severely and negatively impact this wildcat population and their habitat. 
 
We are feeling a little strange. We are delighted that we now have the ammunition to provide the strongest possible objection to this windfarm, but this is tinged with disbelief. We are simply astounded by the level of disrespect and contempt shown towards the Scottish wildcat by Vattenfall, the Government agencies and all those associated with this development. It is now abundantly clear that they were more than happy to destroy this site which is critical  to the future survival of the Scottish wildcat.   
 
This is the rarest cat in the world, it is critically endangered, it is a truly iconic Scottish species. What is worse is that the Scottish government is fully aware of this data and yet their statutory agency, Nature Scot, publicly stated that they did not object to this windfarm development. This is despite the fact that the data we now have, shows that Nature Scot staff have found multiple wildcats there. They were literally happy to throw the wildcat under the bus. How can people charged with protecting the wildcat, turn their back on it and take their salaries? It is disgusting – and all this is at a time when the Scottish government is holding COP26.  You really couldn't make it up. We will reveal more information once we digest everything, but we wanted to inform you of this development straight away.  
 
Three things are abundantly clear: 
1. This data was never supposed to see the light of day. It was hidden in confidential annexes and protected by expensive lawyers, QC's, senior management teams and government red tape. We agree that genuinely sensitive information should be protected. But as most of this information has now been forced to be released to the public domain, it raises obvious questions that elements were never justified to have been kept from public view in the first place.  
2. If Wildcat Haven didn't exist, then this development would go ahead without any other conservation body in the whole of Scotland objecting to it. The wildcat would have no voice at all.  
3. We simply wouldn't have got this far without this petition and your support. It is abundantly clear that everyone trying to push through this development, is fully aware of the size of this petition. It is almost a million voices and that cannot be ignored by anybody. Each and every one of your signatures has made a difference. 
 
We are now in the best position possible to present what we believe will be an overwhelmingly compelling case to stop this development, on the grounds of it's potentially devastating impact on the future survival of the Scottish wildcat. It is only because you have supported us and given generously that we have got this far. There is still a lot of work to do in the run up to the Public Inquiry hearing at the end of February and we need to be fully resourced so we can take this all the way to Judicial Review, if we need to. We are doing well and have reached 70 percent of our target so far.  
If you can help us then please visit:

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/wildcats/ 
 
Seriously, you guys have been amazing, so from the bottom of our hearts and on behalf of all those beautiful wildcat in the Clashindarroch, THANK YOU. 
 
All the best as always 
The Wildcat Haven Team