By Emmanuel Oluebube, Senior Correspondent UK    

On Monday March 28, 2022, conservation company Highland Titles achieved a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORD® for the world’s biggest bug/insect hotel, which means Highland Titles are “Officially Amazing!”®

The 199.9 cubic metre structure is located on the Highland Titles Nature Reserve at Duror in the Scottish Highlands and already houses a variety of species. It breaks the previous world record of 89.37 cubic metres, which was held by the Polish Association of Developers in Warsaw, Poland.

The world record-breaking bug hotel was made using felled sitka spruce from the nature reserve, masonry bricks, bamboo canes, wood chips, forest bark, wildflower seeds, clay pipes and strawberry netting.

 “This record-breaking initiative is about the environmental message,” says Douglas Wilson, CEO of Highland Titles. “We bought this land in 2006 when it was a poorly performing commercial forestry plantation of non-native Sitka Spruce.

“Like much of the Highlands, it was inappropriately planted in the late 1980s with no thought or consideration given to biodiversity. Using these same trees for something that puts nature first symbolises that the world has changed, and we hope our efforts will inspire others. We’d be delighted if someone beat our record in the future!”

Nature Reserve Manager, Stewart Borland, was part of a team of 7 who were involved in its construction which started in September 2021 and was completed in early March 2022. In addition to the environmental message, Mr Borland hopes that it encourages people to visit:

“In 2019, we had more than 10,000 visitors to the nature reserve from all over the world. The pandemic really put a dent in our visitor numbers, so we hope that this – together with the new track which is adored by cyclists – will encourage people to visit now that travel is opening up again. The more visitors we get, the more people can see the work that we’re doing.”