Developers are threatening the ‘wildness’ of Scotland: report
IT is the last of the great wildernesses in the UK and is home to some of the most vulnerable species in the country.
But a new report has revealed that Scotland’s wild lands are in long-term decline due to the pressures for development.
It has revealed that the rate of loss is accelerating as the scale of development has also increased. Areas including mountains, moorlands, lochs and rivers, and coasts with limited human impact have been labelled as “Wild Land Areas” by NatureScot.
The newly-published report, commissioned by the Scottish Wild Land Group in association with the Scottish Mountaineering Trust and The Cairngorms Campaign, shows that Scotland’s “wildness” is in long-term decline because of the continuing pressure for development, both within the wild land areas and around their fringes.
Windfarms
DEVELOPMENTS identified as posing the greatest threat are energy generation and associated infrastructures such as hydroelectric schemes and windfarms.
Other areas of concern identified include plantation forest expansion and hill track construction with the latter often associated with estate management.
The Scottish Government is currently consulting on its strategic plans for the country through the draft National Planning Framework 4.
Scottish Wild Land Group has stated that if Scotland, and particularly the Highlands, is to retain its reputation for its iconic scenery, it is imperative that the importance of its protection, including its wildness, is fully recognised in the new framework.
This should include, the group says, stronger protection for Wild Land Areas than is currently envisaged.
Dr James Fenton of the Scottish Wild Land Group, who co-ordinated the report, said: “There has long been a mismatch between the commonly-stated view that the Highlands are renowned for their scenery and the practical measures in place for its protection.
“This report should be a wake-up call for us all to realise that the Highland landscape is under threat from ill-sited development.
“If we really do care for our scenery, we must ensure that there is strong protection for it in the planning system, including the Wild Land Areas. Otherwise attrition of this fantastic asset will continue apace, and, in time, future generations will inherit an impoverished landscape.
“Of course we need development in the Highlands, but it must be in the right place and not destroy what is the essence of the Highland mountain landscape.”
1750 analysis
A SAMPLE of four Wild Land Areas was analysed in detail to show the landscape changes which have occurred from the 1750s to the present day.
The problem of maintaining wild lands in the Highlands and the damage that can be done was revealed in a recent report which showed a rewilding estate was discovered as a net source of damaging greenhouse gas emissions.
Research carried out at the Bunloit Estate at Loch Ness showed carbon emissions from peatlands more than cancel out sequestration by woodlands.
The “unsettling picture” is being presented tonight to the COP26 climate conference, along with plans to reverse the situation. This includes peatland restoration, felling non-native conifer plantations on top of peat bogs, and planting native broadleaf trees.
The 1,262-acre Bunloit Estate was bought last year by Dr Jeremy Leggett, former scientific director at Greenpeace. It has since set up the Bunloit Rewilding Project to increase carbon sequestration and biodiversity.
The research shows an estimated 866 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) a year is being sequestered in woodlands and grasslands covering 86.3 per cent of the estate. But open peatlands, which cover around 13.7%, are responsible for an estimated loss of 1,106 tCO2e annually.
This means an estimated average net loss of 240 tCO2e a year for the estate.
‘Unsettling’
BEN Hart, who manages carbon and biodiversity accountancy, said: “We find an unsettling picture of a verdant estate, replete with healthy woodlands, being a net source of greenhousegas emissions, with an estimated average net loss of 240 tCO2e a year.
“We have two main routes to reversing this most undesirable state of affairs. The first is to fell non-native conifer plantations sitting atop the peat, letting the compressed bogs ‘breathe’ again, with healthy moss growing and drawing carbon dioxide down into the wetland. Meanwhile [we will be] planting broadleaves elsewhere on the estate to compensate for the carbon stock loss in the plantations.
“The second is peatland restoration, in particular by blocking drainage channels so as to promote moss growth by retaining water in the bogs.”
This report should be a wake-up call for us all to realise that the Highland landscape is under threat from ill-sited development