Parliamentary Briefing
Debate on endangered species and wild land conservation
Wednesday 6th March 2013
Wild land in Scotland needs to be recognised as one of our most important assets, of great
significance to the tourism industry and all who enjoy outdoor recreation.
Protection through a new environmental designation is to be welcomed, but there are other
ways, through the planning process and in the design of financial incentives, that can also
help to secure wild land values.
The most serious threat to wild land at present is from Scottish and UK Government energy
policies, notably the promotion of large scale windfarm development in areas of wild land
value. Such developments need to be curtailed, with more emphasis given to offshore
development.
Of immediate concern are threats from windfarm development close to the western boundary
of the Cairngorms National Park. This boundary needs to be extended towards Fort
Augustus and the whole national park put forward for designation as a World Heritage Site.
Ramblers Scotland welcomes this timely debate on endangered species and wild land conservation.
We recognise the difficult challenge faced by politicians in having to balance the needs of wild land
protection against the need to develop sources of renewable energy. However we believe that
while global climate change and energy security issues need to be addressed, with urgency, the
way this is being done at present is damaging Scotland’s overall environmental quality and
reputation. We support the development of renewable energy, including wind energy, but believe
that there need to be major changes to planning policy and the financial incentives that underpin
windfarm development. The landscape impacts of large turbines, especially in and near areas
valued for their wild land qualities need to be given greater recognition. On land the majority of
future development needs to be based on local, small scale developments mainly associated with
farm and forest land, generally with turbines less than 30 metres to the vertical blade tip. The future
for large scale developments, with turbines 100 metres or more in height, should be offshore.
We are supportive of the proposal from the John Muir Trust to create a new environmental
designation to protect wild land, but are concerned that the process for establishing such a
designation, including new legislation, will take too long and too small an area of Scotland will be
protected for its wild land value.
There is a need to emphasise that Scotland is a country that is renowned across the world for the
beauty of its scenery. The landscapes which form the very essence of this reputation are
essentially wild and relatively unmodified by human activity. So much of the land has never been
cultivated, much of the landforms have remained since the last Ice Age, largely unmodified, and
industrial development affects only a small proportion of the land surface. Over so much of
Scotland, the natural vegetation remains, albeit that forest cover has changed substantially and
many moorland areas have been modified by burning and grazing. Nevertheless, there are few
other countries in the world where the degree of modification of landforms and vegetation is less,
especially in upland areas, and this is a key factor in maintaining Scotland’s reputation as a country
of great natural beauty, of which its ‘wildness’ is an integral part. We hope that politicians of all
parties will recognise these qualities and resolve to give them greater protection.
It is necessary also to emphasise how wild land in Scotland is readily accessible to the main
population centres. Our towns and cities are very much closer to our wild land than in many other
countries – a wild land experience in Scotland can be enjoyed in a few hours from home or hotel,
without the need for a multiday excursion. This accessibility of our wild land, and the wild weather
than is often part of the experience, needs to be taken into account in deciding how to best protect
the resource and its enjoyment.
While considering the need for a wild land designation we must also ask whether enough is being
done to ensure that the existing suite of designations, whether Sites of Special Scientific Interest,
National Scenic Areas, or National Parks, is being used effectively enough to protect wild land.
For example, in the case of the Cairngorms it is now clearly evident that there is a serious problem
with the western boundary of the national park. Development pressure outside this boundary
threatens the integrity of the National Park as a whole. This boundary is far too close to the central
part of the Cairngorms massif, the Cairn Gorm - Ben Macdui and Braeriach - Cairn Toul plateaux.
These plateaux are the finest examples that we have in the UK of truly wild, unspoilt mountain
landscape, akin to the wilderness areas of northern Scandinavia and other arctic lands. It is
extraordinary that the views from this superb tract of land, which provides an exceptional outdoor
recreation experience, is in danger of being compromised by proposed windfarms, such as the
Stronelairg and Allt Duine proposals, located close to the Park’s western boundary. This week, with
superb snow cover in the Cairngorms, a magnificent ski tour around all four of the high peaks can
be enjoyed, with the adjacent, rolling hills of the Monadhliath spreading out to the west, beyond the
western boundary. Surely nobody with any sensitivity towards our landscape can support the
erection of 443ft wind turbines in such a view, turning one of the UK’s finest wild landscapes into an
industrial site?
We believe there are three priorities to consider in terms of protecting Scotland’s wild land:
Firstly, the western boundary of the Cairngorms National Park should be extended across the
Monadhliaths until it is close to Fort Augustus, and all windfarm applications within this area should
be rejected, in their entirety. At the same time consideration needs to be given to promoting the
Cairngorms National Park as a potential World Heritage Site, for designation under the World
Heritage Convention as an outstanding area of worldwide significance for its cultural and natural
values. The Cairngorms was proposed for such an accolade as long ago as 1981 but successive
UK and Scottish Governments have done little to advance the case in the last 30 years.
Secondly, if a new environmental designation designed to protect wild land is not agreed at present,
we should consider whether wild land protection needs can be built into planning policies as a
whole, as well as into the financial incentives which underpin much of what happens on the land,
especially in support of agriculture and forestry. We need to gain a widespread acceptance and
understanding that wild land is present everywhere, with different degrees of "wildness" or
"wilderness" quality, from the green spaces in our cities to the tops of the mountains. In this way we
have a basis for building criteria into our existing planning and financial mechanisms to protect wild
land and its enjoyment.
Thirdly, to address public concerns about the scale of windfarm development in Scotland, the
subsidy regime (the Renewables Obligation) should be scrapped for large scale onshore windfarm
development. Any energy subsidies should instead be directed towards the support of small scale
farmer/crofter/community turbine developments and large offshore windfarm development.
Ramblers Scotland is the representative body for walkers in Scotland and recognised by sportscotland as a
Scottish Governing Body of Sport. We have around 6,500 members in Scotland and 115,000 across Great
Britain, and 54 local walking groups in Scotland run entirely by volunteers. We campaign to promote walking
for health and pleasure, to safeguard and facilitate public access to land, and to protect the natural beauty of
the countryside.
For more information contact Dave Morris, Director, on dave.morris@ramblers.org.uk, Tel: 01577 861222.
Ramblers Scotland, Kingfisher House, Auld Mart Business Park, Milnathort, Kinross, KY13 9DA
President: Dick Balharry Convener: David Thomson Director: Dave Morris
The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (England and Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England (no 4458492).
Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW