An unlikely alliance has been formed to defend Scotland's heather-clad hills from Scottish Government plans to significantly increase the amount of woodland, which is low compared to many European countries.
In recent years there have been claims the Scotland's uplands are increasingly being being written out of the country's natural heritage, by the focus on tree planting.
Now the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) and Mountaineering Scotland have written a joint letter to Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham. They concerned at the impact, of what they see as a fragmented policy, on Scotland’s rare open landscapes enjoyed by both hill walkers and shooters alike.
In their letter the two organisations, who do not always agree on issues of land management, say: “While Scotland’s open landscapes and upland moors are classed as rare in global terms, there is currently no policy position safeguarding them. Some areas are designated as of special ecological or scenic interest but most are unprotected and disregarded.”
They point to official targets of 10 000 hectares of new planting each year until 2022, and the Scottish Government wanting woodland cover to increase from 17 per cent to 25 per cent by 2050.
Neither oppose "well sited, planned tree planting", but both question whether enough weight is being given to the significant changes this will have on the landscape and access.
Mike Watson, President of Mountaineering Scotland, said: “The SGA and ourselves have different views on a number of issues, but we have a common interest in the development of a land use policy that will protect the landscapes that we both value. Mountaineering Scotland will continue working to ensure access to mountain areas for our members, and it is imperative that the landscape of these areas is protected from inappropriate development. "
He said he hoped that a joint approach to the Scottish Government from the two organisations would demonstrate the wide ranging concern over the issue, and the need for development of a coherent policy that took into account the views of all interested parties.
Alex Hogg, SGA Chairman said: “Recent dialogue between both organisations established a great deal of common ground when it came to the pride our respective memberships have in the land, But also their worries about upland landscapes and how different they may look, in the not too distant future, if we don’t have a landscape policy which gives them the emphasis required. We have lost so much open moorland since the 1940s and a narrow view, now, may fail what we have left.”
Ecologist Dr James Fenton, a former chief executive of the Falklands Conservation Team and a botanist for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), has written a document called "A Future for Moorland in Scotland" for the SGA, which underlined the calls for moorland protection.
He said "It's disparaged rather than being recognised as important so they'd be quite happy to get rid of our finest landscape."
The expert, for many years the National Trust for Scotland's ecologist, has also previously challenged conservation bodies's insistence that native woodland must be protected from deer.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "The increased woodland creation targets announced by the Scottish government as part of its Climate Change Plan will be taken forward in a sustainable way, including working closely with a range of stakeholders. This will include appropriate consideration of Scotland's distinctive upland landscapes."
Scotland has a very low percentage of woodland cover compared with other countries in Europe, although it has increased over the last century. Finland tops the league of Europe's countries with 73 per cent forest cover. Then comes Sweden with 69 per cent. The UK is one of the least wooded , with just 13 per cent compared to around 37 per cent for EU as a whole. Within the UK, Northern Ireland has the least woodland cover, just 6.5per cent, followed by England at 9.9 per cent.
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