GUEST ARTICLE

Wild land – the last 100 years

By Mark Wrightham

Mark Wrightham is a National Strategy Officer with Scottish Natural Heritage and a former member of the MCofS Access & Conservation Committee.

Wild Land is very much on the autumn discussions agenda this year; SNH’s Landscape and Energy seminar in November and JMT’s Wild Land seminar in October; the recent MCofS fight against bulldozing of tracks in remote areas such as Glen Dessary

Many Scottish hills share certain essential qualities, providing spectacular and largely natural landscapes in which human imprints are relatively light. These qualities are most pronounced in the more remote wild land areas, which have a particular cachet among seasoned hillgoers. Many commentators have highlighted the erosion of these areas by incremental development, including bulldozed tracks, afforestation and renewable energy schemes. The conundrum, however, is that our inability to measure this process has weakened the case for safeguarding that which remains. This problem has been particularly acute because individual developments are often of relatively localised impact, and their cumulative effects are therefore harder both to recognise and to address.

Very few studies have attempted a quantitative assessment of historic trends in the extent of wild land in Scotland. Adam Watson has documented the expansion of bulldozed tracks in the Cairngorms between 1960 and 1982, showing that such developments resulted in a 77% reduction in the extent of land more than 3.2km from the nearest vehicular track or road. A recent study has been commissioned by SNH to explore approaches which might be used to assess the collective impact of a wider range of developments during the last century. It is comparatively easy to monitor ongoing developments in relation to baseline data established for this purpose. It is, however, much more difficult to assess these trends retrospectively, due to a lack of suitable historic datasets. This project was therefore focused on tracks, forestry plantations and hydro power schemes, which can be identified on historic maps, and excluded other types of development, such as small-scale hydro schemes, and the effects of land management, such as grazing and muirburn. The study considered the Affric, Kintail and Knoydart area and was undertaken by Steve Carver, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist based at the University of Leeds.

Modern datasets recording tracks, plantations and hydro schemes were backdated using historic maps, allowing these developments to be quantified in the late 19^th century, the 1950s and at the present time. Several different GIS methods were then used to compare the extent of land which was remote from vehicular access, and land which was free of such visible features, at these times. Remoteness was mapped by simple distance measures and a more complex approach which estimated travel times on foot, using a modified version of Naismith’s Rule in conjunction with a digital terrain model. The visibility of tracks, plantations and hydro schemes was also mapped using a digital terrain model, assuming that such features are visible up to distance limits of 3 or 5km. These approaches only measure properties which are associated with wild land, rather than the resource itself, but should nonetheless lead to valid estimates of the relative effect of such developments on wild land over time.

These results suggest that the extent of land more than 5km from a road or track has decreased by 30%, in this part of the Highlands, over the last century. The extent of land without visible development of the above types has also decreased by between 30% and 39% over this period, depending on the distance thresholds applied. In both instances, the scale of change was much greater during the latter half of the 20^th century. The visibility analysis may indeed underestimate overall impacts on wild land because, as noted above, certain types of land use and development were unavoidably excluded. The 3 and 5km distance limits used for this analysis are also relatively conservative and some features, such as linear tracks, angular conifer plantations or reflective pipework associated with hydro schemes, can be highly visible from much greater distances.

This study gives a clear indication of the rate of attrition of wild land, at least within the Affric, Kintail and Knoydart areas. The large hydro schemes and angular conifer plantations within this area represent a legacy of earlier development trends which are now much less pronounced. Other types of development, however, are still ongoing. The construction of vehicular tracks continues sporadically, and new tracks have recently appeared in the Monar-Pait area. Most recent hydro development has been relatively small scale in nature, but such schemes can nonetheless significantly affect the wild qualities of these areas. Relatively recent innovations such as aquaculture development, telecommunications masts and windfarms could also contribute to the erosion of wild land if sited inappropriately.

National Planning Policy Guidance now requires local authorities to identify and safeguard wild land, and SNH, NTS and JMT have published policy statements which provide additional support to this objective. The recent decision by Ministers to refuse consent for the Shieldaig hydro scheme also provides an important precedent. There is, however, an outstanding need for greater consensus on the value of wild land. Action to safeguard this resource is still regarded in various quarters as a low priority, given the apparent robustness of mountain landscapes, or indeed as an obstacle to rural economic development. It is therefore important to emphasise the positive value of wild land in both economic and wider terms, and its vulnerability to incremental development. It is also necessary to extend this discussion beyond the mountaineering community, to include all who have a interest in the future of these areas. This study should make a positive contribution to this debate.

References

• Watson, A. (1984). A survey of vehicular tracks in North-East Scotland for land use planning. Journal of Environmental Management 18 345-353
• Carver, S. and Wrightham, M. (2003). Assessment of historic trends in the extent of wild land in Scotland: a pilot study. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No 012 (ROAME No. F02NC11A).

Copies of the SNH report can be obtained from Mark Wrightham at SNH, 27 Ardconnel Terrace, Inverness (01463 667922; mark.wrightham@snh.gov.uk).

SNH is organising a major conference on Energy and the Natural Heritage, to be held at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on Wednesday 10^th and Thursday 11^th November. Further details can be obtained from Helen Forster at SNH, 2 Anderson Place, Edinburgh EH6 5NP (0131 447 4784; helen.forster@snh.gov.uk).