Just as the limits of The First Great Wood of Caledon are vague in both time andspace, so in this Manifesto the bounds of 'The Highlands' to which it refers and'The Second Great Wood' which it envisions have been deliberately left impreciselydefined. Its application to the Islands, both Hebridean and Northern, is directlyrelated to the extent of and form in which The Great Wood survived or could berecreated thereon today. The great variations in local climate and soils betweenislands make it pointless to draw definite boundaries on a map. For the purposes ofthis Manifesto The Scottish Highlands may be taken to refer to a biographicalregion extending northwards from The Highland Boundary Fault (running from themouth of the Clyde to Stonehaven). Within this region lying along the east coast canbe found some of Scotland's best agricultural land (as well as the region's principalcentres of human population). The Manifesto is principally concerned with thegreat proportion of the land mass of the Highlands lying west of this narrow strip.

This Manifesto was conceived as a constructive contribution to the debate onHighland Development. At the very least, we hope that it provides some pertinentinformation and fuels some less conventional, less moribund thinking on the subjectof Highland land-use and the possible futures we could choose.

Produced by the Land-Use Working Group of theHighland Green Party, May 1989.

There is fresh debate about the future of the rural Highlands of Scotland to whichthis Manifesto is addressed: in particular there is exciting new vigour and interest inthe small farming and crofting way of life.

We have seen three Development Programmes undertaken for the rural Highlandsand Islands recently and in such a disadvantaged region these have not beenunwelcome. But the big questions still seem to remain about the long-term futu re:

• Are current measures likely to give enough hope and lasting reinvigoration of ruraleconomies to hold young people within them? Will they ensure the survival of localschools, shops and other basic facilities? More than this, will they actively promote thedevelopment of new ones within the context of a thriving population?

• Do these Development Programmes represent anything significantly more thanunimaginative, stop-gap grant packages that experience tells us merely underminecreativity and self-reliance in the long term and circumscribe too closely the possibleareas of improvement and development?

• Is anyone taking on the responsibility of developing the truly diverse and inte­grated ways of managing the Highlands' vast natural resources of land and water whichwe need to deliver us from the present emphasis on single industries and forms of landuse which bring whole communities into their dependence.

• Will the various Highland Authorities get their act together quickly enough toprevent the wholesale conversion of the Highlands to a blanket conifer monocultureowned and managed by people who do not live in the region?

MANY PEOPLE ARE WORRIED THAT THE ANSWER TO THESEQUESTIONS MIGHT BE NO ... IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE PEOPLETHEN THIS MANIFESTO SHOULD INTEREST YOU.

3

"Britain hasoneofthemost extensive anddocumented histories of deforestation of anycountryin theworld. Indeedthestory of how we lost our forests is virtually the same as the history of our island race."1

Only just over one thousand years ago a vast primeval forest extended across the whole of Highland Scotlandreaching up even into the higher corries and down to the western seaboard. It had evolved over a period of 8000 yearssince the frozen ice sheets of the last great Ice Age drew away north . In the east and central Highlands it wasdominated by pinewoods and birch for the whole of that long period, in the West a more purely deciduous element ofbirch, oak and hazel had tende d to replace pine in the latter stages. In total, the forest was very rich in plant andanimal species and the soils which it had helped to build were protected and nourished by their dense covering oftrees . This was the Great Wood of Caledon.

Though Neolithic Man had probably removed some trees for agricultural purposes by about 3500 years ago, theseincursions into the Great Wood were nothing compared with the Viking's impact between AD800 and 1100. Whatthey did not take away for building houses and boats they burnt in warfare, though there yet remained great tracts ofvirgin forest for another 500 years .

Between 1600 and 1750 there was a further period of particularly severe forest destruction in the west Highlandsby the iron smelters from the south. This ended by about 1815by which time the Great Wood was already devastatedand fragmented; the forest of the eastern Highlands having been felled principally for timber. Nevertheless, eventhen a few areas of Scots Pine remained and some glens still had their patches of predominantly birch woodland. Thelast wolf did not disappear from these until as late as 1743. Before it the last beaver had been exterminated in the 15thor 16th century, the last elk at the beginning of the 14th, reindeer in the 12th or 13th and the last bear in the 9th or10th century.

By the 18th centu ry cattle had become the mainstay of the Highland economy along with mixed arable croftingand, on the coasts , the herring . Late that century, as the openhillsides were beginning to be claimed as 'deer forests 'for the sole use and pleasure of the new breed oflaird , resentment between sporting landowners and their tenants wasstirring. What happened at the end of that century tore the heart out of the Highlands as it tore the people from theland and sounded the death knell for a way of life, a way of husbandry, indeed a whole ecology. The Coming of theSheep and the ensuing Clearances were a catastrophe from both human and ecological standpoints. The new patternsof settlement, or rather depopulation, are with us today as is the legacy of a virtual single-animal monoculture: analmost complete deforestation and what can only be described as the [mal round of vegetation and soil degeneration.

The coming of the sheep almost completed the story of forest removal. The last remnants of woodland were felledor so heavily grazed under.that they could not regenerate. The mismanaged, over-populous red deer contributed tothe grazing pressure on potentially regenerating woods. The trees that had built , nourished and protected Highlandsoils over those 8000 years were destroyed in a small fraction of that time. In the high rainfall of the region, theremoval of forest led to a rapid loss of nutrients and waterlogging, a process tha t continues in the uplands to this dayunder grazing and burning regimes which take continuously from the land, never giving anything back .

4VI I VUI \;;taHUIY, UIC la:5l CIK at urc UC~UHHU~VI urc l"tUl, reinuccr UI urc 1~111 01' 1.:HIl auu LIlt: la:5L oear IU LIlt: ::nIl or

10th cenairy.~y the, 18th century cattle had bec?me the mainst~y of th~. ~~g~.land eco.no~y along ~ith. ~ixe~ ar~ble c!oftin~

I IntroductionABOUT THIS GREEN MANIFESTO

«It is a tenet of the ecologists' approach to land usethat renewable resources should be conservedand managed for asustained yield rather than squandered for short-term advantage as has been done in the past."?

The PROLOGUE to this GREEN MANIFESTO tells of the devastation of the original Highland forest, thedestruction of a naturally bestowed and enormously rich potential humanresource. The next section, THE MYTH ANDTHE REALITY, demonstrates how this affects what people do today (and their perception of what it is possible todo), over the greater part of the rural Highlands. It identifies the ecological truths about the way man presently usesthe land, the effects that this is having on the whole ecology of the Highla nds and indicates the probable outcome ofunsatisfactory land uses. These often harsh realities are contrasted with popular and romantic images of the majesticHighlands.

The core of the Manifesto is a vision of a possible Highland future built on a FOREST ECONOMY through therecreation of a SECOND GREAT WOOD OF CALE DON: a new economy of great diversity and richness to supplythe needs of a larger population than currently exists in the region with a wider range of employment possibilities,foods, materials and energy sources. It describes a new environment of great beauty and lasting prosperity . It is afutu re consistent with the inexorable Greening of the world; a process that represents a redefmition of Man'srelationship with Nature at both a spiritual and pragmatic level.

After the vision come some down-to -earth proposals. Some of these are inevitably of a negative type: the worstmalpractices of land-use and injustices of land ownership mustbe ended as soon as possible and Greens are not afraid topinpoint these . Alongside these negative imperatives stand the positive suggestions , THE FIRST STEPS we couldtake right away to move away from these malpractices and injustices and on towards the Greener goals envisagedwithin the Second Great Wood of Caledon .

::J::l--~"n"'l--"n" "l--"" ~1 .... .... ;fpC't-A ""AIAll..~rl t-I""\V~C n ;l1P pV~Tl'lnlpc;: nf!:ln~ infnrm::ltl0n ::lhOllt c;: im1l::l r nol1cl'es Sf nfece~eHtsThroughout the Mamtesto, co oured. boxes give examp es 0 and. mtormanon about simi ar po IC es 1-' eceUe IS

to those suggested (from both this country and abroad) and help to form a picture of a FOREST ECONOMY. Theydemonstrate both the practicality of the Greenprint and how sadly behind many regions of the world Scotland hasbecome in its planning for the SUSTAI NABLE, POST-INDUSTRIAL, ECOLOGICALLY BASED FUTURE .

"The Highlands and Islands of Scotland have suffered for some hundreds of years by being a second-classneighbourhood oflittleimportance toa dominant South. Whensouthern government ultimately andbelatedly acceptedits administrative responsibility for the Highlands, the patterns of administration were not those adapted from theindigenous culture but were those of a quite foreign and-in general urban culture/"

Britain was the first nation to industrialize and can now lead the world into a post industrial civilization. Ratherthan being the poor follower of the south in its development, the Highlands has the opportunity to adopt anecological strategy and be at the forefront ofmodem political endeavours: to live off the resources of the planetwithout destroying them and to share them justly amongst a population.

5

11 The Myth and the Reality I

". . . more often thannotweare looking at a man-made desert. Thebare hillside keptbare byburning andthegrazingof an artificially large stock ofsheep are notwild nature. Thelasnumsequences, thehundreds of thousands of acres ofbracken and deer's hair sedge are not nature but the results of ill treatment of nature . . .,,4

The starting point for a modern land-use strategy must be the ecological realities of past andpresent. It is these which must guide the economic development of the region prescribing thewisest and most sustainable usage of the land.

1.1 The Myth speaks of a natural wild land, but thetruth tells of an exceedingly unnatural, biologicallydegraded, physically eroded and denuded near desert.

1.2 The Myth speaks of eagles and ospreys, blackthroated divers and seals but neglects to tell that theseare but the pathetic isolated remnants of a once fabu­lous abundance of wildlife. What rare creatures stillremain are often mercilessly persecuted or unneces­sarily threatened to this day by industrial forester onthe boglands, by fish-farmer on the coast, bygamekeeper in the hills.

1.3 The Myth tells of hunting stags, shooting grouseand angling for wild salmon. But the truth is that ourred deer are amongst the smallest, feeblest specimensin Europe, our native salmon are dying out only to bereplaced by emasculated, flabb y, farmed imposters andthe ever declining bags of grouse sadly reflect thedramatic decline in numbers of all our game birds thiscentury.

1.4 The Myth may teU of a majority of people livinghappily off the land on intensively managed crofts, butthe truth is of a region where very little food is grown inrelation to the land area, very little power generated inrelation to the potential natural renewable resourcesand very little timber -grown either as fuel or as buildingmaterial for the region itself.

1.5 There is really only one area in which the Mythwould seem to match the Reality and that is in the

6

domain of landownership. The Highland laird yet liveson as part of an anachronistic pattern of feudal land­ownership that keeps people from a true fulfillment oftheir potentials and the land from becoming that right­ful equal source of possible livelihood and pleasure toall.

1.6 The Myth may have its uses to the tourist indus­try and in the London clubs frequented by absenteelandlords but it has constantly obstructed a rationalappraisal of the state of the land and economy. This isan essential prerequisite of a lasting prescription for avigorous and sustainable land-use economy. It is hightime to dismantle the Myth in the true interests oftheHighland people; in the interests of forging the basisfor radical land-use and ownership reforms andplans.

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The biologically degraded, physically eroded and treeless wetdesert of the Highlands.

lor raurcar lana-usc: anu ownersmp Ct:IUClll~ cUIU

_ MYTH &REALITY

THEREALITY OF HILL-FARMING1.7 Over the bulk of the land mass of the Highlandsthere exists a grazing system peculiar to Scotland; thereis none other in Europe that allows a single beast , thesheep , virtua l free range of all habitats and altitudesand which tolerates such low productivity and highmortality. Also, taken as a whole, there is no region inthe EEe more heavily subsidized for uneconomic farm­ing . Despite this , crofters and farmers in the mostdisadvantaged areas of the Highlands find that theaverage 'profit' only more or less equals the govern­ment subsidy.

MISMANAGEMENT"50% of the two million lambs lost annually in theuplands of B ritain die due to the effects ofexposure. ,, 5

"Lambingpercentage in many areas is nowaslowas50% and up to lf4 of lambs die of hypothermia in asevere winter with more than one million lost in anaverage year." 1

1.8 On a hill-sheep farm one man looks after 200sheep on average. Whether he can do this well is a mootpoint, but that is the average ratio of sheep to shepherdin the Highlands and the economics of the industrydictate that level. So one man 's livelihood can occupyabout 400 hectares. Hill-sheep farming as practiced inthe Highlands can only be described as profligate inits usage of land and dismal in J,its employment ofpeople.

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A grazingsystem peculiar toScotland: thesheephave virtualfreerange of all habitats and altitudes.

7

EMPLOYMENTEach sheep needs about two hectares of land onwhich to graze. That is one shepherd to about 405hectares onanunimproved sheepfarm; onemanto40hectares on average in present day forestry.

Birchwood withoutregenerationdue to grazingof sheep anddeer;

UNSUSTAINABLE HUSBANDRY"Crop rotation andthe incorporation ofa leguminousbreak are accepted as beneficial but the hill-farmerwho practices this system on his arable land fails to

detect anything wrong with a wholly extractiveregime on his continuously grazed hillland."2

1.9 The ecological interaction between sheep grazierand forest is historical fact . Once the remaining woodswere felled to increase the area of grazings (mostly inthe late l Sthand early 19th centu ries), sheep were thenable to prevent any further regeneratio n of trees bypressure of numbers. Even woods which were notfelled were, and still are to this day, continuouslygrazed so that they die on their feet .

1.10 Without tree canopy to intercept the h~vy rain ­fall of the region , the soils become rapidly 'leached oftheir nutrient fund. The more shallowly rooted remain­ing vegetation is unable to bring to he surface what fewbasic elements there might be to derive from an intrin­sically acid bedrock. Heather, moor-grasses and sedgestherefore only lay down acid humus and , without anyartificial addition to the soil-vegetation complex, ittends towards very low levels of fertility .

and torest IS rustoncai tact. Once the remaining WOOQS

were felled to increase the area of grazings (mostly in~L _ 1 _ ~ _ 1 O~L ' __ ...1 1_ _ 1 n ..L, ~~_ .... _:~~ \ ~ \.. ~~~ .n~_", ..h ""....

_ MYTH &REALITY

HRC STRUCTURE PLAN R EVIEW 1985:", . . theproductivity of hillgrazings hasdiminishedthrough over-grazing by sheep and indiscriminateburning."

1.11 Although giving the short-term effect of the'spring bite ' , the practice of muirburn has exacer­bated the whole tendency for soils in many areas todecline in fertility in the long term. Nutrients are lostin both smoke and ash, some of the latter being re­moved completely by run-off and never re-entering thenu trient fund. As worrying as this chemical degenera­tion are the physical effects of erosion that muirburncan cause when carried out on steep gradients or, toofrequently, anywhere. T hese effects, along with itstendency to elimin ate heather , are most important inthe West under highest rainfall. In such areas this trendwill go on reducing the carrying capacity of grazings solong as muirburn persists.

M UIRBURN"Burningshouldnotbe toofrequent: in mosthabitatsintervals should not be less than ten years. Morefrequent burning results in returning toooften to bareground . . . introducing risks of loss by erosion andthe spread of unwanted plants. It might also causeunnecessary nutrient loss if the intervalbetween firesbecomes too short for inputs to exceed losses. ""Upland Britain is not often thought of as a regionwhere erosion isa serious problem, butmanyhillsidesshow mild or severe symptoms. Often a clue to theresults of years of depletion of surface humus isthe number of visible boulders or the extent of screeon a hillside which would otherwise be heather­covered.,,6

Peoplewhoknow thehills recognize that thetussocksof deergrass on little islands ofpeat, thecolouroftheburns af ter rain and thegreathaggs areall signs of agreat physical loss of soil that has occurred since theGreat Wood was destroyed, and this is a continuingprocess today .

1.12 From being the most important domestic stockin the Highland economy in the 18th century, hill cattlein the uplands have been reduced to just a few scatteredherds. The reasons for the decline have been various:changes in market forces, shifts in subsidy and themove away from such intensive forms of husbandry.Due to the different grazing requirements of sheep and

8

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B;0:::

Muirburn exacerbates the tendency for soils to decline in fertilityand frequently leads to physical erosion.

cattle they are naturally complementary animals. With­out cattle, experience has shown that undesirableplants invade and reduce the quality of grazings. Interms of both the efficient utilization and health ofthe grazings, the virtual loss of cattle from the High­land grazing regime represents a great loss ofproduc­tivity and ecological balance.

1.13 With a massive amount of hard work, the crof­ters and hill-farmers of two and more centuries con­verted areas of ill-drained and infertile hill-land to growsufficient barley, oats and , later , potatoes to feed them­selves and their stock. Even the best of this cultivatedland is now grazed by sheep and its carefully nurturedfertility has been lost over the years of dis-use. Itshistory, though, gives clear evidence of the possibilityof not only growing sufficient winter keep for stock inall areas of the region but also of growing considerablevegetable produce.

A fencewitha story: on therightover-grazingand burningleadingto the beginnings of sheet erosion.

- MYTH & REALITY

THE REALITY OF'INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY

As with the Coming of the Sheep, the coming ofthe Sitka Spruce represents the imposition ofan alien economy on a people and their ecology. Alien softwood monoculture is a travesty ofthe word 'forestry' , the full extent of its social and ecological implications only now beginningto be felt and understood. This 'industrial forestry' defies most sane, balanced and sustain­able silvicultural practice and as such is profoundly unecological and therefore outdated. Itrepresents the desperate attempt of business and government to fill a tragic gap in ourresource economy created by centuries of appalling land-use practice. At the same time it isobstructing the creation of woodlands by local communities to meet their own economic andwider needs.

1.14 The interactions between alien conifer forestand other land-uses as well as potential resources hasbegun to be unravelled. Many of them are detrimen taland include effects on hill-farming, freshwater fisher ­ies, wild game , wild life communities of special import­ance , tourism and human water sources.

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Clearfelling the conifer monoculture: a travesty of the word'forestry' .

1.15 Alien conifers produce an acidic humus andtherefore tend to increase the acidity of freshwaterecosystems in their catchments. This adversely affectsthe invertebrate life and, therefore, the fish and otheranimals that feed off them . At times of ploughing andfelling, large quantities of mud and silt enter burns andrivers with direct effects on fish and wildlife and moreinsidious effects such as the silting up of spawninggrounds for salmon and trout.

9

1.16 Important wildlife commurunes have beenadversely affected. The case of the Flowlands in Caith­ness and Sutherland has been extensively covered inthe media in this context. That particular 'planning'fiasco represents an inexcusable failure to meet ourvery few internation al obligations? but very wideresponsibilities to ra re wildlife resources that 'belong'in a very important sense to the people of the earth as awhole.

1.17 Intensive monocultures of all kinds court dis­ease and, as in agriculture, foresters have found them­selves increasingly dependent on pesticides to reducethe economic impact of diseases and pest attack on theircrops. Aerial spraying of organophosphate insecticidehas become a regular feature of pest control program-

INSECTICID E SPRAYINGIn 1978 thefirst areas of lodgepolepine monoculturewere sprayed from the air in Sutherland with theorganophosphate insecticide, Fenitrothion. Thisgroup of chemicalsareamong themosttoxicknown toMan. The Forestry Commission has sprayed severalthousand acres since 1978 in the northofS cotland:4875 acres in years 1987 to 1988. Because of asuspected link between Fenitrothion spraying a~d thefrequently lethal children's diseaseknown as Reye'sSyndrome, the chemical has been banned by fiveCanadian States. Despite claims that the problemhasbeen avoidedin Scotland by theuseofa differentdiluent, research continues toshou: that F enitrothionitselfcancause permanent nerve damage whenadmi­nistered in low doses overa period of time and hasbeen linked in Canada to birthdefects and eyesightproblems.

THE REALITY OF WILD GAME MANAGEMENT

IND USTRIAL FORESTRY ­EMPLOYMENT", . . rural communities also derive littleemploymentor other local economic benef it from the presentforestry regime. The centralization, mechanizationand other labour saving strategies developed by thissingle purpose system, mean that employment inforestry has beenfalling despite themajor expansionofplantationsand harvesting volumes. The increasesin production have maintained employment levels inwood processing industries but these have moved tolarge-scale factories away from rural areas. ,,8

RED DEER DAMAGEWith the clearance of theforest, the red deer lost itsnatural habitat but managed to adapt to the newenvironment of inhospitableopen hillside byreducingits body size and antlergrowth. That same denuda­tionof thehillsidethatturned it intosuch a poor beastby European standards, paradoxically also madeofit an eminently shootable target.But the annualshootofabout40,000 deer has beeninsufficient toprevent the Highland reddeer popula­tionfrom increasing to about 250,000 beasts. Whilstthe damage they cause to crops and plantations isoftendiscussedtheir less obviousbutnoless importantcompetition with sheep on good pasture and theirgrazing of regenerating trees is not.

been made by forestry businesses and individualsexploiting these financial arrangements treating fore­stry as if it were just another form of property spe­culation. To say that this 'business' puts any signifi­cant amount of money back into local economies is agross and distorting pretence.

1.19 Despite the cunning presentation of figures byforestry interests, it is apparent that few lasting jobs arecreated by their operations in relation to the amounts ofland consumed.

for trophies, leaving estate employees to effect a ba­lanced cull. This trade has ensured that the wider localcommunity has not greatly benefitted from the re­source as either food or revenue, that no overall

mes in the Highlands. T he introduction of suchdangerous chemicals into our environment seems tobe a necessary corrollary of the forest monocultureand represents a serious failure of the industry to adaptits practice to the requirements of other land users andhuman health .

- MYTH & REALITY

Deep ploughing: the ugly scars of 'industrial forestry' .

1.20 The management of red deer in the Highlandshas always been a predominantly haphazard affair re­sponding more to the fashions and whims of estatesthan to those scientifically based population estimatesand judgements that have gradually become available.The unchallenged right of privately owned estates tomanage this wild resource entirely for its own benefithas allowed the survival of a bizarre trade where tour­ists pay to shoot one particular age classand sexof beast

1.18 The extent of public subsidy for industrial fore­stry in the form of planting grants and tax relief has alsobeen recently highlighted in the press . Bigprofits have

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Thereddeer: awoodland beast deprivedof its natural habitatyetpreventing the forest from returning by virtue of its excessivenumbers.

10

manaze this wild res~urce entirelv for its own benefit iosu inu:« LJfiMfHjJj

_ MYTH &REALITYecological management strategy has evolved andthat, overall, the animal is manifestly undershot.

1.21 Management of red grouse involves exploitationof the artificial heather dominated hillside that formedafter forest clearance. Its principle tool is fire whichensures that tree regeneration cannot take place andthat a continuous supply of a palatable heather crop isavailable to the birds. But steep declines in grouse bagshave been experienced in many areas of the Highlandsin the last 50 years and , though the reasons are various,declining fertility levels of the soil-vegetation complex(exacerbated by burning) have no doubt played theirpart. Whatever the reasons, it seems unlikely thatestates will ever see again the big bags that were oncetaken off the hill each autumn.

1.22 The Atlantic salmon is rapidly becoming anendangered species and the causes are so various thatthere is deep concern as to what the future holds for it.As with the other wild animals, it is the prerogative oflandowners to manage and reap the financial rewardsfrom salmon passing through their lands. It is frequent­ly argued that this system has contributed to the con­servation of the species but this is not to say that itcouldn't have been achieved at least as well by other

fairer means. The latest threats to wild salmon areposed by salmon farm ing and include transmission ofdisease, interference with homing patterns, pollutionof rivers and the far reaching implications of gene ticdrift.9/10

Salman farm ing poses many threats to wild salmon stocks bytransmission of disease, pollution of rivers and the far-reachingimplications of genetic drift .

Red grouse, red deer and Atlantic salmon have in common that they are native , wild animals and thus cannot besaid to 'belong' to anyone. They are , however, exploited by individual landowners on whose land they happen tobe residing, the benefits of both meat and sporting revenue accruing to them only. Other people are expresslyexcluded from participation. This present form ofmanagement represents the unrightful exclusive exploitationof a common resource by a few people.

THE REALITY OFCROFTING

1.23 Crofting as a type of mixed husbandry involvinga high degree of self-reliance has, at least on the High­land mainland, become almost extinct in the last 50years. Nonetheless the word still denotes a part iculartype of tenancy and, more importantly, a lifestyle. Thetypical croft today has an income derived from at leastone job off the croft, and from the provision of touristaccommodation. Agricultural activity is mostly part­time (80% of crofts provide less than 2 days' work perweek) and comprises the running of sheep alone. Eventhe provision of seasonal vegetables and fruit for thekitchen is now an uncommon part of the croft eco­nomy. The decline of crofting husbandry has gone

... ... ....&J "".&Joi ... &.J... .&.& "'.&

11

hand-in-hand with the loss of need to produce any ofone's own food or other consumerables and with themore generalized loss of contact with the productivecapabilities of the land - the depopularization ofagriculture. This Manifesto engages the possibility ofits repopulariza tion.

THE REALITY OFFISHERIES //

1.24 At sea as on land, the story has been one ofresource mismanagement, the squandering of a richpotential for immediate gain leading to disruptivechanges in the resource base and crippling uncertain­ties regarding the future. The collapse of the west coast

_ MYTH &REALITY

herring fishery at the beginning of the 19th century andits effect on small coastal communities is welldocumented. Overfishing of the same species two hun­dred years later led to the enforced closure of theherring fishery in the late '70s. The current intensecatching effort for mackerel based on the foreign klon-

. "Tht'1~..d..~ ;11\.1 "'ki ME ff t d. t-. tW£ f-i~H . i ~ ~i~ pflA w\l\i~ WE:" .f~td ~ H-1~ Fi.,\.t i., ~a.t pb-( w~l44 WE; ~~ to Ht~fi$t.t o\lEy ~6ft•• •

dyker market now threatens this species too. Thedramatic increase in prawn trawling poses a threat tothis traditionally small scale fishery both by its scale ofactivity and its physical threat to static gear. Over andover again the interests of the local and the small-scalefishermen have been overridden by the large-scale andthe greed of the few. The latest threat to inshorefisheries , particularly of shellfish, comes in the form ofthe salmon pen. There may be some degree of short­term prosperity in salmon farming but at the same timethere is a sad irony in the exchange of a potentiallysustainable, undamaging and locally controlled

fishery for a resource guzzling, economically unst­able and polluting one controlled largely by multi­national companies.

THE REALITY OFNATURE

CONSERVATION

1.25 Conservation of wildlife in the Highlandsamoun ts to little more than a rearguard action toprotect a small handful of the outstandingly importantwildlife communities that are left. Yet the degree ofantipathy towards the conservation organizations andtheir work in the region must be second to nowhere inBritain . Media distort ion of the conflicts of inte rest inthe Flowlands , for instance, as well as the NatureConservancy's total preoccupation with SSSI notifica­tion have played their part in this poor image. Thelimited resources of conservation organizations and thelack of a conservation ethos in Local and RegionalGovernment, Highland Board and other StatutoryBodies, have not allowed for the kind of more posi­tive forward-looking partnership ofconservation anddevelopment that is badly needed. Until wildlife con­servation is recognized by planners as an essentialelement of resource management as a whole, its aimsand practice will remain to be seen as nothing morethan an annoying intrusion into the affairs of thoseexploiting natural resources commercially.

THE REALITY OF LAND OWNERSHIP

Arguably the three most disastrous land-use policies perpetrated by mankind in the High­lands have come about by estate owners selling out to highly exploitative outside interests forpersonal financial gain. In the 17th and 18th centuries landowners sold out to the ironsmelters. In the 18th and 19th it was to the sheep graziers and now, in the 20th, they're sellingout to industrial foresters . These unrightful transactions are 'only possible under a systemthat allows individual ownership of huge estates. '

1.26 The nature of land ownership in the Highlands,as over the rest of Scotland, is legally termed Feudal.This form of ownership came into existence in the 11thcentury and , largely unaltered since then , has lent tothe country " the most concentrated pattern of privateownership in Europe.,,11 Despite a decline in the last

12

100years in the extent ofland held by large estates, halfof the land mass of Scotland is still in the hands ofjust 579 landowners.

1.27 It has been said that in no country in Europe arethe rights of owners so carefully protected as in our

MYTH &REALITYcountry and these rights extend to the exploitation ofmost of the natural resources, animal, vegetable andmineral, which are more properly considered as com­mon to local communities.

1.28 As the majority of people who work directly onthe land or in the rural environment are tenants oflairds, it can be said that land-use practice, the patternof settlement, indeed much of the rural economy as awhole is in the control of this small group of landown­ers, half of whom can be classified as absentee. Land­owners have inevitably tended to support the statusquo that so favours them and must therefore carry,down the ages, a great part of the responsibility for thedeclines that have taken place in human populations, inagricultural productivity and in ecological balance.

1.29 The privilege of land ownership translates intopolitical power that is detrimental to' the wider com­munity's potentials of creativity, productivity and self­respect. It is also part of a class system that is divisiveand breeds unhealthy relationships between people andbetween people and the land on which they live.

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For estates in thewestand centralHighlands, almosttwo ownersin every three are absentees.

ABSENTEEISM"... almost exactly half ofHighland estate ownerslive on their properties for less than four months inanyyear. For estates in the west and central High­lands, almost two owners in every three areabsentees." 12

THE 'HIGHLANDPROBLEM' REDEFINEDT he Green Perspective that the Manifesto has presented is ofa barren environment degradedby mankind himself (principally mankind from outwith the region) over a period of aboutthree and a half thousand years. The state to which he has brought the land by his activitieshas been described as a wet desert. We have become conditioned by its austerity to what wecan farm on this desert, to what we can grow in it. But a fuller knowledge of the land-use andvegetational history of the region leads to a more optimistic view of its potential. If we couldrepair the damage to our ecosystem, we could yet embark on a new era of ecologically andtherefore economically sustainable land use.

1.30 The conventional view of the state of the High­lands, reinforced by existing governmental initiatives isa sadly ill-informed one which is taking us down anunhappy path of missed opportunities and worse - along-term downward spiral of ecological and socialdecline. This traditional view may deal with ruraldepopulation, decline in rural services and facilitiesand decreasing standards of living relative to otherregions. It may even relate these to the lossof economicviability of agriculture and other primary industries.But this is not the entire picture and deals principallywith EFFECTS not CAUSES.

1.31 Analysis of what has come to be known as the'Highland Problem' without an appreciation of its long

.1 r ! __ 11 .L _ ! __ L1 _ 1 __ ~ _

13

history of forest destruction, its long-term trend ofecological decline, the part private landownership hasplayed in these and the present conditioned view of theHighland landscape is almost worthless. It certainlycannot result in useful prescriptions for improvement.A critical part of the problem is thus to be found inthose authorities and agencies responsible-for shapingrural Highland policy. They give .little' indication ofhaving assimilated enough land-use history and ecolo­gical science to plan for a stabilization of the presentdecline, let alone of being able to add to that sufficientimagination to plan for a long term and creative future.

1.32 In taking into account these sometimes uncom­fortable truths this Manifesto arrives at a definition of

- MYTH &REALITYthe 'Highland Problem' which was first elucidated bySir Fraser Darling in his various writings on the High­lands earlier this century. The summary of this is that aregrettable history of land mis-use and ownership haveled us to today 's rural practices which are characterizedby: (1) detrimental long-term effects on soil, vegeta­tion and freshwater systems and therefore to ecologic­al unsustai ability, (2) exceedingly low employmentlevels and therefore to conditions of social and econo­mic un esirability, (3) exclusive single usage of largetracts of land use and therefore to demographic imba­lance, (4) reliance on heavy subsidy and thereforeeconomic fragility and social instability.

SIR FRASER DARLINGThe workofFraserDarlinghasa renewedrelevancefor theHighlands today with his belief in small scalecrof ting husbandry and what we now term organicpractices. His major opus is the 'West HighlandSurvey' of1955 but his diagnosis of 'TheHighlandProblem' permeatesmuchofhiswritingfrom'IslandFarm' (1944) to 'The Highlands and Islands'(1964).

14

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]"- -'"_ _ J ~

12 The Forest EconomyTHE SECOND GREAT WOOD

OF CALEDON

"The needfor developing holistic approaches that integrate theprotective, productive and socialroles offorestry hasbeen recognized. The concept offorestry for development is now widely accepted.,,13

Having diagnosed the ills of the Highland land-use economy from an ecological standpoint, the Manifesto nowpresents an alternative vision of a Highland future - a "Greenprint" - the principle proposition of which is theplanting of the greater part of the region with a mixed multi-use forest. In short, nothing less than the creation ofA Second Great Wood of Caledon.

In keeping with all Green initiatives, the principle economic and ecological thrust is towards a SUSTAIN­ABLE rural land-use economy: that is one living within its resource means. The principle political thrust istowards community responsibility and STEWARDSHIP rather than ownership of the land.

The overall aim is for local communities managing the total natural resource for their own benefit, providingmaximum employment and maximum potential for diversification and development of new areas of economicand social activitiy.

REFORESTATION - RECREATING AN ECONOMY

2.1 The Second Great Wood ofCaledon would be nowild and unpopulated place like the first of 1000 yearsand more ago. Whilst sharing several important biolo­gical characteristics of the original it would displaymany fundamental dissimilarities. The main one beingits intensive management by Man - nurtured , notdestroyed: lived in and by, not on. It would be so wellmanaged in fact as to appear in places almost unman­aged.

2.2 It would yield up to its human population a greatwealth and diversity of products as well as providing anincomparably more hospitable micro-climate and en­vironment than presently afforded hy the bleak andwindswept moor.

2.3 It would provide a massive new potential of spir­itual and aesthetic rewards.

Left: a typical Highland hillside bereft of trees, of humanpopulation and eroding rapidly. Right: a typical Norwegianmountainside with treesprotecting both the soil and a fertile farmbelow.

WUU i:1UU UUpUpU.li:1lC;U P.li:1\..C; U.l'.C; lU~ .lU"l V.l .lVVV y ~a.l "

and more ago. Whilst sharing several important biolo­gical characteristics of the original it would displaym-:lnv flln {hmpnt-:ll fli~~imihlritip~ The' main one' heine

- FORESTECONOMY2.4 It would fulfill our global responsibilities towardsclimate stabilisation and the regeneration of a healthybalance of atmospheric gases.

2.5 A recreated forest in the Highlands of Scotlandwould also take its place alongside other current initia­tives in the world to reinhabit man-made deserts andwould be an ,?pression of solidarity with developingcountries of the Third World.

2.6 In total it would provide a rich and sustainableresource for more people than ever before living in anew harmony with each other and the land , under newforms of land stewardship which allow for the growthof more uncompetitive, stable and unexploitative rela­tionships.

2.7 The history of Highland ecology shows us thatthe region has been naturally dominated by a mixedforest since the last Ice-age (see Prologue): that it is onlyin the last 400 years or so that this dominant vegetation

type has been artificially replaced by Man with heath ormoor. Ecologists tell us that the present-day naturalclimax vegetat ion of the Highlands would be mixedforest ove r by far the bulk of the land mass.

2.8 Direct experience shows us that where open moorand denuded peat can only support a few animals , a fewplants and therefore little agriculture, population andemployment, a forest can support an abundance ofeconomic activity in proportion to the relative abund­ance of its biomass and biological diversity .

2.9 The Second Great Wood ofCaledon would com­prise an enormous range of tree and shrub species,providing a correspondingly great range of food(animal and vegetable), fodder, fuel, timber, indust­rial, craft and even medicinal products. The Woodmight be recreated to comprise the best aspects offorest resource usage current in countries such as Nor­way, Sweden and Switzerland and from the historicalpast of the first Great Wood of Caledon itself.

AWEALTH OF PRODUCE - AN ABUNDANCEOF EMPLOYMENT

2.10 Animal produce would divide into domestic andwild with a far greater relative dependence on the latterthan at present. In contrast to the extreme paucity ofwild game taken from the land today, the Great Woodwould yield up a much increased range , quantity andwudgame taken rrom tne lana wall y, [he \.heal WUUUwould yield up a much increased range , quantity andquality of animal products managed by local communi­ties to supply food , in the first place , to themselves.

2.11 Domestic stock might include cattle, both High­land and other breeds able to thrive by virtue of thebetter micro-climate and pasture. Cattle in the foresteconomy would provide local sources of dairy produceas well as useful organic fertilizer for many horticultu­ral, agricultural and arboricultural practices. Therewould be sheep , confined along with the cattle, toimproved pasture with breeds producing good woolsfor local spinning and clothes manufacture. It wouldinclude free-range pigs, pens, ducks, geese and otherfowl suitably combined on some small forest-farmunits.

16

Left: upside-down Highland land-use in practice - conifermonoculture in theglen, sheep on the bleak hill, people nowhere"Right: Norwegian glen, busy with farms and small industryflanked by forested hills"

I

_ FOREST ECONOMY

It is clear that the forest economy would be a diverse and vigorous one bringing with it highstandards of living and all the proper facilities and services that rural economies require. Itwould employ the most modern technologies available which would be, by definition,small-scale, non-polluting, and non-wasteful.

A forest-croft township in the Se~ond G~eat Wood of Caledon.

17

_ FOREST ECONOMY

2.12 Instead of estates employing only a few peopleand taking money from tourists to kill game as sportthe wild animal resources would be managed effi­ciently, responsibly and fairly for the benefit of thecommunities in whose forest the wild beasts wouldlive. The proper management of this major new re­source would employ many people and earn revenuefor local townships.

2.13 Our red deer would return to their former nativeforest habitat and grow fat on the good rich grazingamongst the shelter of the trees. Instead of the little200lb beasts we think of as large today, the Great Woodof Caledon would boast the 420lb beasts that otherEuropean countries crop from their best forests.

2.14 With red deer installed in the habitat to whichthey are naturally adapted, introduced reindeer mightmake a living from the really high altitude moors andhillsides living off the scrubby willow and birch thateven these support once sheep and fire are eliminated.The carefully managed (not farmed) reindeer wouldcontribute another useful source of protein and otherproducts to the local economy as well as a revenueearning export.

DEER FARMINGDeer farming seems to epitomize the upside-downstate of resource management in the Highlands.There is unbelievable irony in farming an animalthat has reached almost plague proportions in thewild yet it has been hailed as an exciting develop­ment. If the wild resource was simply managedproperly there would be abundant supplies of meat,reduced competition ongrazings andontree regenera­tionas well as the sparing ofpain and distress to theunfortunate deer penned up in open fields against.L o':- +11, __ t :4At"''';1(J~'t T"""/UL"°C" Ztnrrrand £''''' '; ... fl'IIJI\I _t7"l.O"t'J

their naturalinstinct. Irony is heaped on irony whenthedeer farmer starts toreceive LivestockCompensa­tory Allowances to sustain an uneconomic activity!

2.15 Other large herbivores might be introduced andmanaged as wild resources too. The once native elkwould seem to be a good candidate. The Scandinaviansharvest it within their forest economy, the Germanstoo. The Highland Forest Economy would not becomplete without it. In the fully developed GreatWood there would be a place too for some of theother animals that have only disappeared from theHighlands within the last 1000 years (see Prologue)and which survive to this day in a few remaining deepforests of Europe.

18

WILDLIFE POSSIBILITIES. On the borders of Poland and Russia lies the 480

square miles of the Bialowieza Forest. It still haspopulations of elk, beaver, otter, red and roe deer,wild boar, pine marten, and polecat. 228 species ofbirds have been recorded, 162 breeding. In additionthere are introduced populations ofmuskrat, racoondog and American mink. The bison is Poland'ssymbol of successful conservation; having been res­cuedfromthebrinkofextinction, there arenowabout200 animals roaming theforest alongwith about30lynxes and two packs of wolves. The wolf is, ofcourse, very scarce in Europe but, nonetheless, stilloccurs in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Yugos­lavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria andGreece. What exciting wildlifepossibilities a SecondGreat Wood of Caledon could offerl'"

2.16 Presently lifeless lochs and burns could onceagain abound with fish when the forest is re-establishedon their borders. Deciduous leaf litter will feed theinvertebrates that feed the fish and we might expect toharvest a variety and quantity of fish from this resourcewhich will contribute directly to local food economies.This would be in marked contrast.to the present situa­tion where a few tourists fish a couple of species treatedas a luxury and pay the "owner" for the right. Once thelochs are living again and fertilized by the forest, somemight be artificially stocked and managed primarily fortheir fish protein resource. In complete contrast totoday's salmon farmer the priority would be to developu~polluting, sustainable, drug free forms of husbandryWIth low resource input and skilled multi-species cul­ture systems.

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The unbelieva ble irony offarming deer in a country plagued bywild deer of the same species.

- FOREST ECONOMY

I·

2.17 The forest-croft would look a little differentfrom the typical croft we see on the Highland mainlandat present but would exhibit many qualities that areenshrined in the original crofting practice. It wouldhave diverse interests, operate at quite a small scale andgive to its inhabitants a healthy and fulfilling liveli­hood. In contrast to most of today's crofts, it would beintensively managed, serviced by modern appropri­ate machinery and exude a high degree of prosperityand dynamism.

2.18 Crofts and small farms would be scatteredthroughout the forest, naturally clustered on the richersoils, often in the bottoms of glens and much resemb­ling their pre-Clearance distributions. There would besmall, well-fenced or dyked fields with a great deal ofimproved pasture. Trees around all the fields wouldconstantly fertilize the pasture with leaf litter. Somemature areas of forest would be opened out to formrides and glades where some herbivores would grazefreely, being able to move in and out of the shelter ofthe trees.

Windbreak Lodge.

2.19 Some arable farming would take place and suffi­cient roots, hay, silage and other fodder crops grown tofeed the domestic animals the whole winter through.Good accommodation (perhaps communally man­aged) on site in the forest for the domestic animalswould eliminate the need for any to be taken elsewhere- a wasteful and expensive current practice in someareas. There would be an abundance of vegetable cropssuitable for immediate local human consumption.

2.20 Some specialist vegetable and fruit growersmight employ polythene tunnels in clearings in theforest benefitting from the tree shelter in high windsbut most vegetables would grow well in the open in thelitter fertilized soils, protected by the trees.

2.21 A great deal of fruit growing would be integratedinto the forest itself. In thinned forest, fruit bushes

2.19 Some arable farming would take place and suffi-

19

would be the understorey and fruit trees interplantedamongst suitable 'wild' trees. All would benefit natur­ally from the protection and fertilization of the foresttrees.

2.22 The intensive management of the forest for amultitude of purposes would yield .up an adequateharvest of firewood as general domestic fuel for every­body and nobody would have to go far to get it. Mosthouses would have efficient, modern solid-fuel stovesgiving space and water heating as well as cookingfacilities. Heating requirements would already besomewhat reduced due to the favourable micro­climatic effects of the surrounding forest and improvedinsulation and building design.

2.23 Frequently, the firewood resource would becooperatively managed, the community employingsome members to carry out this function for all. It iscertain that in a forest economy, domestic heatingbills would be a fraction of what they are today.

2.24 To ensure that local resource depletions do notoccur, some forest townships and industries mightneed to grow a special biomass fuel crop, e.g. osier orwillow plantation to help run a local combined heat andpower scheme.

BIOMASS PLANTATIONSPlantingsofwillowsandpoplars for energy use havebeen undertaken in many countries: Sweden, USA,West Germany, France, Korea, Argentine, Greece,Pakistan, Turkey. In Eire there isa 200hectare trialplot on cut-over peat being croPfed on a five yearrotation for electricity generation. 5 TheSwedesesti­mate that their country could be self-sufficient inenergy if 7% of the land area was covered with'energy farms' containing the 'superwillows' theyhave bred in their selection programme based in theSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences atUppsala. 1

2.25 The overall business of power generation wouldbe run more efficiently and rationally than at present byLocal Energy Authorities as part of local government.These would be empowered to develop whatever ener­gy sources they might find appropriate. to their needsand environment. By the time the'forest economy is infull swing, electricity generation is likely to comefrom about six, and domestic heat from about twelve,different sources. These would represent industriesemploying more people than are presently employed inthe energy industry and in a thoroughly dispersedemployment pattern. The power supplied would be

',me;vv -farms' -containinl! the 'suoerunllous' thev

_ FOREST ECONOMY

WILLOW TRIALS IN THE HIGHLANDSThe University ofAberdeen, acting as contractorfortheDepartmentofEnergy, has beeninvestigating thegrowth potential of willow hybrids since 1979 andnow has several trial plantations in the Highlands.The H.lDB has become involved in the work and isresponsible for the setting up of three new trials.M any hybrids are being tested for their potentialwood yield and resistance to disease. In NorthernI reland a tractor-mounted machine for harvestingand bundlingcoppiced stems is being developed forthe time when the f irst energy forests are ready forcropping.

considerably cheaper and safer due to the Green tech­nologies involved. Nuclear power generation wouldbecome even more of an unnecessary encumbrance ofthe past than it already is.

SWEDEN - ALTERNATIVE ENERGY"Sweden already obtains 7% of its total energybudget by exploiting the wastes of its huge forest­products industry."16

2.26 The use of wave energy to generate electricitywould play an important part in the economy of coastaltownships and, increasingly, power would be gener­ated by local wind and hydro schemes, frequently on anindividually very small scale. Biogas digesters on manyfarm units would generate both heat and electricity insmall schemes . The twelve different sources of heatalready tapped by at least one advanced Westerncountry'? would become assimilated into the Highland

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY"The U.S.A. (like Japan ) already gets more than7%ofall itsprimary energy from renewable sources.It has about 112 million solar buildings and thenumber is doubling annually.Private woodburning increased more thansixfold inthelastyear. Most states have biomass fuel program­mes. Several geothermal parks are under considera­tion.In short, diverse, localized initiatives in thousands ofcommunities and millions of factories, offices andhomes - actions takenfrom the bottom up, notfromthe top down - are adding up to a quiet energyrevolution that is reshaping the American energysystem with unprecedented speed."18

20

By the time theforesteconomy is in full swing, electricitygenera­tion is likely to comefrom aboutsix, and domestic heatf romabouttwelve, diff erent sour es,

pattern of locally appropriate and diverse energyprogrammes.

2.27 Within the forest some areas would be desig­nated primarily structural and/or pulp growing areasand the community would manage these by carefulselective thinning and felling for its building and papermanufacturing industries. Unlike the monocultures oftoday, these would be of truly mixed species tending torely on Native Scots pine as a softwood rather thanexotic species. But there would be a place for exotics inproportions and mixes that do not damage the soil orwater systems or require the application of pesticides.Clear felling would become a thing of the past, aprimitive and unnecessary practice belonging to a timewhen forests were of an even-aged structure and com­mercial interests were allowed to exploit the land forwhat they could get with no concern for other landuses, present or future.

2.28 A wealth of small manufacturing and craft in­dustries would feed off the forest woods. Kitchenutensils, bowls, plates and other household imple­ments would be made from locally cropped woods.Furniture and cabinet-makers would exploit the par­ticular qualities of the woods available in their areas. Inthe place of today's laminated chipboard and plaster­board there would be good solid Scots pine surfaces andlined walls; warm, insulating and beautiful; productsgrown and crafted locally within the community. Notjust a luxury for the wealthy but as the Scandinavianstake for granted as part of their forest economy. Other .specialist craftsmen would occupy still further econo­mic niches, making musical instruments, boats , toys,tools, charcoal and artworks.

- FOREST ECONOMY

FARM-FORESTRY IN BULGARIA700forest nurseries produce 700 million seedlings peryear. Shelterbelts on farms have increased yields offarm crops by about30% onaverage, those ofmaizeby up to 60%.Specializedgame andfish breeding farms have beencreated within the forest .Mor than 200 species offorest fruit trees and shrubs are utilizedand producec.250,000 tonnes/year asfood and raw material forindustry."By-activities" include growing of potatoes, tobaccoand other farm produce, also caule breeding. Woodresidues are used as raw materials in manufacture ofsmall wooden articles for everyday needs as souve­nirs. Fodder substance and pine oil are extractedfrom pine needles. Complete utilization of all forestresources is a major task of a special programme.The woodworking industry plays a most importantrole in the economy with 80% of domestic woodconsumption being covered by local resources.The woodprocessing industry is based on theprinci­pleofcomplete utilizationof rawmaterials. In 1982,utilizationof the output of coniferous wood reached85.4%, that of non-coniferous wood 71.2%.19

e1=

Specialist craftsmen would exploit theparticular qualities of thewoods available in their areas.

Reforestation, the recreation of the Great Wood of Caledon, implies the re-learning of oldskills of mixed forest management and the acquiring of new ones too. It means massiveemployment potential in a whole new and vigorous economy. It means an expanded and fullyemployed population at work in enviable healthy and meaningful occupations.

2.29 The present small rural industries, e.g. fencingand dyking, would flourish and whole new ones wouldspring up. For instance nurseries would grow anddevelop trees, bushes and plants of all types for theever-expanding range of forest industries and arbori­cultures.

21

BIR CH IMPROVEMENTThe potential of birch has been greatly underesti­matedbecause mostof thegood trees were cleared foragriculture, charcoal and bobbin woodafew centur­iesagosothat onlyan impoverished genetic resourceremains. Finland hasbeen breedingfast growing andgood quality birch for over 10 years which can bemade into plywood.1

Work started at A berdeen University in 198) into'improving silver birch with the aim to produce ply­wood timberon 30 year rotation butthis project hasbeen recently abandoned due to lack of availablefunding.

FOREST ECONOMY

COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP - COOPERATIVEENTERPRISE

The forest economy would not only differ in many biological and physical aspects from thepresent rural land-use economy but would also differ in its social and political structure. Thesecond corner-stone of the Greenprint for the future - no less important than the establish­ment of ecologically sustainable productivity bases - is the establishment of more fullyparticipatory local government , local taxation and community stewardship of land.

2.30 Eventually, the Great Wood of Caledon would'belong to' (in as much as land can ever be the propertyof people) all who dwell in it. The people who work theland would be the tenants of the community. Rather asin existing crofting situations in the Highlands, tenantswould retain control over their businesses on the forest­croft or farm - a limited area of land near the home­stead.

2.31 Other activiti es requiring or benefitting fromcommunal organization would take place off the croftor farm on the rest of the land stewarded and gov­erned by the local community - the equivalent ofpresent-day common grazings but indefinitely ex­tended and again, instead of belonging to an estate ,belonging to the community itself.

2.32 The bulk of enterprise on this common landwould be communally managed, some by the commun­ity as a whole , e.g. firewood and wild game, others bycooperati ve businesses. Such types of financialarrangement would become the norm -rather than theexception tending to naturally evolve in direct responseto the civilized and equ itable progress of land reform.Communal stewardship inspires cooperative manage­ment and business arrangements .

COMMUNITY FORESTThe rebuildingofIndia's forest wealthhas, in recentyears, become one of the major issues in land-usepolicyand hasprovideda paradigm for developmentin social forestry; the strategy being to regenerateforest resources through theparticipation of the com­munity in the protection and management offorests. 20

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22

SOCIAL FORESTR Y IN INDIA" . . . theForest Department thereforeplanneda treeplantingprogramme on all types of lands availablefor thepurpose. A startwas madein 1969 by makingroad-side plantations alongside state-owned roadsand thisreceivedunexpectedcooperation andsupportfrom the public at large. The successful road-sideplantations by the Forest Department also broughthome to the people that trees would grow on waste­lands at a reasonable cost .Encouraged by this success, the S tate undertook yetanother innovativesocial forestry programme in 1974which came to be popularly known as The VillageForests Programme. This was a very simple work­ablemodel ofraising trees on hitherto unutilizedandbarren community ownedgrazing landsforprovidingsociety with fuel-wood along with fodder, smalltimber and fruits.21

road-side plantations .alongside state-owned roads- - . -

_ FOREST ECONOMY

And so the forest economy could be created, transforming one of Europe's most severelyecologically and economically disadvantaged regions into one ofgreat prosperity and beauty;one of lasting ecological and social stability. Transforming a distantly-governed and grant­manipulated society into an economically viable, self-determined and just one.

23

e First StepsThe Second Great Wood of Caledon and its economy could clearly not be created overnight!A principle argument for The Second Great Wood of Caledon however is its long-termnature; its stabilizing and socially cohesive context. Rapid change is not in the true nature ofeither the forest or human society. And so it would be that the forest economy would onlydevelop gradually, the scope of man's possible activity slowly widening within the growingnatural generosity of the regenerating forest .

The existence ofa 'Highla nd Problem' has been long enough lamented. There is a gathering sense offrustrationand urgency. It is time to begin now on a long-sighted regeneration of the Highlands.

To redevelop , to repopulate, to recreate. BUT WITH IMAGINAT ION!

In marked contrast to the present lack of vision of development programmes and ongoing grant aid, the creationof a Second Great Wood of Caledon could achieve just that.

This section of the MANIFEST O looks at some immediate steps we might take towards that vision - theFIRST STEPS we could choose to take towards a FO REST ECONOMY.

HILL-FARMINGREFORM

Aspects ofhill-farming are in urgent need of change. The overall aim in the uplands should befor higher quality livestock management to produce a higher quality product than at presentusing vastly less land. Such a reform alone could yield up large areas for the beginnings of thenew forest and its economy at the same time as increasing the viability ofhill-farming. Changewould also involve what is already known in other parts of the world as agroforestry: thatclose integration of farming and woodland management that the Second Great Wood ofCaledon envisions.

FIRST STEPS3.1 As in other mountainous regions of Europe sheepwould be better grazed largely in fenced enclosuresof improved pasture bounded by the shelter and soilnourishment given by trees. This would allow for the

24

restriction of their movement and the immediate startto forest regeneration. It is ecologically disastrous andgrossly wasteful that sheep should have free access tosuch massive proportions of land .

3.2 These changes would involve an ambitious prog­ramme of intensification of hill-shee p managementas a priority, improving existing in-bye land and mak-

- FIRST STEPS

It is ecologically disastrous and grossly wasteful that sheep shouldhave free access to such massiveproportions of land.

ing additions to it by ploughing, draining, reseeding,fertilizing and shelter-belt planting.

3.3 Every assistance should be given to farmers andcrofters creating woodlands and shelter-belts. Allinitiatives to combine woodland and stock manage­ment should be encouraged and research and pilotschemes into agroforestry systems instigated.

3.4 Sheep should be immediately excluded from:­existing woodlands in a state of decay due to lack ofregeneration; steep hillsides and other areas whereerosion is occurring; all land above a threshold altitude.

3.5 Present muirburn codes of practice should beenforced to prevent the excesses,of damage that poorburning causes until such time aJ the practice is maderedundant by the new forest grazing regimes of theSecond Great \Vood.

3.6 We should further improve stock management byproper winter feeding, and housing where 'necessary,on site, obviating the need to transport animals longdistances to milder climes. There is no agricultural

HILL-FARMING IN UK"Farmers have oftenstated thatforest-grazed anim­alsgainin fitness andsubsequently havefewer lamb­ing and calving problems.The use of forestry plantations for over-winteringsheep and cattle could thus hase great potential inboosting theproductivity ofthemarginal uplands andimproving farm tnabiluy,"?

0t:l:UllU Ult:i:tl W UUU.

3.6 We ~houl~ further improve stock man~gement by

25

FASSFERN ESTATE MANAGEMENTOn thisHighland estate lower hill landwas reseededwith grass and clover. Althoughnumbers ofewes andcattlehave been reduced, production compared withthat before conversion has increased from 200-300lambsand30 calves to500 lambsand33 calves usingjust one fifth of the area. Sheep are sheltered byplantations and can be wintered amongst the treeswhen theyoung plantations areold enough not to beharmed. Sheep mortality hasbeen reduced andlamb­ingpercentage isabout100%.Employmenthasbeenboosted about six fold. 22

AGROFORESTRY"Agroforestry's holistic approach to solvingland useproblems (has had)remarkable results with regard toincreasing the human-ecological carrying capacity.

Definition: "Agroforestry is a system of land usewhere woodyperennials are deliberately usedon thesame land management unit as annual crops andloranimals either sequentially orsimultaneously with theaim of obtaining greater outputs on a sustainedbasis." (ICRAF 1983).

"Agroforestry accelerates the general trend frommonoculture tree plantations to ecologically morestable multi-species stands which, in turn, corres­pondsmore closely tothedemands ofrural people. ,,23

reason why enough winter feed should not be grown forall animals on a holding if the land is managed carefullyand intensively. (Within a more fertile and shelteredforest environment there should be less need for hous­ing).

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Sheepshouldbeimmediately excludedfrom existingwoodlands ina state of decay due to lack of regeneration.

_ FIRST STEPS

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" "'~. CiThe reintroduction of a proportion of cattle shouldbe made oncemore an economically viable and ready option.

FARM-FORESTRY IN NORWAY"The typical Norwegian forestry owner is a fannerwho hassome 20 hectares of land in agricultural useand 40 hectares of woodland. He works thefarm inthe summer and the woods in the winter.,,24

"On returning from Norway toSkye recently, I hadoccasion to compare the view from similar 3000ftgranite hillsin both countries. In Norway, thevalleyI looked downuponcontained anautonomous villageof 20 small farms, with their own crops, powersupply, school, etc. - a prosperous and happy placewith a good trade surplus and a population with ahealthy age structure. The Skye valley had twentyblack-faceewes and twelvelambs. . . The develop­ment potential in the Highlands and Islands isimmense. ,,25

AGROFORESTRY IN SWEDENIn southern Sweden there are 240,000 privatelyowned woodlands and fanners manage about two­thirds a; them in conjunction with their agriculturalunits.2

3.7 The reintroduction of a proportion of cattleshould be made once more an economically viableand ready option for crofters and hill-farmers. Theratio of cattle to sheep has declined drastically in thelast 30 years despite the knowledge of the detrimentaleffects on the land -of a sheep-only grazing system.

i ?

3.8- Special assistance should be given to new horti­cultural initiatives for the growing and local marketingof fruit and vegetables especially on organic lines.

3.9 All these improvements should be brought aboutby a radical new system of grants, loans and otherincentives specifically geared to encourage more sus­tainable agricultural practices and to cater for theco-operative action of farmers and crofters.

3.10 We should encourage in every way the co­9r.hrativ.e...a1Jn~~W&h ...wmffiu)f.911lQ. g~...~~seJJ.li.P1 Jill" l4,eoperative approach which would be essential for theheavy work of reclaiming and creating grazings and forthe reintroduction of cattle. A part of the reason for thedemise of hill-cattle was the labour intensity involvedwhich can be overcome by a combination of appropri­ate modern technology and a community approach.

26

_ FIRST STEPS

RED DEER CONTROLAn essential prerequisite for the regeneration ofthe forest, even for thefirst steps ofhill-farmingand industrial forestry reform, is the control ofthe red deer population. This must be drastical­ly reduced and then maintained at a relativelylow population to allow natural regeneration oftrees and reduce the pressure on fenced planta­tions and improved grazings. Clearly this taskcannot and should not be entrusted to privateindividuals; the establishment of a new deermanagement regime must bean intricate part ofecologically informed and community basedwildlife management.

jThe typicalNorwegianforest-farm with some 20 hectares of landin agriculturaluse and 40 hectares of woodland.

FORESTRY REFORM

It will be apparent already that the establishment of the new forest economy - The GreatWood of Caledon - implies the almost total abandonment of present-day industrial forestrypractices. It is also clear that it will take time to replace the antiquated and destructivepractices associated with monocultures by the modern and progressive skills of agroforestryand permaculture.

But, as in agriculture, a start can be made now to curb the worst excesses of ecological degradation caused bythe industry at the same time as embarking on the first stages of multi-use forest regeneration.

FIRST STEPS3.11 Th e obligatory production of comprehensivemanagement plans at the outset of proposed forestryschemes within the framework of regional plantingstrategies which take into account all land-use in­terests.

3.12 New requirements for sustainable, environ­mentally sound silvicultural practices to include: (1)ceilings on total areas plantable with exotic coniferswithin a given catchment, (2) limits to the amount ofthe total planned forest planted in each 5-10year periodthus ensuring that the forest is not all even-aged andtherefore not all felled at once, (3) specifications as tothe relative proportions of principle species planted toavoid monocultures .

27

3.13 Provisions to ensure that no furt her existingnative woodlands, however small, are sacrificed forindustrial forestry.

First steps must include effective protection against industrialforestryforareas of scientific importancesuchastheFlowlandsofCaithness and Sutherland.

native woodlands, however small, are sacrificed for

!]u

_ FIRST STEPS

3. 14 Effective protection against industrial forestryfor areas of scientific importance. We must wake upimmediately to International Conventions and respo n­sibilities towards the wild resources that belong to theplanet as a whole:,'

3.15' More stringent control on pesticide usageworkingon the principle of caution when in doubt andthaj, the user should pay for proper monitoring ofbiological effects and damages incurred by others.

3.16 A high percentage of compensatory plantingwith deciduous trees for every unit area of conifersplanted. Present suggested levels of 5% for industrialforesters should be increased substantially.

3.17 Plant ings of wide bands of decidu ous treesaround lochs and water courses as a standard part of allindustrial softwood schemes. This would protect themfrom acidification and nourish them with the leaf litterthat encourages them towards their full potential of fishand other wildlife populations.

3.18 Assist development of community based treeplanting schemes of all sorts but particularly of nat ivetrees for multiple purposes. Encourage the design ofambitious and imaginat ive schemes incorporatingenergy efficient buildings and other productive ente r­prises interdepend ent with trees, i.e . give support topermacul ture design.

3.19 Give every assistance to conventional forestryinterests to broaden their approach into multi-use andagroforestry systems.

3.20 Initiate research into alternative forestrycrops and produce with emphasis on the possible usesof native trees and the ir genetic improvement for par­ticular purposes such as energy biomass or qualityplywood produ ction .

PERMACULTURE - DEFINITIONP ermaculture is the conscious design of self ­sustaining, bountifu l landscapes. Plants, animals,buildings and water reserves are co-ordinated tomake the best use of a site's terrain, to establishbeneficial interactions, and to make the most efficientuse of time. and resources in an environmentallybenign way. Elements are placed in the design toserve many f unctions, and each function is attainedin a numbr of ways. (P E R M A C UL T UR E IN­STITUTE OF NORTH AMERICA).

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NATIVE TR EES FOR THE HIGHLANDS

R ight from the start of reforestation the accent mustbe on native H ighland trees. Th ese are geneticallyhighly adap ted to the severe climate and soil and haveevolved a proper ecological equilibrium with otherorganisms. Thus they provide nourishment fo r themaximum number of other creatures and are lesslikely to cause ecological disruptions manif ested, f orexample, in the severe 'pest' infestations of exoticconifer plantations. The woods of birch, Scots pineand holly are amongst the most useful and beautifu lin temperatef orests, willow amongst thef astest grow­ing. A nd THESE SPECIES A RE THE NA ­TIVE TREES OF THE HIGHLA N DS .

MUL TI-US E FORESTRY" . . . breaking out of the straightjacket of industrialafforestation, harnessing the multitude ofbenefits, inaddition to growing wood itself, cannot but benefitinhabitants of both developing and developedcountries.,,27

SOCIAL F ORE S TRY" The purposeofsocial f orestry is the creation offorestfor the benefit of the community through active in­volvement and the participation ofthe community . Inthe process, rural migration will reduce and ruralunemployment end. The overall concept of socialf orestryaims at mak ing villages self-reliant in regardto their forest material needs.,,20

CENTRAL SCOTLAND FORESTA new company backed by the Scottish Offi ce ispresently being set up with the aim ofcreating a largescale forest farm ing landscape in the Central Low­land Belt between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is anambitious project involving the close integration ofcommunity , amenity and productive woodlands withexisting and new farming enterprise. It is consideredthat improving the environment through "sensitivewoodland planting" will be the "key ingredient ofeconomic regeneration" for the area. 28

- FIRST STEPS

LAND REFORM

The rural resources of the Highlands will never be managed along ecologically sustainablelines for the full benefit ofthe population until the existing outmoded and iniquitous pattern ofland ownership is dismantled. We can make a start to land reform right away. Workingtowards the community stewardship and cooperative enterprise envisioned in The SecondGreat Wood of Caledon.

FIRST STEPS3.21 The general aim is the progressive reallocationof land in private and public hands where that own­ership is seen to be impeding the full and desirablegrowth of the rural economy. The general principleshould be that the transferrence of land would takeplace at a rate determined by demand for land frompeople themselves. .

3.22 The new stewards of the land will be townshipsand communities who will manage it for the benefit ofall.

3.23 It will be remembered that the HIDB itself hadearly aims of reappropriating old pre-Clearance croft ­lands thereby allowing for the crea ion of new croftingtownships .I" This idea should be reconsidered. Itwould be a relatively simple matter to reallocate landfrom Governmental Departments such as the Depart­ment ofAgriculture and Fisheries (DAF S), Ministry ofDefence (MOD) and Forestry Commission (FC) tocommunity ownership as these holdings already belongto the community in a manner of speaking.

CREATING NEW CROFTSUnder the Land Settlement Act of 1919, the DAFS(and before it theCongested Districts Board) madeagreat many compulsory land purchases for the pur­pose ofresettlement. Though thelasttime these pow­ers were used was in 1952, it is worth rememberingthat in thepreceding55 years they were usedtocreate2776 new crofts and enlarge a further 5168 in theHighlands and Islands. The act is stillonthestatutebook and could be "reactivated" at any time.31

• • ~~A_ ~__ A_A~U._AJ VAUA.t"A_ AU_~~_A ~~ A _ _ U~ _ _ ~_ A_U _

- - - - - -

29

3.24 T he existence of Common Grazings in the Croft­ing Counties could act as the first simple instrumentthrough which a relatively painless reallocation of landto the community might be effected. Land designatedas Common Grazings represents some 810,000 hectaresof land, a significant area on which to get new foresteconomy activities rolling. It should be straightforwardenou gh to amend existing legislation to allow a com­munity to grow trees, for instance, instead of sheepon this communal land - something the SCD arevigorously seeking at present.t" In time, the privateownership that still underlies the Common Grazingswill be more easily dissolved.

3.25 A gradual erosion of the powers and control ofthe big estates is also necessary. Green Parties have longadvocated a Community Ground Rent system whe reall land is rateable on the basis of its potential pro­ductivity. These dues are paid directly into local gov­ernment funds and tend .to prevent landowners fromholding their land in states of such low productivity andpopulation.

COMMUNI TY FORESTRY"Community forestry is not a technology: u lS aprocess of social change that requires the continuousparticipation ofwhole communities in planninj: andproblem solving.Peoplemustwillingly give up land­use practices and privileges to which they have longbeen accustomed. Such a process OJcooperative be­havioural change, nevereasytobringaboutanyway,is especially unlikely where grossly unequal landtenure and marketing systems ensure that a powerfulminority will capture nearly all the benefits of anyeconomic gains. ,,20

~.LUU1~U L lUU U ", auu L~UU· LV }.Jl~V~UL .laUUVvvu~.l;:) .l.lV.lU

3.26 That erosion could also be started by changes inlaws concerning game. It has after all only been in thelast 400 years that estates have assumed their preposter­ous control over this communal resource. Local man­agement groups representing the wider communitycould be set up initially to commence the fairerdistribution of the eroducts and proceeds of wildlifeculls and 'sport'. .C

3.27 These simplest steps of Land Reform should becarried out first and would in themselves provide suffi­cient land for the genesis of the new economy evenbefore tackling the thorniest problems of private land­ownership.

REFERENCES1. Grainger A. (1981) Reforesting Britain: The Ecologist Vol 11

No 2.2. McVean D.N. & Lockie J.D. (1969) Ecology and land use in

upland Scotland : Edinburgh Univ . Press .3. Dar ling Sir F .F.: essay in "T he Future of The Highlands" .4. Darling Sir F .F . (1947) Natural History in the Highlands and

Islands: London, Collins.5. MacBrayne C.G. (1981) Forest grazing: what can Britain learn

from New Zealand ?: Scot. For . 35 No 1.6. Gimingham C.H. (1975) An introd uction to heathland ecology:

Oliver & Boyd, Edinb urgh.7. R.S.P.B. (1987) Forestry in the Flowsof Caithness and Suther­

land .8. Callander R. (1986) The place of trees in the Highlands: in

Land ownership and use, Andrew Fletcher Society.9. Maitland P.S. (1987) The potential impact of fish culture on

wild stocks of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland .10. Scottish Wildlife and Countryside Link (1988): Marine fish

farming in Scotland .11. Callander R. (1987) A pattern of landownership in Scotland :

Haughend Publications.12. Armstrong A. (1986) Absentee landowners in the Highlands:

Scottish Forestry Vol 40 No 2.13. Rao Y.S . (1985) Building success through people's participa-

tion : Unasylva 147 Vol 37.14. Tomialo ic L. (1988) Birds magazine: Poland 's primeval forest.14. Tomialojc L. (1988) Birds magazine: Poland's primeval forest.15. Banoun et al (1984) The poplar : a multi-purp ose tree for

forestry development : Unasylva Vol 36 No 145.16. Hayes D. (1977) Plant power: The Ecologist Vol 7 No 9.17. Bunyard P. (1986) Sweden - choosing the right energy path:

The Ecologist Vol 16 No 1.

30

18. Lovins A. & L. ( 986) Energy - what 's the problem?: T heEcologist.

19. Grouer I. (1984) Forest management in Bulgaria: Unasylva Vol36 No 145.

20. Shiva V. et al (1986) Social Forestry - No solution within themark et. Th e Ecologist.

21. Verma D . (1987) Th e In ternational Tr ee Crops Journ al Vol 4No 2/3. (Several papers on Social Forestry in this issue).

22. Dulverton Lord (1977) Th e Fassfern Story: Forestry andBritish Timber 14-16.

23. Von Maydell H . (1985) The contribution of agroforestry toworld forestry development: Agroforestry Systems Vol 3 No 2.

24. Lilburn A. (1981) Norway, RSFS Tour 1980: Scot. For. Vol35.

25. McHattie A. (1966) Crofting - Is there a future?: In Landownership and use, The Fletcher Society.

26. Watson A. & Watson D. (1986) Scottish land-holding and itssocial and cultural aspects compared with Swiss and Scandina­vian: In Land ownership and use, The Fletcher Society.

27. Evans J . (1986) Plantation forestry in the tropics - trends andprospects: Interna tional Tree Crops jo urnal 4.

28. Scottish Office (1988): Central Scotland Woodland s.29. Carty T . (1985) Th e HIDB: A vehicle for Land Reform in

Scotland?: In "The land for the people" , Scottish SocialistSociety.

30. Scottish Crofters Union: Forestry - opportunities for croft ing30. Scottish Crofters Union: Forestry - opportunities for crofting

involvement : Discussion paper .31. Hunter J. (1986) Th e DAFS Crofting Estates: A case for

Community Control?: in Land ownership and use, Th e Fletch­er Society.

EDUCATION FOR THE FOREST ECONOMY"Partly because ofthis long-term domination of land-holding andland-use bypeople usuallyoutside the local vernacular community, general knowledge about the landuse practices andplanning, and participation in them, have been largely lost from the local population inScotland . . . Scottish LocalAuthorities dolittle toeducate people in landuse. Understandingisan essential prerequisite forparticipation. It would help ifschool children were given moreeducation in the language, tradition, social history, land holding and landuse of theirneighbourhood. These are virtually untreated at primary school andscarcely touched upon atsecondary school. Children maystudy history andgeography, yet remain ignorant oftheir owncultural and landuse Background. Hence they are more likely to turn their backs on thecommunity by emigrating.,, 26

We hope that, if nothing else, this GREEN PARTY MANIFESTO makes somecontribution to thatprocess of education essential tothesustainable development oftheruralHighlands that is in everyone's interest, no matter of what political persuasion.

Further copies of this Manifesto are available at £4.50 each including p&p,from the Land-Use Working Group, Highland Green Party, Duartbeg,

Scourie, Sutherland IV27 4TJ.

SCOTIISHGREEN PARTYPOBOX 14080EDINBURGH

EH106YG

Printed on100% recycledpaper byHighland Printers, 13HendersonRlJiiiI~ Jnverness.

Price £4.50

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