New charter urges ministers to protect Scotland’s open moorland

Two Highland land experts have launched a charter calling on Scottish ministers to protect the nation’s open moorland from tree planting, wind farms and hill tracks, warning that “we are losing the identity of Scotland”. The charter, reported by The Scotsman on 16 July, credits land management, deer stalking, gamekeeping and sheep farming with keeping the hills open.

What does the open moorland charter call for?

The charter demands a national strategy to protect open heather moorland and hill ground from the developments its authors say are eating into it piece by piece: commercial forestry and tree planting, wind farms, hill tracks, reservoirs and power lines.

It is to be presented to the Scottish Government, and its central argument is that no one in government is currently asking what Scotland loses when the open hill goes.

Who is behind the charter?

It is co-authored by Dr James Fenton, an ecologist and peatland specialist, and Bill Cowie, former manager of the Isle of Rona, who now lives on Skye. Both have spent their working lives on the hill, and their argument is cultural as much as ecological: that the open moor is as much a part of Scotland’s identity as its lochs and glens.

Dr Fenton said: “We are losing the identity of Scotland… we are losing that feel of our wild places Scotland-wide.”

Mr Cowie said that “after decades of insidious infringement of the vast open moors and hills of Scotland… it is now time for the communities who live and work in such places to say enough is enough”.

What does it say about deer stalking and gamekeeping?

The charter places the sporting community firmly on the credit side of the ledger, citing the contribution made to keeping moorland open through land management, deer stalking, gamekeeping and sheep farming.

Dr Fenton was blunt about why he believes those voices are not being heard: “The landowners, the grouse shooters and deer stalkers… are not flavour of the month among politicians, so they don’t have any credibility.”

The point will resonate with keepers and stalkers who have watched planting targets and energy infrastructure advance across hill ground while muirburn and moorland management come under ever tighter licensing.

What happens next?

The authors intend to put the charter before Scottish ministers, seeking a commitment to a national strategy for protecting the open hill. The Scottish Government has faced sustained criticism from sporting and farming interests this year over muirburn licensing, now delayed to the autumn, and the charter adds an independent, conservation-minded voice to the case for valuing the managed open moor.

Not everyone welcomes its framing: Simon Ritchie, policy manager at Woodland Trust Scotland, rejected the charter’s choice between trees and open hill, saying: “We can and will have both.”

Katharine Hay’s full report on the charter’s launch can be read at The Scotsman.