Arran, eco-tourism and deer
Alan Bellamy writes a second piece on the management of Arran’s uplands and the benefits -and problems – of increasing eco-tourism.
Many questions are asked about the degree to which deer are considered a ‘natural’ part of the environment. Is the continuation of large sporting estates dedicated to red deer stalking (on land arguably stolen from the people) desirable, or in the long term sustainable? A BBC report last year quoted a a group of scientists as saying, ‘Around half of the UK’s growing deer population needs to be shot each year to stop devastation of woodlands and bird life.’ A study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management agrees that this would keep numbers stable.
An emotional response from people who love to see these beautiful animals is only natural, but In the absence of natural predators deer populations are continuing to expand. They threaten biodiversity and in some places cause road traffic accidents and crop damage. Dr Paul Dolman, ecologist at the University of East Anglia and lead author of the report quoted above, said: ‘We know deer are eating out the vegetation of important woodlands … and are implicated as the major cause of unfavourable conditions in terms of woodland structure and regeneration.’ The heavily subsidised livelihoods of upland farmers also come into question.
George Monbiot in his recent book, Feral, refers to a report by the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association, which takes Sutherland as a case study. It shows that on the four-fifths of the county owned by estates, deer stalking generates £1.6 million, while the vastly bigger sum of £4.7 million is spent on deer management. Monbiot compares this to the Isle of Mull, where the return of white-tailed eagles has brought £5 million a year into the local economy and supports 110 full time jobs – only two less than in the whole of Sutherland.
The Scottish government calculates that wildlife tourism is already worth £276 million a year. It has also worked out that reforestation with native species (and the consequent return of plant and animal biodiversity) could increase this figure and generate many more jobs than deer stalking does today. All in all, controlling deer numbers seems to be essential.
Of course tourism, even if wildlife-based, brings its own problems, chief among them the increased carbon footprint of those travelling in order to experience wild places. However, the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) has made it clear that climate change will increasingly drive developments in land use policy. The uplands, being a home for special flora and fauna, are uniquely placed to act as a sponge to retain rainwater and release it slowly, delivering consistent and safe water supplies in the lowlands. They can also contribute a store (and potential sink) of carbon in peat and other soils. The UK uplands store some 5 billion tonnes of carbon, but of that Scotland holds well over half, 2.7 billion tonnes in peat and other soils, plus 1 billion stored in blanket bog.
Wildlife tourism tends to increase disturbance, as well has having an adverse carbon footprint, so conservation and education should always be at the heart of tourism marketing where Scotland’s wild places are concerned. This is not always the case. Some people feel that there has been reluctance, or ignorance, on the part of our own tourism organisation here on Arran to address this issue. Others worry about the effects that reforestation may have on animal species and especially birds that prefer open ground – but the British Trust for Ornithology has clear views on this. It says, ‘The development of these “new” forests will take many decades, but already the shrublands and ungrazed exclosures that have been created are supporting important numbers of some birds.’ Those quoted include the cuckoo, willow warbler, grasshopper warbler, whinchat, tree pipit and reed bunting, all of them species that have declined in many parts of lowland Britain. More typical upland species such as black grouse and short-eared owl are already found in such areas.
Alan Watson Featherstone, the founder of Trees for Life, hopes that in fifty years the land that has been reforested around Glen Affric and Glenmoriston will be home to capercailie, ospreys, golden eagles, boar, beavers, lynx, and perhaps even wolves. How about that as a picture of Scotland’s, and even Arran’s, hills, in the future?
Finally, there is the health of humanity to be considered. The developing field of ecopsychology shows again and again that to seek to ‘heal the soul’ in isolation from our natural setting is never fully successful. As the poet Gary Snyder was told by a Native American elder, ‘If people stay somewhere long enough, the spirits of the land will begin to speak to them.’
