YOU report that the Crofter's Commission has criticised the wild land map proposed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on the grounds that it will "create a designation status against physical structural development in these identified areas" and that it may lead to conservation charities such as "the RSPB and the John Muir Trust becoming involved in crofting affairs" ("Anger over wild land that makes crofters 'invisible'", The Herald, January 16).
I cannot speak for either SNH or the RSPB, but as someone who has lived, worked and promoted community development in the west Highlands for many decades, I can reassure the Crofters Commission that the John Muir Trust has no intention of becoming involved in crofting affairs outwith our own estates, and we certainly do not proceed from the assumption that human activity is undesirable in these areas.
No-one has ever suggested that the wild land map should exclude physical structures. The map itself will offer less protection than existing designated land, such as National Scenic Areas and National Parks - both of which, as it happens, include within their boundaries not just crofts, but also numerous towns, villages, major roads, bridges and tourist facilities.
Wild land by its nature has little of that infrastructure. But even in the areas mapped, there are existing houses, lodges, bothies, farm buildings, lighthouses and even small business premises. The purpose of the map is not to remove or prevent such developments but to prevent the destruction of some of our most spectacular landscapes by those multinational corporations and big private landowners who see Scotland's wild land as a goldmine to be plundered for profit.
Even that bastion of the free market, the United States, has had legislation in place for the past 50 years that protects the country's nationally-important landscapes and ecosystems from profiteers. Almost half the land mass of California, the most populous state in the country, is protected by law. In comparison, the wild land map published by SNH is modest in both scale and status. It is not even a designation.
Ultimately, decisions about what is allowed within its boundaries will still be decided by politicians at local and national level. But the map does provide strong locational guidance to planners, developers, councillors and ministers, helping us make decisions that can balance protection of our landscape with economic and social considerations.
John Hutchison,
Chairman, John Muir Trust,
Taigh na Coille, Badabrie,
Fort William.
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