Millionaire landowner confirms Highland wildlife park would ban ramblers
By Andrew Malone

The millionaire owner of a breathtaking Scottish wilderness has finally confirmed what opponents have long suspected: humans will not be welcome when wolves and bears are re-introduced to Sutherland under a controversial scheme to restore the ancient Caledonian landscape.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald, Paul Lister, heir to the MFI furniture fortune and owner of the 23,000-acre Alladale estate, called for a "clear derogation" between the public and Scotland's so-called "big five" - wolves, bears, boar, lynx and beaver - which he plans to release back into the wild.

Calling for people to make "sacrifices" in order for his "visionary" wildlife park to go ahead, Lister made clear that he believes people should be willing to give up the right to access the land enshrined in Scottish law.

"It would not be practical to have people walking around Alladale while wolves roam," said Lister. "There are lots of places where people can walk in Scotland, but there will not be lots of places that they can see animals in their natural habitat.

"Are we prepared to sacrifice access to an area that makes up less than 1% of the Scottish Highlands? Are we prepared to sacrifice walking around that bit of land and trying something different, something that will actually encourage more people to come up here and create lots of jobs?

"I'm a custodian - I'm trying to encourage more people to come up here. Ultimately, the local politicians and the local people will have to decide. It won't be me that makes the decision. But we have scarred this landscape. We have to see if we can find a way to put something back."

Since buying Alladale estate in 2003 for £3million, Lister, the son of the MFI founder, has been working on his scheme to copy South Africa's Shamwari game reserve, where animals killed off as a result of hundreds of years of human encroachment were successfully reintroduced.

He wants to replicate that in Scotland, charging guests up to £27,000 a week to stay at Alladale Lodge, which sleeps 16 people in sumptuous comfort. But he also says day passes will be available, for £50 per adult, with a ranger and food supplied, for those unable to afford to stay overnight.

Lister has already spent millions on his dream. On a recent tour he spoke passionately and eloquently of his desire to have up to 20,000 visitors a year at Alladale, creating hundreds of jobs and restoring the land.

But local people fear their children could be attacked by wolves escaping from the estate, despite the fact they will be fitted with computer chips to ensure they can be tracked at all times.

And it is Lister's disclosure that he wants people to give up their right to roam that will ignite a storm of protest.

Dave Morris, director of the Ramblers Association Scotland, said: "We would have concerns about proposals to enclose substantial areas of land to create a huge fenced enclosure for wolves if this led to the loss of statutory access rights and massive landscape impacts from high fences and service roads.

"Wolves and walkers coexist in many other European countries, without the need for high fences to separate the two. If wolves are to be reintroduced into Scotland it should be on the same basis as elsewhere in Europe, with walkers and wolves free to coexist in the same mountains and forests."

Farming leaders also reacted furiously. In a statement, the National Farmers Union said: "Farmers do not want the animals they care for being killed by wolves. Animal welfare is of crucial importance and farmers have a duty of care over their animals.

"Also, any proposal to release wolves here would sit oddly with our access legislation. We're unlikely to attract visitors to enjoy our countryside if it contains animals that scare them."