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A LETTER TO MSP ELAINE THOMSON
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BSCG along with other Scottish Environment LINK members has
welcomed a motion in the Scottish Parliament on the subject of
World Heritage site Status for the Cairngorms. The
motion is That the Parliament congratulates the United Nations on its
co-ordination of the International Year of Mountains; believes that an
appropriate way to celebrate the year would be to ensure that the
Cairngorm Mountain Range, the largest continuous area of high ground
above 1,000 metres in Britain, is designated a World Heritage Site, and
therefore considers that the Scottish Executive should speedily propose
discussions with Her Majesty's Supported
by: Maureen Macmillan, Rhoda Grant, Mr Kenneth Macintosh, Marilyn
Livingstone, Scott Barrie, Jackie Baillie, Dr Sylvia Jackson,
Dorothy-Grace Elder ---------------------------------------------- Our
letter to labour MSP Elaine Thomson expressing our support for
her motion is as follows:. ---------------------------------------------- Badenoch
and Strathspey Conservation Group Fiodhag,
Nethybridge Inverness-shire PH25 3DJ Tel/Fax 01479 821491 em bscg@zetnet.co.uk
13 February 2002 Dear Elaine Thomson,
Cairngorms World Heritage Site I am writing on behalf of the Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation
Group to express strong support for your motion on the above subject on
which our group has an interest that extends back a number of decades. We warmly welcome your recognition of the natural and wildland
characteristics of the Cairngorms and their importance in global terms.
(We have also welcomed Scottish Labour’s manifesto commitment to
"put in place a proper system for the management of areas of
outstanding natural beauty which is both tailored to Scottish
circumstances and consistent with the highest international
standards.") We assume the issue of "acceptable mechanisms of management
and protection" will be given due consideration in the debate. This
is the expression used by the UK Committee of the IUCN (the
International Union For Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) in
letters in 1991 to Ian Lang, then Secretary of State for Scotland, and
John Major then PM. We share the IUCN Committee’s view that "it is essential
that the full range of features that give the Cairngorms their
distinctive qualities are included". We also note their comments
that "Equally important, the World Heritage Convention requires
sufficient land to be included to provide proper coherence to planning
and management action within the World Heritage Area". For us a very live area of concern is the question of control of
planning powers within the proposed Cairngorms National Park. We
consider that World Heritage Site status would face little prospect of
approval unless there is a single planning authority for the entire
Cairngorms area with a strongly conservation-friendly outlook. As you will be aware the Cairngorms area has important European
priority habitats, like native Caledonian pinewood remnants, as well as
the scenically spectacular Cairngorms plateau, the internationally
recognised Insh Marshes, and the river Spey Special Area of
Conservation. We believe it would be very important for Strathspey’s
irreplaceable woodlands to be included within a World Heritage Site. We
are strongly of the view that biodiversity interests which require
sensitive management, as well as unique geological and geomorphological
features should be included. An example of the unacceptable nature of the present planning
regime is provided by a proposed large housing development in School
Wood, a native pinewood in the ‘Forest Village’ of Nethybridge this
lies between and very close to two of the most important Special
Protection Areas for capercaillie in Scotland, Currently the European
Commission is considering whether to intervene over an alleged breach of
the wild Birds Directive in relation to capercaillie in this wood School Wood is an important woodland corridor, providing habitat
for various priority species. The building development threat to this
woodland, that is owned by Eagle Star (a wholly owned subsidiary of
Zurich) arises from a local plan that catered for demand-driven, second
home development and failed to prioritise irreplaceable natural assets.
This kind of problem could have been avoided with the sensitive
management that would exist within an acceptably protected World
Heritage Site managed to a level consistent with high international
standards. Please contact us if we can provide any information that may be of
assistance ahead of the debate. Yours (Dr) Gus Jones (Convenor BSCG Tel/Fax 01479 821491)
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