Just as the limits of The First Great Wood of Caledon are vague in both time and

space, so in this Manifesto the bounds of 'The Highlands' to which it refers and
'The Second Great Wood' which it envisions have been deliberately left imprecisely
defined. Its application to the Islands, both Hebridean and Northern, is directly
related to the extent of and form in which The Great Wood survived or could be
recreated thereon today. The great variations in local climate and soils between
islands make it pointless to draw definite boundaries on a map. For the purposes of
this Manifesto The Scottish Highlands may be taken to refer to a biographical
region extending northwards from The Highland Boundary Fault (running from the
mouth of the Clyde to Stonehaven). Within this region lying along the east coast can
be found some of Scotland's best agricultural land (as well as the region's principal
centres of human population). The Manifesto is principally concerned with the
great proportion of the land mass of the Highlands lying west of this narrow strip.
This Manifesto was conceived as a constructive contribution to the debate on
Highland Development. At the very least, we hope that it provides some pertinent
information and fuels some less conventional, less moribund thinking on the subject
of Highland land-use and the possible futures we could choose.
Produced by the Land-Use Working Group of the
Highland Green Party, May 1989.
There is fresh debate about the future of the rural Highl ands of Scotland to which
this Manifesto is addressed: in particular there is exciting new vigour and interest in
the small farming and crofting way of life.
We have seen three Development Programmes undertaken for the rural Highlands
and Islands recently and in such a disadvantaged region these have not been
unwelcome. But the big questions still seem to remain about the long-term future:
Are current measures likely to give enough hope and lasting reinvigoration of rural
economies to hold young people within them? Will they ensure the survival of local
schools, shops and other basic facilities? More than this, will they actively promote the
development of new ones within the context of a thriving population?
Do these Development Programmes represent anything significantly more than
unimaginative, stop-gap grant packages that experience tells us merely undermine
creativity and self-reliance in the long term and circumscribe too closely the possible
areas of improvement and development?
Is anyone taking on the responsibility of developing the truly diverse and inte-
grated ways of managing the Highlands' vast natural resources of land and water which
we need to deliver us from the present emphasis on single industries and forms of land
use which bring whole communities into their dependence.
Will the various Highland Authorities get their act together quickly enough to
prevent the wholesale conversion of the Highlands to a blanket conifer monoculture
owned and managed by people who do not live in the region?
MANY PEOPLE ARE WORRIED THAT THE ANSWER TO THESE
QUESTIONS MIGHT BE NO ... IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE
THEN THIS MANIFESTO SHOULD INTEREST YOU.
3
"Britain hasoneofthemost extensiveanddocumented histories of deforestation of anycountryin theworld. Indeedthe
story of how we lost our forests is virtually the same as the history of our islandrace."
1
Only just over one thousand years ago a vast primeval forest extended across the whole of Highland Scotland
reaching up even into the higher corries and down to the western seaboard. It had evolved over a period of 8000 years
since the frozen ice sheets of the last great Ice Age drew away north. In the east and central Highlands it was
dominated by pinewoods and birch for the whole of that long period, in the West a more purely deciduous element of
birch, oak and hazel had tende d to replace pine in the latter stages. In total, the forest was very rich in plant and
animal species and the soils which it had helped to build were protected and nourished by their dense covering of
trees . This was the Great Wood of Caledon.
Though Neolithic Man had probably removed some trees for agricultural purposes by about 3500 years ago, these
incursions into the Great Wood were not hing compared with the Viking's impact between AD800 and 1100. What
they did not take away for building houses and boats they burnt in warfare, though there yet remained great tracts of
virgin forest for another 500 years.
Between 1600 and 1750 there was a further period of particularly severe forest destruction in the west Highlands
by the iron smelters from the south. This ended by about 1815by which time the Great Wood was already devastated
and fragmented; the forest of the eastern Highlands having been felled principally for timber. Nevertheless, even
then a fewareas of Scots Pine remained and some glens still had their patches of predominantly birch woodland. The
last wolf did not disappear from these until as late as 1743. Before it the last beaver had been exterminated in the 15th
or 16th century, the last elk at the beginning of the 14th, reindeer in the 12th or 13th and the last bear in the 9th or
10th century.
By the 18th century cattle had become the mainstay of the Highland economy along with mixed arable crofting
and, on the coasts , the herring. Late that century, as the openhillsides were beginning to be claimed as ' deer forests '
for the sole use and pleasure of the newbreed oflaird, resentment between sporting landowners and their tenants was
stirring. What happened at the end of that century tore the heart out of the Highlands as it tore the people from the
land and sounded the death knell for a way of life, a way of husbandry, indeed a whole ecology. The Coming of the
Sheep and the ensuing Clearances were a catastrophe from both human and ecological standpoints. The new patterns
of settlement, or rat her depopulation, are with us today as is the legacy of a virt ual single-animal monoculture: an
almost complete deforestation and what can only be described as the [mal round of vegetation and soil degeneration.
The coming of the sheep almost completed the story of forest removal. The last remnants of woodland were felled
or so heavily grazed under.that they could not regenerate. The mismanaged, over-populous red deer contributed to
the grazing pressure on potentially regenerating woods. The trees that had built , nourished and protected Highland
soils over those 8000 years were destroyed in a small fraction of that time. In the high rainfall of the region, the
removal of forest led to a rapid loss of nutrients and waterlogging, a process that continues in the uplands to this day
under grazing and bur ning regimes which take continuously from the land, never giving anything back.
4
VI I VUI \;;taHUIY, UIC la:5l CIK at urc VI urc l"tUl, reinuccr UI urc 01' 1.:HIl auu LIlt: la:5L oear IU LIlt: ::nIl or
10th cenairy.
the, 18th century cattle had bec?me the of along
I Introduction
ABOUT THIS GREEN MANIFESTO
It is a tenet of the ecologists' approach to land usethat renewable resources should beconservedand managed for a
sustained yield rather than squandered for short-term advantage as has been done in the past."?
The PROLOGUE to this GREEN MANIFESTO tells of the devastation of the original Highland forest, the
destruction of a naturall y bestowed andenormously rich potential humanresource. The next section, THE MYTH AND
THE REALITY, demonstrates how this affects what people do today (and their perception of what it is possible to
do), over the greater part of the rural Highlands. It identifies the ecological truths about the way man presently uses
the land, the effects that this is having on the whole ecologyof the Highla nds and indicates the probable outcome of
unsatisfactory land uses. These often harsh realities are contrasted with popular and romantic images of the majestic
Highlands.
The core of the Manifesto is a vision of a possible Highland future built on a FOREST ECONOMY through the
recreation of a SECOND GREAT WOOD OF CALEDON: a new economy of great diversity and richness to supply
the needs of a larger population than currently exists in the region with a wider range of employment possibilities,
foods, materials and energy sources. It describes a new environment of great beauty and lasting prosperity. It is a
futu re consistent with the inexorable Greening of the world; a process that represents a redefmition of Man's
relationship with Nature at both a spiritual and pragmatic level.
After the vision come some down-to-earth proposals. Some of these are inevitably of a negative type: the worst
malpractices of land-use and injustices of land ownership must be ended as soon as possible and Greens are not afraid to
pinpoint these. Alongside these negative imperatives stand the positive suggestions , THE FIRST STEPS we could
take right away to move away from these malpractices and injustices and on towards the Greener goals envisaged
within the Second Great Wood of Caledon.
"l--"" .... .... ;fpC't-A ""AIAll.. n ;l1P infnrm::ltl0n ::lhOllt c;: im1l::l r nol1cl'es Sf
Throughout the Mamtesto, co oured. boxes give examp es 0 and. mtormanon about simi ar po IC es 1-' eceUe IS
to those suggested (from both this country and abroad) and help to form a picture of a FOREST ECONOMY. They
demonstrate both the practicality of the Greenprint and how sadly behind many regions of the world Scotland has
become in its planning for the SUSTAI NABLE, POST-INDUSTRIAL, ECOLOGICALLY BASED FUTURE.
"The Highlands and Islands of Scotland have suffered for some hundreds of years by being a second-class
neighbourhood oflittleimportance toa dominant South. Whensouthern government ultimatelyandbelatedly accepted
its administrative responsibility for the Highlands, the patterns of administration were not those adaptedfrom the
indigenous culture but were those of a quite foreign and-in general urbanculture/"
Britain was the first nation to industrialize and can now lead the world into a post industrial civilization. Rather
than being the poor follower of the south in its development, the Highlands has the opportunity to adopt an
ecological strategy and be at the forefront of modem political endeavours: to live off the resources of the planet
without destroying them and to share them justly amongst a population.
5
11 The Myth and the Reality I
". . . more often thannotweare looking at a man-made desert. Thebare hillside keptbare byburning andthegrazing
of anartificially large stock ofsheep are notwildnature. Thelasnumsequences, thehundreds of thousands of acres of
bracken and deer's hair sedge are not nature but the results of ill treatment of nature . . .,,4
The starting point for a modern land-use strategy must be the ecological realities of past and
present. It is these which must guide the economic development of the region prescribing the
wisest and most sustainable usage of the land.
1.1 The Myth speaks of a natural wild land, but the
truth tells of an exceedingly unnatural, biologically
degraded, physically eroded and denuded near desert.
1.2 The Myth speaks of eagles and ospreys, black
throated divers and seals but neglects to tell that these
are but the pathetic isolated remnants of a once fabu-
lous abundance of wildlife. What rare creatures still
remain are often mercilessly persecuted or unneces-
sarily threatened to this day by industrial forester on
the boglands, by fish-farmer on the coast, by
gamekeeper in the hills.
1.3 The Myth tells of hunting stags, shooting grouse
and angling for wild salmon. But the truth is that our
red deer are amongst the smallest, feeblest specimens
in Europe, our native salmon are dying out only to be
replaced by emasculated, flabby, farmed imposters and
the ever declining bags of grouse sadly reflect the
dramatic decline in numbers of all our game birds this
century.
1.4 The Myth may teU of a majority of people living
happily off the land on intensively managed crofts, but
the truth is of a region where very little food is grown in
relation to the land area, very little power generated in
relation to the potential natural renewable resources
and very little timber -grown either as fuel or as building
material for the region itself.
1.5 There is really only one area in which the Myth
would seem to match the Reality and that is in the
6
domain of landownership. The Highland laird yet lives
on as part of an anachronistic pattern of feudal land-
ownership that keeps people from a true fulfillment of
their potentials and the land from becoming that right-
ful equal source of possible livelihood and pleasure to
all.
1.6 The Myth may have its uses to the tourist indus-
try and in the London clubs frequented by absentee
landlords but it has constantly obstructed a rational
appraisal of the state of the land and economy. This is
an essential prerequisite of a lasting prescription for a
vigorous and sustainable land-use economy. It is high
time to dismantle the Myth in the true interests of the
Highland people; in the interests of forging the basis
for radical land-use and ownership reforms and
plans.
~
~
s:
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~
The biologically degraded, physicall y eroded and treeless wet
desert of the Highlands.
lor raurcar lana-usc: anu ownersmp t I U l l l ~ cUIU
_ MYTH &REALITY
THEREALITY OF HILL-FARMING
1.7 Over the bulk of the land mass of the Highlands
there exists a grazing system peculiar to Scotland; there
is none other in Europe that allows a single beast , the
sheep , virtual free range of all habitats and altitudes
and which tolerates such low productivity and high
mortality. Also, taken as a whole, there is no region in
the EEe more heavily subsidized for uneconomic farm-
ing. Despit e this , crofters and farmers in the most
disadvantaged areas of the Highlands find that the
average ' profit' only mor e or less equals the govern-
ment subsidy.
MISMANAGEMENT
"50% of the two million lambs lost annually in the
uplands of Britain die due to the effects of
exposure. ,, 5
"Lambingpercentagein many areas is nowaslowas
50% and up to lf4 of lambs die of hypothermia in a
severe winter with more than one million lost in an
average year." 1
1.8 On a hill-sheep farm one man looks after 200
sheep on average. Whether he can do this well is a moot
point, but that is the average ratio of sheep to shepherd
in the Highlands and the economics of the industry
dictate that level. So one man's livelihood can occupy
about 400 hectares. Hill-sheep farming as practiced in
the Highlands can only be described as profligate in
its usage of land and dismal in J,its employment of
people.
:::!

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A grazingsystem peculiar toScotland: thesheephavevirtualfree
range of all habitats and altitudes.
7
EMPLOYMENT
Each sheep needs about two hectares of land on
which to graze. That is one shepherd to about 405
hectares onanunimproved sheepfarm; onemanto40
hectares on average in present day forestry.
Birchwood withoutregenerationdueto grazingof sheep anddeer;
UNSUSTAINABLE HUSBANDRY
"Crop rotation andtheincorporation ofa leguminous
break are accepted as beneficial but the hill-farmer
who practices this systemon his arable land fails to
detect anything wrong with a wholly extractive
regime on his continuously grazed hillland."2
1.9 The ecological interaction between sheep grazier
and forest is historical fact . Once the remaining woods
were felled to increase the area of grazings (mostly in
the late l Sthand early 19th centuries), sheep were then
able to prevent any further regeneration of trees by
pressure of numbers. Even woods which were not
felled were, and still are to this day, continuously
grazed so that they die on their feet .
1.10 Without tree canopy to intercept the rain-
fall of the region, the soils become rapidly 'leached of
their nutrient fund. The more shallowly rooted remain-
ing vegetation is unable to bring to he surface what few
basic elements there might be to derive from an intrin-
sically acid bedrock. Heather, moor-grasses and sedges
therefore only lay down acid humus and , without any
artificial addition to the soil-vegetation complex, it
tends towards very low levels of fertility.
and torest IS rustoncai tact. Once the remaining WOOQS
were felled to increase the area of grazings (mostly in
_ 1 ' __ ...1 1_ _ 1 n ..L, .... \ .. h ""....
_ MYTH &REALITY
HRC STRUCTURE PLAN REVIEW 1985:
", . . theproductivity of hill grazings hasdiminished
through over-grazing by sheep and indiscriminate
burning."
1.11 Although giving the short-term effect of the
'spring bite ' , the practice of muirburn has exacer-
bated the whole tendency for soils in many areas to
decline in fertility in the long term. Nutri ents are lost
in both smoke and ash, some of the latt er being re-
moved completely by run-off and never re-entering the
nutrient fund. As worrying as this chemical degenera-
tion are the physical effects of erosion that muirburn
can cause when carried out on steep gradients or, too
frequently, anywhere. These effects, along with its
tendency to eliminate heather , are most import ant in
the West under highest rainfall. In such areas this trend
will go on reducing the carrying capacity of grazings so
long as muirburn persists.
MUIRBURN
"Burningshouldnot be toofrequent: in mosthabitats
intervals should not be less than ten years. More
frequent burningresults in returning toooften to bare
ground . . . introducing risks of loss by erosion and
the spread of unwanted plants. It might also cause
unnecessary nutrient loss if theinterval between fires
becomes too short for inputs to exceed losses. "
"Upland Britain is not often thought of as a region
whereerosionis a serious problem, but manyhillsides
show mild or severe symptoms. Often a clue to the
results of years of depletion of surface humus is
the number of visible boulders or the extent of scree
on a hillside which would otherwise be heather-
covered.,,6
Peoplewhoknow thehills recognize that thetussocks
of deergrass on littleislands ofpeat, thecolourofthe
burns af ter rain and thegreathaggs areall signs of a
great physical loss of soil that has occurred sincethe
Great Wood was destroyed, and this is a continuing
process today .
1.12 From being the most important domestic stock
in the Highland economy in the 18th century, hill cattle
in the uplands have been reduced to just a few scattered
herds. The reasons for the decline have been various:
changes in market forces, shifts in subsidy and the
move away from such intensive forms of husbandry.
Due to the different grazing requirements of sheep and
8
I:Q
B;
0:::
Muirburn exacerbates the tendency for soils to decline in fertility
and frequently leads to physical erosion.
cattle they are naturally complementary animals. With-
out cattle, experience has shown that undesirable
plants invade and reduce the quality of grazings. In
terms of both the efficient utilization and health of
the grazings, the virtual loss of cattle from the High-
land grazing regime represents a great loss ofproduc-
tivity and ecological balance.
1.13 With a massive amount of hard work, the crof-
ters and hill-farmers of two and more centuries con-
verted areas of ill-drained and infertile hill-land to grow
sufficient barley, oats and , later , potatoes to feed them-
selves and their stock. Even the best of this cultivated
land is now grazed by sheep and its carefully nurtured
fertility has been lost over the years of dis-use. Its
history, though, gives clear evidence of the possibility
of not only growing sufficient winter keep for stock in
all areas of the region but also of growing considerable
vegetable produce.
A f encewitha story: ontherightover-grazingandburningleading
to the beginnings of sheet erosion.
- MYTH &REALITY
THE REALITY OF'INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY
As with the Coming of the Sheep, the coming of the Sitka Spruce represents the imposition of
an alien economy on a people and their ecology. Alien softwood monoculture is a travesty of
the word 'forestry' , the full extent of its social and ecological implications only now beginning
to be felt and understood. This 'industrial forestry' defies most sane, balanced and sustain-
able silvicultural practice and as such is profoundly unecological and therefore outdated. It
represents the desperate attempt of business and government to fill a tragic gap in our
resource economy created by centuries of appalling land-use practice. At the same time it is
obstructing the creation of woodlands by local communities to meet their own economic and
wider needs.
1.14 The interactions between alien conifer forest
and other land-uses as well as potential resources has
begun to be unravelled. Many of them are detrimental
and include effects on hill-farming, freshwater fisher -
ies, wild game , wild life communities of special import-
ance , tourism and human water sources.
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Clearfelling the conifer monoculture: a travesty of the word
'forestry' .
1.15 Alien conifers produce an acidic humus and
therefore tend to increase the acidity of freshwater
ecosystems in their catchments. This adversely affects
the invertebrate life and, therefor e, the fish and other
animals that feed off them. At times of ploughing and
felling, large quantities of mud and silt enter burns and
rivers with direct effects on fish and wildlife and more
insidious effects such as the silting up of spawning
grounds for salmon and trout.
9
1.16 Important wildlife commurunes have been
adversely affected. The case of the Flowlands in Caith-
ness and Sut herland has been extensively covered in
the media in this context. That particular 'planning'
fiasco represents an inexcusable failure to meet our
very few international obligations? but very wide
responsibilities to ra re wildlife resources that 'belong'
in a very important sense to the people of the earth as a
whole.
1.17 Intensive monocultures of all kinds court dis-
ease and, as in agriculture, foresters have found them-
selves increasingly dependent on pesticides to reduce
the economic impact of diseases and pest attack on their
crops. Aerial spraying of organophosphate insecticide
has become a regular feature of pest control program-
INSECTI CIDE SPRAYING
I n 1978 thefirst areas of lodgepolepine monoculture
were sprayed from the air in Sutherland with the
organophosphate insecticide, Fenitrothion. This
group of chemicalsareamong themosttoxicknown to
Man. The Forestry Commissionhas sprayed several
thousand acres since 1978 in the northof Scotland:
4875 acres in years 1987 to 1988. Because of a
suspected link between Fenitrothion spraying ~ d the
frequently lethal children's diseaseknown as Reye's
Syndrome, the chemical has been banned by five
Canadian States. Despite claims that the problem
hasbeen avoidedinScotland by theuseofa different
diluent, research continues toshou: that Fenitrothion
itselfcancause permanent nerve damage whenadmi-
nistered in low doses over a period of time and has
been linked in Canada to birthdefects and eyesight
problems.
THE REALITY OF WILD GAME MANAGEMENT
IND USTRIAL FORESTRY -
EMPLOYMENT
", . . rural communities also derivelittleemployment
or other local economic benef it from the present
forestry regime. The centralization, mechanization
and other labour saving strategies developed by this
single purpose system, mean that employment in
forestry has beenf alling despite themajor expansion
ofplantations andharvestingvolumes. Theincreases
in productionhavemaintained employment levels in
woodprocessing industries but these have moved to
large-scale factories away from rural areas. ,,8
REDDEER DAMAGE
With the clearance of theforest, the reddeer lost its
natural habitat but managed to adapt to the new
environment of inhospitableopen hillside byreducing
its body size and antlergrowth. That same denuda-
tionof thehillsidethat turned it intosuch apoor beast
by European standards, paradoxically also madeof
it an eminently shootable target.
But the annual shoot of about40,000 deer has been
insufficient toprevent theHighland reddeer popula-
tionfromincreasing toabout 250,000 beasts. Whilst
the damage they cause to crops and plantations is
oftendiscussedtheirless obvious butnoless important
competition with sheep on good pasture and their
grazing of regenerating trees is not.
been made by forestry businesses and individuals
exploiting these financial arrangements treating fore-
stry as if it were just another form of property spe-
culation. To say that this ' business' puts any signifi-
cant amount of money back into local economies is a
gross and distorting pretence.
1.19 Despite the cunning presentation of figures by
forestry interests, it is apparent that fewlasting jobs are
created by their operations in relation to the amounts of
land consumed.
for trophies, leaving estate employees to effect a ba-
lanced cull. This trade has ensured that the wider local
community has not greatly benefitted from the re-
source as either food or revenue, that no overall
mes in the Highlands. The introduction of such
dangerous chemicals into our environment seems to
be a necessary corrollary of the forest monoculture
and represents a serious failure of the industry to adapt
its practice to the requirements of other land users and
human health.
- MYTH &REALITY
Deep ploughing: the ugly scars of 'industrial forestry' .
1.20 The management of red deer in the Highlands
has always been a predominantly haphazard affair re-
sponding more to the fashions and whims of estates
than to those scientifically based population estimates
and judgements that have gradually become available.
The unchallenged right of privately owned estates to
manage this wild resour ce entirely for its own benefit
has allowed the survival of a bizarre trade where tour-
ists pay to shoot one particular age classand sexof beast
1.18 The extent of public subsidy for industrial fore-
stry in the form of planting grants and tax relief has also
been recently highlighted in the press. Bigprofits have
!Xl
l:l.
CIl
~
Thereddeer: awoodland beast deprivedof its natural habitatyet
preventing the forest from returning by virtue of its excessive
numbers.
10
manaze this wild r s ~ u r entirelv for its own benefit
iosuinu: LJfiMfHjJj
_ MYTH &REALITY
ecological management strategy has evolved and
that, overall, the animal is manifestly undershot.
1.21 Management of red grouse involves exploitation
of the artificial heather dominated hillside that formed
after forest clearance. Its principle tool is fire which
ensures that tree regeneration cannot take place and
that a continuous supply of a palatable heather crop is
available to the birds. But steep declines in grouse bags
have been experienced in many areas of the Highlands
in the last 50 years and, though the reasons are various,
declining fertility levels of the soil-vegetation complex
(exacerbated by burning) have no doubt played their
part. Whatever the reasons, it seems unlikely that
estates will ever see again the big bags that were once
taken off the hill each autumn.
1.22 The Atlantic salmon is rapidly becoming an
endangered species and the causes are so various that
there is deep concern as to what the future holds for it.
As with the other wild animals, it is the prerogative of
landowners to manage and reap the financial rewards
from salmon passing through their lands. It is frequent-
ly argued that this system has contributed to the con-
servation of the species but this is not to say that it
couldn't have been achieved at least as well by other
fairer means. The latest threats to wild salmon are
posed by salmon farming and include transmission of
disease, interference with homing patterns, pollution
of rivers and the far reaching implications of genetic
drift. 9/10
Salman farm ing poses many threats to wi ld salmon stocks by
transmission of disease, pollution of rivers and the far-reaching
implications of genetic drift .
Red grouse, red deer and Atlantic salmon have in common that they are native , wild animals and thus cannot be
said to ' belong' to anyone. They are , however, exploited by individual landowners on whose land they happen to
be residing, the benefits of both meat and sporting revenue accruing to them only. Other people ar e expressly
excluded from participation. This present form of management represents the unrightful exclusive exploitation
of a common resource by a few people.
THE REALITY OF
CROFTING
1.23 Crofting as a type of mixed husbandry involving
a high degree of self-reliance has, at least on the High-
land mainland, become almost extinct in the last 50
years. Nonetheless the word still denotes a part icular
type of tenancy and, more importantly, a lifestyle. The
typical croft today has an income derived from at least
one job off the croft, and from the provision of tourist
accommodation. Agricultural activity is mostly part-
time (80% of crofts provide less than 2 days' work per
week) and comprises the running of sheep alone. Even
the provision of seasonal vegetables and fruit for the
kitchen is now an uncommon part of the croft eco-
nomy. The decline of crofting husbandry has gone
... ... ....&J "".&Joi ... &.J... .&.& "'.&
11
hand-in-hand with the loss of need to produce any of
one's own food or other consumerables and with the
more generalized loss of contact with the productive
capabilities of the land - the depopularization of
agriculture. This Manifesto engages the possibility of
its repopularization.
THE REALITY OF
FISHERIES //
1.24 At sea as on land, the story has been one of
resource mismanagement, the squandering of a rich
potential for immediate gain leading to disruptive
changes in the resource base and crippling uncertain-
ties regarding the future. The collapse of the west coast
_ MYTH &REALITY
herring fishery at the beginning of the 19th century and
its effect on small coastal communities is well
documented. Overfishing of the same species two hun-
dred years later led to the enforced closure of the
herring fishery in the late ' 70s. The current intense
catching effort for mackerel based on the foreign klon-
. "Tht'1 ..d.. ;11\.1 "'ki ME ff t d. t-. tW pflA WE:".
Fi.,\.t i., pb-( WE; to
dyker market now threatens this species too. The
dramatic increase in prawn trawling poses a threat to
this traditionally small scale fishery both by its scale of
activity and its physical threat to static gear. Over and
over again the interests of the local and the small-scale
fishermen have been overridden by the large-scale and
the greed of the few. The latest threat to inshore
fisheries , particularly of shellfish, comes in the form of
the salmon pen. There may be some degree of short-
term prosperity in salmon farming but at the same time
there is a sad irony in the exchange of a potentially
sustainable, undamaging and locally controlled
fishery for a resource guzzling, economically unst-
able and polluting one controlled largely by multi-
national companies.
THE REALITY OF
NATURE
CONSERVATION
1.25 Conservation of wildlife in the Highlands
amoun ts to littl e more than a rearguard action to
protect a small handful of the outstandingly important
wildlife communiti es that are left. Yet the degree of
antipathy towards the conservation organizations and
their work in the region must be second to nowhere in
Britain. Media distort ion of the conflicts of interest in
the Flowlands , for instance, as well as the Nature
Conservancy' s total preoccupation with SSSI notifica-
tion have played their part in this poor image. The
limited resour ces of conservation organizations and the
lack of a conservation ethos in Local and Regional
Government, Highland Board and other Statutory
Bodies, have not allowed for the kind of more posi-
tive forward-looking partnership of conservation and
development that is badly needed. Until wildlife con-
servation is recognized by planners as an essential
element of resource management as a whole, its aims
and practice will remain to be seen as nothing more
than an annoying intrusion into the affairs of those
exploiting natural resour ces commercially.
THE REALITY OF LAND OWNERSHIP
Arguably the three most disastrous land-use policies perpetrated by mankind in the High-
lands have come about by estate owners selling out to highly exploitative outside interests for
personal financial gain. In the 17th and 18th centuries landowners sold out to the iron
smelters. In the 18th and 19th it was to the sheep graziers and now, in the 20th, they're selling
out to industrial foresters. These unrightful transactions are ' only possible under a system
that allows individual ownership of huge estates. '
1.26 The nature of land ownership in the Highlands,
as over the rest of Scotland, is legally termed Feudal.
This form of ownership came into existence in the 11th
century and , largely unaltered since then , has lent to
the country "the most concentrated pattern of private
ownership in Europe.,,11 Despite a decline in the last
12
100years in the extent ofland held by large estates, half
of the land mass of Scotland is still in the hands of
just 579 landowners.
1.27 It has been said that in no country in Europe are
the rights of owners so carefully protected as in our
MYTH &REALITY
country and these rights extend to the exploitation of
most of the natural resources, animal, vegetable and
mineral, which are more properly considered as com-
mon to local communities.
1.28 As the majority of people who work directly on
the land or in the rural environment are tenants of
lairds, it can be said that land-use practice, the pattern
of settlement, indeed much of the rural economy as a
whole is in the control of this small group of landown-
ers, half of whom can be classified as absentee. Land-
owners have inevitably tended to support the status
quo that so favours them and must therefore carry,
down the ages, a great part of the responsibility for the
declines that have taken place in human populations, in
agricultural productivity and in ecological balance.
1.29 The privilege of land ownership translates into
political power that is detrimental to' the wider com-
munity's potentials of creativity, productivity and self-
respect. It is also part of a class system that is divisive
and breeds unhealthy relationships between people and
between people and the land on which they live.
:9

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Cl
For estates in thewest and centralHighlands, almosttwoowners
in every three are absentees.
ABSENTEEISM
"... almost exactly half ofHighland estate owners
live on their properties for less than f our months in
anyyear. For estates in the west and central High-
lands, almost two owners in every three are
absentees."12
THE 'HIGHLANDPROBLEM' REDEFINED
The Green Perspective that the Manifesto has presented is of a barrenenvironment degraded
by mankind himself (principally mankind from outwith the region) over a period of about
three and a half thousand years. The state to which he has brought the land by his activities
has been described as a wet desert. We have become conditioned by its austerity to what we
can farm on this desert, to what we can grow in it. But a fuller knowledge of the land-use and
vegetational history of the region leads to a more optimistic view of its potential. If we could
repair the damage to our ecosystem, we could yet embark on a new era of ecologically and
therefore economically sustainable land use.
1.30 The conventional viewof the state of the High-
lands, reinforced by existing governmental initiatives is
a sadly ill-informed one which is taking us down an
unhappy path of missed opportunities and worse - a
long-term downward spiral of ecological and social
decline. This traditional view may deal with rural
depopulation, decline in rural services and facilities
and decreasing standards of living relative to other
regions. It may even relate these to the loss of economic
viability of agriculture and other primary industries.
But this is not the entire picture and deals principally
with EFFECTS not CAUSES.
1.31 Analysis of what has come to be known as the
' Highland Probl em' without an appreciation of its long
.1 r ! __ 11 .L _ ! __ L1 _ 1 __ _
13
history of forest destruction, its long-term trend of
ecological decline, the part private landownership has
played in these and the present conditioned viewof the
Highland landscape is almost worthless. It certainly
cannot result in useful prescriptions for improvement.
A critical part of the problem is thus to be found in
those authorities and agencies responsible-for shaping
rural Highland policy. They give .little' indication of
having assimilated enough land-use history and ecolo-
gical science to plan for a stabilization of the present
decline, let alone of being able to add to that sufficient
imagination to plan for a long term and creative fut ure.
1.32 In taking into account these sometimes uncom-
fortable truths this Manifesto arrives at a definition of
- MYTH &REALITY
the ' Highland Problem' which was first elucidated by
Sir Fraser Darling in his various writings on the High-
lands earlier this century. The summary of this is that a
regrettable history of land mis-use and ownership have
led us to today's rural pr actices which are characterized
by: (1) detrimental long-term effects on soil, vegeta-
tion and freshwater systems and therefore to ecologic-
al unsustai ability, (2) exceedingly low employment
levels and therefore to conditions of social and econo-
mic un esirability, (3) exclusive single usage of large
tracts of land use and therefore to demographic imba-
lance, (4) reliance on heavy subsidy and therefore
economic fragility and social instability.
SIR FRASER DARLING
The workofFraserDarlinghasa renewedrelevance
for theHighlands today with his belief in small scale
crof ting husbandry and what we now term organic
practices. His major opus is the 'West Highland
Survey' of 1955 but his diagnosis of ' TheHighland
Problem' permeatesmuchofhiswritingfrom'Island
Farm' (1944) to ' The Highlands and Islands'
(1964).
14

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] "- -'"_ _
12 The Forest Economy
THE SECOND GREAT WOOD
OF CALEDON
"The needfor developing holistic approaches that integrate theprotective, productive and social roles offorestry has
been recognized. The concept offorestry for development is now widely accepted.,,13
Having diagnosed the ills of the Highland land-use economy from an ecological standpoint, the Manifesto now
presents an alternative vision of a Highland future - a "Greenprint" - the principle proposition of which is the
planting of the greater part of the region with a mixed multi-use forest. In short, nothing less than the creation of
A Second Great Wood of Caledon.
In keeping with all Green initiatives, the principle economic and ecological thrust is towards a SUSTAIN-
ABLE rural land-use economy: that is one living within its resource means. The principle political thrust is
towards community responsibility and STEWARDSHIP rather than ownership of the land.
The overall aim is for local communities managing the total natural resource for their own benefit, providing
maximum employment and maximum potential for diversification and development of new areas of economic
and social activitiy.
REFORESTATION - RECREATINGAN ECONOMY
2.1 The Second Great Wood ofCaledon would be no
wild and unpopulated place like the first of 1000 years
and more ago. Whilst sharing several important biolo-
gical characteristics of the original it would display
many fundamental dissimilarities. The main one being
its intensive management by Man - nurtured, not
destroyed: lived in and by, not on. It would be so well
managed in fact as to appear in places almost unman-
aged.
2.2 It would yield up to its human population a great
wealth and diversity of products as well as providing an
incomparably more hospitable micro-climate and en-
vironment than presently afforded hy the bleak and
windswept moor.
2.3 It would provide a massive new potential of spir-
itual and aesthetic rewards.
Left: a typical Highland hillside bereft of trees, of human
population and eroding rapidly. Right: a typical Norwegian
mountainside with treesprotecting both the soil and a fertile farm
below.
WUU i:1UU UUpUpU.li:1lC;U P.li:1\..C; U.l'.C; .lU"l V.l .lVVV
and more ago. Whilst sharing several important biolo-
gical characteristics of the original it would display
m-:lnv flln{hmpnt-:ll The' main one' heine
- FORESTECONOMY
2.4 It would fulfill our global responsibilities towards
climate stabilisation and the regeneration of a healthy
balance of atmospheric gases.
2.5 A recreated forest in the Highlands of Scotland
would also take its place alongside other current initia-
tives in the world to reinhabit man-made deserts and
would be an ,?pression of solidarity with developing
countries of the Third World.
2.6 In total it would provide a rich and sustainable
resource for more people than ever before living in a
new harmony with each other and the land , under new
forms of land stewardship which allow for the growth
of more uncompetitive, stable and unexploitative rela-
tionships.
2.7 The history of Highland ecology shows us that
the region has been naturally dominated by a mixed
forest since the last Ice-age (see Prologue): that it is only
in the last 400 years or so that this dominant vegetation
type has been artificially replaced by Man with heath or
moor. Ecologists tell us that the present-day natural
climax vegetat ion of the Highlands would be mixed
forest over by far the bulk of the land mass.
2.8 Direct experience shows us that where open moor
and denuded peat can only support a fewanimals , a few
plants and therefore little agriculture, population and
employment, a forest can support an abundance of
economic activity in proportion to the relative abund-
ance of its biomass and biological diversity.
2.9 The Second Great Wood ofCaledon would com-
prise an enormous range of tree and shrub species,
providing a correspondingly great range of food
(animal and vegetable), fodder, fuel, timber, indust-
rial, craft and even medicinal products. The Wood
might be recreated to comprise the best aspects of
forest resource usage current in countries such as Nor-
way, Sweden and Switzerland and from the historical
past of the first Great Wood of Caledon itself.
AWEALTH OF PRODUCE - AN ABUNDANCE
OF EMPLOYMENT
2.10 Animal produce would divide into domestic and
wild with a far greater relative dependence on the latter
than at present. In contrast to the extreme paucity of
wild game taken from the land today, the Great Wood
would yield up a much increased range , quantity and
wudgame taken rrom tne lana wall y, [he \.heal WUUU
would yield up a much increased range , quantity and
quality of animal products managed by local communi-
ties to supply food, in the first place, to themselves.
2.11 Domestic stock might include cattle, both High-
land and other breeds able to thrive by virtue of the
better micro-climate and pasture. Cattle in the forest
economy would provide local sources of dairy produce
as well as useful organic fertilizer for many horticultu-
ral, agricultural and arboricultural practices. There
would be sheep , confined along with the cattle, to
improved pasture with breeds producing good wools
for local spinning and clothes manufacture. It would
include free-range pigs, pens, ducks, geese and other
fowl suitably combined on some small forest-farm
units.
16
Left: upside-down Highland land-use in practice - conifer
monoculture in theglen, sheep on the bleak hill, people nowhere"
Right: Norwegian glen, busy with farms and small industry
flanked by forested hills"
I
_ FOREST ECONOMY
It is clear that the forest economy would be a diverse and vigorous one bringing with it high
standards of living and all the proper facilities and services that rural economies require. It
would employ the most modern technologies available which would be, by definition,
small-scale, non-polluting, and non-wasteful.
A forest-croft township in the Wood of Caledon.
17
_ FOREST ECONOMY
2.12 Instead of estates employing only a few people
and taking money from tourists to kill game as sport
the wild animal resources would be managed effi-
ciently, responsibly and fairly for the benefit of the
communities in whose forest the wild beasts would
live. The proper management of this major new re-
source would employ many people and earn revenue
for local townships.
2.13 Our red deer would return to their former native
forest habitat and grow fat on the good rich grazing
amongst the shelter of the trees. Instead of the little
200lb beasts we think of as large today, the Great Wood
of Caledon would boast the 420lb beasts that other
European countries crop from their best forests.
2.14 With red deer installed in the habitat to which
they are naturally adapted, introduced reindeer might
make a living from the really high altitude moors and
hillsides living off the scrubby willow and birch that
even these support once sheep and fire are eliminated.
The carefully managed (not farmed) reindeer would
contribute another useful source of protein and other
products to the local economy as well as a revenue
earning export.
DEER FARMING
Deer farming seems to epitomize the upside-down
state of resource management in the Highlands.
There is unbelievable irony in farming an animal
that has reached almost plague proportions in the
wild yet it has been hailed as an exciting develop-
ment. If the wild resource was simply managed
properly there would be abundant supplies of meat,
reduced competition ongrazings andontree regenera-
tionas well as the sparing of pain anddistress tothe
unfortunate deer penned up in open fields against
.L
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':- +11, __ t T"""/UL"C" Ztnrrrand ''''' '; ... fl'IIJI\I _t7"l.O"t'J
their naturalinstinct. Irony is heaped onirony when
thedeer farmer starts toreceive LivestockCompensa-
tory Allowances to sustain an uneconomic activity!
2.15 Other large herbivores might be introduced and
managed as wild resources too. The once native elk
would seem to be a good candidate. The Scandinavians
harvest it within their forest economy, the Germans
too. The Highland Forest Economy would not be
complete without it. In the fully developed Great
Wood there would be a place too for some of the
other animals that have only disappeared from the
Highlands within the last 1000 years (see Prologue)
and which survive to this day in a few remaining deep
forests of Europe.
18
WILDLIFE POSSIBILITIES
. On the borders of Poland and Russia lies the 480
square miles of the Bialowieza Forest. It still has
populations of elk, beaver, otter, red and roe deer,
wild boar, pine marten, and polecat. 228 species of
birds have been recorded, 162 breeding. In addition
there are introduced populations of muskrat, racoon
dog and American mink. The bison is Poland's
symbol of successful conservation; having been res-
cuedfromthebrinkofextinction, there arenowabout
200 animals roaming theforest alongwith about 30
lynxes and two packs of wolves. The wolf is, of
course, very scarce in Europe but, nonetheless, still
occurs in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Yugos-
lavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and
Greece. What exciting wildlifepossibilities a Second
Great Wood of Caledon couldofferl'"
2.16 Presently lifeless lochs and burns could once
again abound with fish when the forest is re-established
on their borders. Deciduous leaf litter will feed the
invertebrates that feed the fish and we might expect to
harvest a variety and quantity of fish from this resource
which will contribute directly to local food economies.
This would be in marked contrast.to the present situa-
tion where a few tourists fish a couple of species treated
as a luxury and pay the "owner" for the right. Once the
lochs are living again and fertilized by the forest, some
might be artificially stocked and managed primarily for
their fish protein resource. In complete contrast to
today's salmon farmer the priority would be to develop
sustainable, drug free forms of husbandry
WIth low resource input and skilled multi-species cul-
ture systems.
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The unbelievable irony offarming deer in a country plagued by
wild deer of the same species.
- FOREST ECONOMY
I
2.17 The forest-croft would look a little different
from the typical croft we see on the Highland mainland
at present but would exhibit many qualities that are
enshrined in the original crofting practice. It would
have diverse interests, operate at quite a small scaleand
give to its inhabitants a healthy and fulfilling liveli-
hood. In contrast to most of today's crofts, it would be
intensively managed, serviced by modern appropri-
ate machinery and exude a high degree of prosperity
and dynamism.
2.18 Crofts and small farms would be scattered
throughout the forest, naturally clustered on the richer
soils, often in the bottoms of glens and much resemb-
ling their pre-Clearance distributions. There would be
small, well-fenced or dyked fields with a great deal of
improved pasture. Trees around all the fields would
constantly fertilize the pasture with leaf litter. Some
mature areas of forest would be opened out to form
rides and glades where some herbivores would graze
freely, being able to move in and out of the shelter of
the trees.
Windbreak Lodge.
2.19 Some arable farming would take place and suffi-
cient roots, hay, silageand other fodder crops grown to
feed the domestic animals the whole winter through.
Good accommodation (perhaps communally man-
aged) on site in the forest for the domestic animals
would eliminate the need for any to be taken elsewhere
- a wasteful and expensive current practice in some
areas. There would be an abundance of vegetable crops
suitable for immediate local human consumption.
2.20 Some specialist vegetable and fruit growers
might employ polythene tunnels in clearings in the
forest benefitting from the tree shelter in high winds
but most vegetables would growwell in the open in the
litter fertilized soils, protected by the trees.
2.21 Agreat deal of fruit growing would be integrated
into the forest itself. In thinned forest, fruit bushes
2.19 Some arable farming would take place and suffi-
19
would be the understorey and fruit trees interplanted
amongst suitable 'wild' trees. All would benefit natur-
ally from the protection and fertilization of the forest
trees.
2.22 The intensive management of the forest for a
multitude of purposes would yield . up an adequate
harvest of firewood as general domestic fuel for every-
body and nobody would have to go far to get it. Most
houses would have efficient, modern solid-fuel stoves
giving space and water heating as well as cooking
facilities. Heating requirements would already be
somewhat reduced due to the favourable micro-
climatic effects of the surrounding forest and improved
insulation and building design.
2.23 Frequently, the firewood resource would be
cooperatively managed, the community employing
some members to carry out this function for all. It is
certain that in a forest economy, domestic heating
bills would be a fraction of what they are today.
2.24 To ensure that local resource depletions do not
occur, some forest townships and industries might
need to grow a special biomass fuel crop, e.g. osier or
willowplantation to help run a local combined heat and
power scheme.
BIOMASS PLANTATIONS
Plantingsofwillowsandpoplars for energy use have
been undertaken in many countries: Sweden, USA,
West Germany, France, Korea, Argentine, Greece,
Pakistan, Turkey. In Eirethere isa 200hectare trial
plot on cut-over peat being croPfed on a five year
rotation for electricity generation. 5 TheSwedesesti-
mate that their country could be self-sufficient in
energy if 7% of the land area was covered with
'energy farms' containing the 'superwillows' they
have bred in their selection programme based in the
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at
Uppsala.
1
2.25 The overall business of power generation would
be run more efficiently and rationally than at present by
Local Energy Authorities as part of local government.
These would be empowered to develop whatever ener-
gy sources they might find appropriate. to their needs
and environment. By the time the'forest economy is in
full swing, electricity generation is likely to come
from about six, and domestic heat from about twelve,
different sources. These would represent industries
employing more people than are presently employed in
the energy industry and in a thoroughly dispersed
employment pattern. The power supplied would be
',me;vv -farms' -containinl! the 'suoerunllous' thev
_ FOREST ECONOMY
WILLOW TRIALS IN THE HIGHLANDS
The University ofAberdeen, actingas contractorfor
theDepartment ofEnergy, has beeninvestigatingthe
growth potential of willow hybrids since 1979 and
now has several trial plantations in the Highlands.
The H.lDB has become involved in the work and is
responsible for the setting up of three new trials.
Many hybrids are being tested for their potential
wood yield and resistance to disease. I n Northern
I reland a tractor-mounted machine for harvesting
and bundlingcoppiced stems is being developed for
the time when the f irst energy forests are ready for
cropping.
considerably cheaper and safer due to the Green tech-
nologies involved. Nuclear power generation would
become even more of an unnecessary encumbrance of
the past than it already is.
SWEDEN - ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
"Sweden already obtains 7% of its total energy
budget by exploiting the wastes of its huge forest-
products industry."16
2.26 The use of wave energy to generate electricity
would play an important part in the economy of coastal
townships and, increasingly, power would be gener-
ated by local wind and hydro schemes, frequently on an
individually very small scale. Biogas digesters on many
farm units would generate both heat and electricity in
small schemes . The twelve different sources of heat
already tapped by at least one advanced Western
country' ?would become assimilated into the Highland
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
"The U.S.A. (like Japan ) already gets more than
7%ofall its primary energy fromrenewable sources.
It has about 112 million solar buildings and the
number is doubling annually.
Private woodburning increased more thansixfold in
thelastyear. Most states have biomass fuel program-
mes. Several geothermal parks are under considera-
tion.
In short, diverse, localized initiatives in thousands of
communities and millions of factories, offices and
homes - actions takenfrom thebottom up, notfrom
the top down - are adding up to a quiet energy
revolution that is reshaping the American energy
system with unprecedented speed."18
20
By the time theforest economy is in full swing, electricitygenera-
tionis likely to comefromaboutsix, anddomesticheatf romabout
twelve, diff erent sour es,
pattern of locally appropriate and diverse energy
programmes.
2.27 Within the forest some areas would be desig-
nated primarily structural and/or pulp growing areas
and the community would manage these by careful
selective thinning and felling for its building and paper
manufacturing industries. Unlike the monocultures of
today, these would be of truly mixed species tending to
rely on Native Scots pine as a softwood rather than
exotic species. But there would be a place for exotics in
proportions and mixes that do not damage the soil or
water systems or require the appl ication of pesticides.
Clear felling would become a thing of the past, a
primitive and unnecessary practice belonging to a time
when forests were of an even-aged structure and com-
mercial interests were allowed to exploit the land for
what they could get with no concern for other land
uses, present or future.
2.28 A wealth of small manufacturing and craft in-
dustries would feed off the forest woods. Kitchen
utensils, bowls, plates and other household imple-
ments would be made from locally cropped woods.
Furniture and cabinet-makers would exploit the par-
ticular qualities of the woods available in their areas. In
the place of today's laminated chipboard and plaster-
board there would be good solid Scots pine surfaces and
lined walls; warm, insulating and beautiful; products
grown and crafted locally within the community. Not
just a luxury for the wealthy but as the Scandinavians
take for granted as part of their forest economy. Other .
specialist craftsmen would occupy still further econo-
mic niches, making musical instruments, boats, toys,
tools, charcoal and artworks.
- FOREST ECONOMY
FARM-FORESTRY IN BULGARIA
700forest nurseries produce 700 million seedlings per
year. Shelterbelts onfarms have increased yields of
farm crops by about30%onaverage, those ofmaize
by up to 60%.
Specializedgame andfish breedingfarms have been
created within theforest .Mor than 200 species of
forest fruit trees and shrubs are utilizedand produce
c.250,000 tonnes/year asfood and rawmaterial f or
industry.
"By-activities"include growing of potatoes, tobacco
and other farm produce, also caule breeding. Wood
residues are used as rawmaterials in manufacture of
small wooden articles for everyday needs as souve-
nirs. Fodder substance and pine oil are extracted
frompine needles. Complete utilization of all forest
resources is a major task of a special programme.
The woodworking industry plays a most important
role in the economy with 80% of domestic wood
consumption being covered by local resources.
The woodprocessing industry is based on theprinci-
pleofcomplete utilizationof rawmaterials. I n 1982,
utilizationof the output of coniferous wood reached
85.4%, that of non-coniferous wood 71.2%.19
e
1=
Specialist craftsmen would exploit theparticular qualities of the
woods available in their areas.
Reforestation, the recreation of the Great Wood of Caledon, implies the re-learning of old
skills of mixed forest management and the acquiring of new ones too. It means massive
employment potential in a whole new and vigorous economy. It means an expanded and fully
employed population at work in enviable healthy and meaningful occupations.
2.29 The present small rural industries, e.g. fencing
and dyking, would flourish and whole newones would
spring up. For instance nurseries would grow and
develop trees, bushes and plants of all types for the
ever-expanding range of forest industries and arbori-
cultures.
21
BIRCH IMPROVEMENT
The potential of birch has been greatly underesti-
matedbecause mostof thegood trees were clearedfor
agriculture, charcoal andbobbin woodafew centur-
iesagosothat onlyan impoverished genetic resource
remains. Finland hasbeen breedingfast growing and
good quality birch for over 10years which can be
made into plywood.
1
Work started at Aberdeen University in 198) into'
improving silver birch with the aim to produce ply-
woodtimberon 30year rotation but this project has
been recently abandoned due to lack of available
funding.
FOREST ECONOMY
COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP - COOPERATIVE
ENTERPRISE
The forest economy would not only differ in many biological and physical aspects from the
present rural land-use economy but would also differ in its social andpolitical structure. The
second corner-stone of the Greenprint for the future - no less important than the establi sh-
ment of ecologically sustainable productivity bases - is the establishment of more fully
participatory local government , local taxation and community stewardship of land.
2.30 Eventually, the Great Wood of Caledon would
' belong to' (in as much as land can ever be the property
of people) all who dwell in it. The people who work the
land would be the tenants of the community. Rather as
in existing crofting situations in the Highl ands, tenants
would retain control over their businesses on the forest-
croft or farm - a limited area of land near the home-
stead.
2.31 Other activiti es requiring or benefitting from
communal organization would take place off the croft
or farm on the rest of the land stewarded and gov-
erned by the local community - the equivalent of
present-day common grazings but indefinitely ex-
tended and again, instead of belonging to an estate ,
belonging to the community itself.
2.32 The bulk of enterprise on this common land
would be communally managed, some by the commun-
ity as a whole, e.g. firewood and wild game, others by
cooperati ve businesses. Such types of financial
arrangement would become the norm-rather than the
exception tending to naturally evolve in direct response
to the civilized and equitable progress of land reform.
Communal stewardship inspires cooperative manage-
ment and business arrangements.
COMMUNITY FOREST
The rebuildingofIndia's forest wealthhas, in recent
years, become one of the major issues in land-use
policyandhasprovideda paradigmfor development
in social forestry; the strategy being to regenerate
forest resources through theparticipation of thecom-
munity in the protection and management of
forests. 20
\.,.UVP\...1Ql..1 V\",. u u. \",..I..l LJ p .... o V A. .l..I. ...... "'... .n ......u ...
!lrr!lnapmpnt hp('omp thp norm -r ::lt h p r th::ln thp
22
SOCIAL FORESTRY IN INDIA
". . . theForest Department theref oreplanneda tree
plantingprogramme on all types of lands available
for thepurpose. A startwas madein 1969 by making
road-side plantations alongside state-owned roads
andthisreceivedunexpectedcooperation andsupport
from the public at large. The successful road-side
plantations by the Forest Department also brought
home to thepeople that trees would grow on waste-
lands at a reasonable cost .
Encouraged by this success, the State undertook yet
another innovativesocial forestry programme in1974
which came to be popularly known as The Village
Forests Programme. This was a very simple work-
ablemodel ofraising trees onhitherto unutilizedand
barren community ownedgrazing landsforproviding
society with fuel-wood along with fodder, small
timber and fruits.21
road-side plantations .alongside state-owned roads
- - . -
_ FORESTECONOMY
And so the forest economy could be created, transforming one of Europe's most severely
ecologically and economically disadvantaged regions into one ofgreat prosperity and beauty;
one of lasting ecological and social stability. Transforming a distantly-governed and grant-
manipulated society into an economically viable, self-determined and just one.
23
e First Steps
The Second Great Wood of Caledon and its economy could clearly not be created overnight!
A principle argument for The Second Great Wood of Caledon however is its long-term
nature; its stabilizing and socially cohesive context. Rapid change is not in the true nature of
either the forest or human society. And so it would be that the forest economy would only
develop gradually, the scope of man' s possible activity slowly wideni ng within the growing
natural generosity of the regenerating forest .
The existence of a ' Highland Problem' has been long enough lamented. There is a gathering sense offrustration
and urgency. It is time to begin now on a long-sighted regeneration of the Highlands.
To redevelop, to repopulate, to recreate. BUT WITH IMAGINATION!
In marked contrast to the present lack of vision of development programmes and ongoing grant aid, the creation
of a Second Great Wood of Caledon could achieve just that .
This section of the MANIFESTO looks at some immedi ate steps we might take towards that vision - the
FIRST STEPS we could choose to take towards a FOREST ECONOMY.
HILL-FARMINGREFORM
Aspects of hill-farming are in urgent need of change. The overall aim in the uplands should be
for higher quality livestock management to produce a higher quality product than at present
using vastly less land. Such a reform alone could yield up large areas for the beginnings of the
new forest and its economy at the same time as increasing the viability of hill-farming. Change
would also involve what is already known in other parts of the world as agroforestry: that
close integration of farming and woodland management that the Second Great Wood of
Caledon envisions.
FIRST STEPS
3.1 As in other mount ainous regions of Europe sheep
would be better grazed largely in fenced enclosures
of improved pasture bounded by the shelter and soil
nourishment given by trees. This would allow for the
24
restriction of their movement and the immediate start
to forest regeneration. It is ecologically disastrous and
grossly wasteful that sheep should have free access to
such massive proportions of land.
3.2 These changes would involve an ambitious prog-
ramme of intensification of hill-sheep management
as a priority, improving existing in-bye land and mak-
- FIRST STEPS
It is ecologically disastrous andgrossly wasteful that sheep should
have free access to such massiveproportions of land.
ing additions to it by ploughing, draining, reseeding,
fertilizing and shelter-belt planting.
3.3 Every assistance should be given to farmers and
crofters creating woodlands and shelter-belts. All
initiatives to combine woodland and stock manage-
ment should be encouraged and research and pilot
schemes into agroforestry systems instigated.
3.4 Sheep should be immediately excluded from:-
existing woodlands in a state of decay due to lack of
regeneration; steep hillsides and other areas where
erosion is occurring; all land above a threshold altitude.
3.5 Present muirburn codes of practice should be
enforced to prevent the excesses, of damage that poor
burning causes until such time aJ the practice is made
redundant by the new forest grazing regimes of the
Second Great \Vood.
3.6 We should further improve stock management by
proper winter feeding, and housing where 'necessary,
on site, obviating the need to transport animals long
distances to milder climes. There is no agricultural
HILL-FARMING IN UK
"Farmers have oftenstated thatforest-grazed anim-
alsgaininfitness andsubsequently havefewerlamb-
ing and calvingproblems.
The use of forestry plantations for over-wintering
sheep and cattle could thus hase great potential in
boosting theproductivity ofthemarginal uplands and
improving farm tnabiluy,"?
0t:l:UllU Ult:i:tl W UUU.
3.6 We further improve stock by
25
FASSFERN ESTATE MANAGEMENT
On thisHighlandestate lower hill landwas reseeded
withgrass andclover. Althoughnumbers ofewes and
cattlehave been reduced, production compared with
that before conversion has increased from 200-300
lambsand30calves to500lambsand33 calves using
just one fifth of the area. Sheep are sheltered by
plantations and can be wintered amongst the trees
when theyoungplantations areoldenough not to be
harmed. Sheepmortality hasbeen reduced andlamb-
ingpercentage isabout 100%. Employmenthasbeen
boosted about six fold. 22
AGROFORESTRY
"Agroforestry's holistic approach tosolvingland use
problems (has had)remarkable results with regard to
increasing the human-ecological carrying capacity.
Definition: "Agroforestry is a system of land use
where woodyperennials are deliberately usedon the
same land management unit as annual crops andlor
animals either sequentially orsimultaneously with the
aim of obtaining greater outputs on a sustained
basis." (ICRAF 1983).
"Agroforestry accelerates the general trend from
monoculture tree plantations to ecologically more
stable multi-species stands which, in turn, corres-
pondsmore closely tothedemands ofrural people. ,,23
reason why enough winter feed should not be grown for
all animals on a holding if the land is managed carefully
and intensively. (Within a more fertile and sheltered
forest environment there should be less need for hous-
ing).
l

ih
j
cr

Cl
Sheepshouldbeimmediately excludedfromexistingwoodlands in
a state of decay due to lack of regeneration.
_ FIRST STEPS
'I"
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"0

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The reintroduction of a proportion of cattle shouldbe made once
more an economically viable and ready option.
FARM-FORESTRY IN NORWAY
"The typical Norwegian forestry owner is a fanner
who hassome 20 hectares of landin agricultural use
and40 hectares of woodland. He works thefarmin
the summer and the woods in the winter.,,24
"On returning fromNorway toSkye recently, I had
occasion to compare the view from similar 3000ft
granite hillsin both countries. I nNorway, thevalley
I looked downuponcontained anautonomous village
of 20 small farms, with their own crops, power
supply, school, etc. - aprosperous andhappy place
with a good trade surplus and a population with a
healthy age structure. The Skye valley had twenty
black-faceewes andtwelvelambs. . . Thedevelop-
ment potential in the Highlands and Islands is
immense. ,,25
AGROFORESTRY IN SWEDEN
In southern Sweden there are 240,000 privately
owned woodlands and fanners manage about two-
thirds a; them in conjunction with their agricultural
units.
2
3.7 The reintroduction of a proportion of cattle
should be made once more an economically viable
and ready option for crofters and hill-farmers. The
ratio of cattle to sheep has declined drastically in the
last 30 years despite the knowledge of the detrimental
effects on the land -of a sheep-only grazing system.
i ?
3.8- Special assistance should be given to new horti-
cultural initiatives for the growing and local marketing
of fruit and vegetables especially on organic lines.
3.9 All these improvements should be brought about
by a radical new system of grants, loans and other
incentives specifically geared to encourage more sus-
tainable agricultural practices and to cater for the
co-operative action of farmers and crofters.
3.10 We should encourage in every way the co-
9r.hrativ.e... ...wmffiu)f.911lQ. ... Jill" l4,e
operative approach which would be essential for the
heavy work of reclaiming and creating grazings and for
the reintroduction of cattle. A part of the reason for the
demise of hill-cattle was the labour intensity involved
which can be overcome by a combination of appropri-
ate modern technology and a community approach.
26
_ FIRST STEPS
RED DEER CONTROL
An essential prerequisitefor the regeneration of
the forest, even for thefirst steps ofhill-farming
and industrial forestry ref orm, is the control of
the red deer population. This must be drastical-
ly reduced and then maintained at a relatively
low population to allownatural regeneration of
trees and reduce the pressure on fenced planta-
tions and improved grazings. Clearly this task
cannot and should not be entrusted to private
individuals; the establishment of a new deer
management regime must bean intricate part of
ecologically informed and community based
wildlife management.
j
The typicalNorwegianforest-farm withsome 20 hectares of land
in agricultural use and 40 hectares of woodland.
FORESTRY REFORM
It will be apparent already that the establishment of the new forest economy - The Great
Wood of Caledon - implies the almost total abandonment of present-day industrial forestry
practices. It is also clear that it will take time to replace the antiquated and destructive
practices associated with monocultures by the modern and progressive skills of agroforestry
and permaculture.
But, as in agriculture, a start can be made now to curb the worst excesses of ecological degradation caused by
the industry at the same time as embarking on the first stages of multi-use forest regeneration.
FIRST STEPS
3.11 The obligatory production of comprehensive
management plans at the outset of proposed forestry
schemes within the framework of regional planting
strategies which take into account all land-use in-
terests.
3.12 New requirements for sustainable, environ-
ment ally sound silvicultural practices to include: (1)
ceilings on total areas plantable with exotic conifers
within a given catchment, (2) limits to the amount of
the total planned forest planted in each 5-10year period
thus ensuring that the forest is not all even-aged and
therefore not all felled at once, (3) specifications as to
the relative proportions of principle species planted to
avoid monocultures .
27
3.13 Provisions to ensure that no furt her existing
native woodlands, however small, are sacrificed for
industrial forestry.
First steps must include effective protection against industrial
forestryf orareas of scientific importancesuchastheFlowlandsof
Caithness and Sutherland.
native woodlands, however small, are sacrificed for
!
]
u
_ FIRST STEPS
3. 14 Effective protection against industrial forestry
for areas of scientific importance. We must wake up
immediately to International Conventions and respon-
sibilities towar ds the wild resources that belong to the
planet as a whole:,'
3.15' More stringent control on pesticide usage
workingon the principle of caution when in doubt and
thaj, the user should pay for pr oper monitoring of
biological effects and damages incurred by others.
3. 16 A high percentage of compensatory planting
with deciduous trees for every unit area of conifers
planted. Present suggested levels of 5% for industrial
foresters should be increased substantially.
3. 17 Plant ings of wide bands of deciduous trees
around lochs and water courses as a standard part of all
industrial softwood schemes. This would protect them
from acidification and nourish them with the leaf litt er
that encourages them towards their full potential of fish
and other wildlife populations.
3.18 Assist development of community based tree
planting schemes of all sorts but particularly of nat ive
tr ees for multiple purposes. Encourage the design of
ambitious and imaginat ive schemes incorporating
energy efficient buildings and other productive ente r-
prises interdepend ent with trees, i.e . give support to
permacul ture design.
3.19 Give every assistance to conventional forestry
interests to broaden their approach into multi-use and
agroforestry systems.
3.20 Initiate research into alternative forestry
crops and produce with emphasis on the possible uses
of native trees and their genetic improvement for par-
ticular purposes such as energy biomass or quality
plywood produ ction.
PERMACULTURE - DEFINITION
Permaculture is the conscious design of self -
sustaining, bountifu l landscapes. Plants, animals,
buildings and water reserves are co-ordinated to
make the best use of a site's terrain, to establish
beneficial interactions, and to make the most efficient
use of time. and resources in an environmentally
benign way. Elements are placed in the design to
serve many f unctions, and each function is attained
in a numbr of ways. (PER MA CUL TUR E IN-
STITUTE OF NORTH AMERICA).
28
NATIVE TR EES FOR THE HIGHLANDS
R ight from the start of reforestation the accent must
be on native Highland trees. These are genetically
highly adapted to the severe climate and soil and have
evolved a proper ecological equilibrium with other
organisms. Thus they provide nourishment for the
maximum number of other creatures and are less
likely to cause ecological disruptions manif ested, f or
example, in the severe ' pest' infestations of exotic
conifer plantations. The woods of birch, Scots pine
and holly are amongst the most useful and beautifu l
in temperatef orests, willow amongst thef astest grow-
ing. A nd THESE SPECIES ARE THE NA-
TIVE TREES OF THE HIGHLAN DS .
MUL TI-US E FORESTRY
" . . . breaking out of the straightjacket of industrial
afforestation, harnessing the multitude of benefits, in
addition to growing wood itself, cannot but benefit
inhabitants of both developing and developed
countries.,,27
SOCIAL F ORES TRY
" The purposeofsocial f orestry is the creation offorest
for the benefit of the community through active in-
volvement and the participation ofthe community. In
the process, rural migration will reduce and rural
unemployment end. The overall concept of social
f orestryaims at making villages self- reliant in regard
to their forest material needs.,,20
CENTRAL SCOTLAND FOREST
A new company backed by the Scottish Offi ce is
presently being set up with the aim ofcreating a large
scale forest farming landscape in the Central Low-
land Belt between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is an
ambitious project involving the close integration of
community , amenity and productive woodlands with
existing and new farming enterprise. It is considered
that improving the environment through "sensitive
woodland planting" will be the "key ingredient of
economic regeneration" for the area. 28
- FIRST STEPS
LAND REFORM
The rural resources of the Highlands will never be managed along ecologically sustainable
lines for the full benefit ofthe population until the existing outmoded and iniquitous pattern of
land ownership is dismantled. We can make a start to land reform right away. Working
towards the community stewardship and cooperative enterprise envisioned in The Second
Great Wood of Caledon.
FIRST STEPS
3.21 The general aim is the progressive reallocation
of land in privat e and public hands where that own-
ership is seen to be impeding the full and desirable
growth of the rural economy. The general pri nciple
should be that the transferrence of land would take
place at a rate determined by demand for land from
people themselves. .
3.22 The new stewards of the land will be townships
and communities who will manage it for the benefit of
all.
3.23 It will be remembered that the HIDB itself had
early aims of reappropriating old pre-Clearance croft -
lands thereby allowing for the crea ion of new crofting
townships.I" This idea should be reconsidered. It
would be a relatively simple matter to reallocate land
from Governmental Departments such as the Depart-
ment ofAgriculture and Fisheries (DAFS), Ministry of
Defence (MOD) and Forestry Commission (FC) to
community ownership as these holdings already belong
to the community in a manner of speaking.
CREATING NEW CROFTS
Under theLand Settlement Act of 1919, the DAFS
(and before it theCongested Districts Board) madea
great many compulsory land purchases for the pur-
pose ofresettlement. Though thelasttime these pow-
ers were used was in 1952, it is worth remembering
that in thepreceding55yearsthey were usedtocreate
2776 new crofts and enlarge a further 5168 in the
Highlands andIslands. The act is stillonthestatute
book and couldbe "reactivated" at any time.31
__ VAUA.t"A_ A _ _ _ _ A_U_
- - - - - -
29
3.24 The existence of Common Grazings in the Croft-
ing Counties could act as the first simple instrument
through which a relatively painless reallocation of land
to the community might be effected. Land designated
as Common Grazings represents some 810,000 hectares
of land, a significant area on which to get new forest
economy activities rolling. It should be straightforward
enough to amend existing legislation to allow a com-
munity to grow trees, for inst ance, instead of sheep
on this communal land - something the SCD are
vigorously seeking at present.t" In time, the private
ownership that still underlies the Common Grazings
will be more easily dissolved.
3.25 A gradual erosion of the powers and control of
the big estates is also necessary. Green Parties have long
advocated a Community Ground Rent system whe re
all land is rateable on the basis of its potential pro-
ductivity. These dues are paid directly into local gov-
ernment funds and tend.to prevent landowners from
holding their land in states of such low productivity and
population.
COMMUNI TY FORESTRY
"Community forestry is not a technology: u lS a
process of social change that requires the continuous
participation of whole communities in planninj: and
problem solving. Peoplemustwillingly giveupland-
use practices andprivileges towhich they have long
been accustomed. Such a process OJcooperative be-
havioural change, nevereasytobringaboutanyway,
is especially unlikely where grossly unequal land
tenure and marketingsystems ensure that a powerful
minority will capture nearly all the benefits of any
economic gains. ,,20
lUU U ", auu LV .l.lV.lU
3.26 That erosion could also be started by changes in
laws concerning game. It has after all only been in the
last 400years that estates have assumed their preposter-
ous control over this communal resource. Local man-
agement groups representing the wider community
could be set up initially to commence the fairer
distribution of the eroducts and proceeds of wildlife
culls and 'sport'. .C
3.27 These simplest steps of Land Reform should be
carried out first and would in themselves provide suffi-
cient land for the genesis of the new economy even
before tackling the thorniest problems of private land-
ownership.
REFERENCES
1. Grainger A. (1981) Reforesting Britain: The Ecologist Vol 11
No 2.
2. McVean D.N. & Lockie J.D. (1969) Ecology and land use in
upland Scotland: Edinburgh Univ. Press .
3. Dar ling Sir F.F.: essay in "The Future of The Highlands" .
4. Darling Sir F .F . (1947) Natural History in the Highlands and
Islands: London, Collins.
5. MacBrayne C.G. (1981) Forest grazing: what can Britain learn
from New Zealand ?: Scot. For . 35 No 1.
6. Gimingham C.H. (1975) An introd uction to heathland ecology:
Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh.
7. R.S.P.B. (1987) Forestry in the Flowsof Caithness and Suther-
land .
8. Callander R. (1986) The place of trees in the Highlands: in
Land ownership and use, Andrew Fletcher Society.
9. Maitland P.S. (1987) The potential impact of fish culture on
wild stocks of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland.
10. Scottish Wildlife and Countryside Link (1988): Marine fish
farming in Scotland .
11. Callander R. (1987) A patt ern of landownership in Scotland:
Haughend Publications.
12. Armstrong A. (1986) Absentee landowners in the Highlands:
Scottish Forestry Vol 40 No 2.
13. Rao Y.S. (1985) Building success through people' s participa-
tion: Unasylva 147 Vol 37.
14. Tomialoic L. (1988) Birds magazine: Poland's primeval forest.
14. Tomial ojc L. (1988) Birds magazine: Poland's primeval forest.
15. Banoun et al (1984) The poplar : a multi-purpose tree for
forestry development : Unasylva Vol 36 No 145.
16. Hayes D. (1977) Plant power: The Ecologist Vol 7 No 9.
17. Bunyard P. (1986) Sweden - choosing the right energy path:
The Ecologist Vol 16 No 1.
30
18. Lovins A. & L. ( 986) Energy - what 's the problem?: The
Ecologist.
19. Grouer I. (1984) For est management in Bulgaria: Unasylva Vol
36 No 145.
20. Shiva V. et al (1986) Social For estry - No solution within the
market. The Ecologist.
21. Verma D. (1987) The International Tr ee Crops Journal Vol 4
No 2/3. (Several papers on Social Forest ry in this issue).
22. Dul verton Lord (1977) The Fassfern Story: Forestry and
British Timber 14-16.
23. Von Maydell H. (1985) The contri bution of agroforestry to
world forestry development: Agroforestry Systems Vol 3 No 2.
24. Lilburn A. (1981) Norway, RSFS Tour 1980: Scot. For. Vol
35.
25. McHattie A. (1966) Crofti ng - Is there a fut ure?: In Land
ownership and use, The Fletcher Society.
26. Watson A. & Watson D. (1986) Scottish land-holding and its
social and cultural aspects compared with Swiss and Scandina-
vian: In Land ownership and use, The Fletcher Society.
27. Evans J. (1986) Plantation forestry in the tropics - trends and
prospects: International Tree Crops journal 4.
28. Scottish Office (1988): Cent ral Scotland Woodland s.
29. Carty T. (1985) The HIDB: A vehicle for Land Reform in
Scotland?: In "The land for the people" , Scottish Socialist
Society.
30. Scottish Crofters Union: Forestry- opportunities for croft ing
30. Scottish Crofters Union: Forestry- opportunities for crofting
involvement : Discussion paper .
31. Hunter J. (1986) The DAFS Crofting Estates: A case for
Community Contr ol?: in Land ownership and use, The Fletch-
er Society.
EDUCATION FOR THE FOREST ECONOMY
"Partly because ofthis long-term domination of land-holding andland-use bypeople usually
outside thelocal vernacular community, general knowledge about the landuse practices and
planning, and participation in them, have been largely lost from the local population in
Scotland . . . Scottish LocalAuthorities dolittle toeducate people inlanduse. Understanding
isan essential prerequisite forparticipation. It would help ifschool children were given more
education in the language, tradition, social history, land holding and landuse of their
neighbourhood. These are virtually untreated at primary school andscarcely touched upon at
secondary school. Children maystudy history andgeography, yet remain ignorant oftheir own
cultural and landuse Background. Hence they are more likely to turn their backs on the
community by emigrating.,, 26
We hope that, if nothing else, this GREEN PARTY MANIFESTO makes some
contributiontothat process of education essential tothesustainable development of therural
Highlands that is in everyone's interest, no matter of what political persuasion.
Further copies of this Manifesto are available at 4.50 each including p&p,
from the Land-Use Working Group, Highland Green Party, Duartbeg,
Scourie, Sutherland IV27 4TJ.
SCOTIISHGREEN PARTY
POBOX14080
EDINBURGH
EH106YG
Printedon100%recycledpaper byHighlandPrinters, 13Henderson Jnverness.
Price 4.50
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