Tag: landed estates

January 26, 2024 Nick Kempe 11 comments

Following my post on deer fencing and capercaillie on Speyside (see here), a friend and sometime contributor to Parkswatch, Nick Halls, brought to my attention to the latest issue of the Geographer, the magazine of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.  It is all about trees. In it there is an interview with Thomas MacDonell who…

January 15, 2024 Nick Kempe 6 comments

Soon after suggesting that sporting estates managed for grouse pose the greater threat to access rights because of their concerted attempts to make people “keep to the path”  (see here), I came across this salutary reminder that some deer stalking estates are still ignoring the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC). One of the primary meanings…

January 8, 2024 Nick Kempe 4 comments

On Friday the following comment was submitted to my post on Access Rights and Grouse Moors (see here) “Without mammalian (mustelid and rodent) control there would be no ground nesting birds of any kind, grouse or otherwise.” Comment: This is plainly wrong. Ground nesting birds evolved along with mustelids and rodents long before any predator…

January 4, 2024 Nick Kempe 6 comments

Wildlife, however much depleted, is present everywhere.  Consequently if wildlife was a reason to keep to tracks there would be no right to roam anywhere.  And in my case I could not have attained my objective on Hogmanay, the trackless summit of Carn nan Tri-Tighearnan a few miles north of the Cairngorms National Park.  The…

December 29, 2023 Nick Kempe 7 comments

Following Storm Barbet (see here) Brechin and other settlements located by rivers which flow south and east out of the Cairngorms have TV once again been affected by flooding. People from Brechin whose property has been wrecked have been moved into hotels and describe what they have been through in the last three months as…

December 19, 2023 Professor Douglas C MacMillan 14 comments

Restoring Scotland’s natural woodland cover and biodiversity from centuries of over grazing is an urgent and necessary step towards sustainable management and care for our hills and mountains.  Woodland regeneration could, within decades, extend throughout the uplands allowing a natural woodland mosaic to develop, increasing biodiversity while protecting and enhancing the terrestrial carbon cycles.  The…

December 8, 2023 Nick Kempe 4 comments

The Scottish Government’s consultation on “Tackling the Nature Emergency: Scotland’s Strategic Framework for Biodiversity” (see here), which was launched in September and includes proposals to reform Scotland’s National Parks, closes on 14th December. To date I have only considered the Scottish Government’s undemocratic proposal to increase Ministerial control over appointments to National Park board appointments…

September 20, 2023 Nick Kempe 7 comments

Scotland National Parks and the Scottish Government If you want to understand why Scotland’s National Parks have achieved so little in the 20 years since they were created, you need look no further than successive Scottish Governments, both the Ministers responsible and the civil servants that have supported them. Instead of encouraging and empowering our…

July 10, 2023 Nick Kempe 14 comments

Following my most recent post on the Ralia hill road (see here), I was sent further photos which  support my argument that the road upgrade work should have required full planning permission.  The Construction Method Statement accompanying the Prior Notification, which was produced by Taiga Upland in conjunction with Kilrie Trees and  approved by Highland…

June 10, 2023 Nick Kempe 9 comments

Silt first started flowing into the Gynack River system, which flows into the River Spey, six and a half weeks ago (see here).  I reported and others reported this to both the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA).  The CNPA responded that they were not sure whether the silt flowing…