"Madainn mhath

Tha e a' cordadh rium gu mor a bhith an seo an diugh a-measg beanntan agus
muinntir na Hearadh.

(Morning. It's an honour for me to be here today amongst the
mountains and the people of Harris.)

I'm particularly delighted to have been asked to perform the opening of the
Harris Walkway, a task that gives me great delight. But before I do that I'd
like to say a few words about the rather unusual circumstances in which we
find ourselves in Scotland today.

There are echoes of uncertainty booming around the rural areas of Scotland
and the loudest echo reflects the uncertainty of the future of agriculture. I
think it's generally accepted that in the aftermath of the latest F&M crisis
things will not be the same again and the spotlight has been cast very much
on land use, particularly in the mountain areas of Scotland.

I think this attention to our mountains and wild land areas is extremely
timely, and welcome.

The Mountain Chapter of Agenda 21 resulting from the Earth Summit at Rio in
1992 summarised the main considerations of mountain and wild land
development. In it the mountain environment and its populations were
identified as a priority for global action, of equal importance to the
decisions taken at Rio on climate change and rain-forest destruction. Yet the
conclusions and recommendations of this Mountain Agenda have, almost a decade
later, scarcely begun to inform the debate on mountain use here in the UK and
in many other parts of Europe.

In Scotland, there have been many calls for a more measured and sustainable
management of our mountain environment in ways that recognise the needs and
aspirations of the human communities who live here.

We can discuss and debate forever subjects like sustainable development, and
the conservation and preservation of mountain landscapes, but we have to ask
ourselves some very fundamental questions, the most notable being: "What are
our mountains and wild land areas for?"

What I'm really asking is how a developed European country regards mountain
regions in what is essentially a post-industrial society?

Since the end of the last war the UK government has largely taken an
interventionist role in the economic development of our mountain areas.

The Forestry Commission pushed on with its programmes of mass coniferisation,
established a number of new villages, populated exclusively by forestry
workers.

Hydro-boards were set up to increase electricity supplies and between 1948
and 1963 twenty-four hydro-electric schemes involving 50 power stations were
built with a total generating capacity that met about a quarter of Scotland's
normal electricity demand.

In 1965 the Highlands and Islands Development Board, now Highlands and
Islands Enterprise, was established to promote economic development and
concentrated on the introduction of new industrial activity in the region, a
mountainous area that is predominantly rural. HIE has also enthusiastically,
indeed aggressively, promoted various forms of tourism, some of which,
unfortunately, have had a negative impact in environmental terms in the
mountains, such as downhill ski development.

Traditional land uses like agriculture, forestry and hunting are the other
usual focusses of economic analyses of our mountain areas.

More recent consultations and surveys have revealed that most tourists come
to our mountain areas to enjoy the quality of the scenery, but sadly this
enthusiasm has not been matched by a corresponding level of protection for
the best of it, or various land-owning interests have discouraged access to
much of it. Perhaps that's one of the reasons the idea of National Parks has
been so warmly embraced by so many.

I'm delighted to report that in more recent times it's been officially
recognised that informal mountain recreation, in particular walking and
climbing, has taken on huge economic significance and a recent official
survey in the Scottish highlands identified this market as being worth more
than £200M per year to the highlands and islands area alone.

The West Highland Way, running for almost 100 miles from Milngavie to Fort
William is estimated to be worth £10M to the villages it runs through, and
the recent F&M crisis has shown unequivocably that walkers, ramblers and
climbers are a crucial element in rural tourism.

What is perhaps surprising is that anyone should be surprised by this new
industry. As long ago as 1964 the noted ecologist Frank Fraser Darling, in
response to a decision by the UK government not to establish national parks
in Scotland, commented in one of his books "The short sightedness and
wrongheadedness of that decision becomes the more apparent as the
recreational function of wild lands is realised as an urgent and proper form
of land use."

But despite Frank Fraser Darling's prophesy, and despite the various reports
which testified to the size of the recreational market we still have to see
the kind of priority in land use planning and government policy that it
clearly deserves.

As we stand here at the beginning of a new millenium our mountains and wild
land have to satisfy very different demands from those 100 years ago, and
while we recognise the importance of our mountains areas as a destination for
those who will come and spent reasonable amounts of money, and recent surveys
suggest between £18 and £25 per day per visitor, we have still failed to come
up with a proper understanding of how to conserve and manage these areas in a
post-industrial nation. Until we do, those areas will continue to suffer
further damage and attrition.

We can't re-create wilderness, we can't recreate that kind of poetic green
land that Wordsworth and Coleridge and Ruskin wrote about, but given a
modicum of political will we can put back diversity… Given the opportunities
through better access, through increased outdoor education in our schools and
through better outdoor evangelism we can teach people that our wild places
and mountains landscapes are worth preserving in their own right.

What has been happening here on Harris is a fine example to the rest of
Scotland of what can be achieved, of what can be done to embrace and welcome
those who come seeking the grandeur of this natural environment.

Walkers and climbers don't ask for much. They have little desire for vast
infrastructures costing tens of millions of pounds. An unspoiled natural
environment, and access to it, is what they're seeking, and here on Harris
you have such an environment, in rich abundance. But you also have something
else - a rich cultural heritage that is uniquely Hebridean, a heritage of
music, song and folk tradition, a heritage that is linked inextricably with
the land, the land that has formed the very character of the Gael.

In marketing terms, that is a very attractive package, and the concept of the
Harris Walkway can be used as a very valuable tool to attract people here to
be introduced to and experience other aspects of what Harris has to offer.

On a more personal basis I hope the Harris Walkway is only a start because
what I'd love to see is a long distance trail stretching from Castlebay to
the Butt of Lewis - a long distance trail that would attract walkers from
around the world, a trail that could, in economic terms, be as rewarding as
the West Highland Way.

In 1955 Frank Fraser Darling wrote the following words:

"If recreation and tourism are to be properly managed, if wild land is to be
adequately protected and local communities adequately sustained, better
arrangements for the planning and management of all our mountain heritage are
needed."

"Not to take action is to risk continued attrition to the quality of our
mountain heritage, at a time when the purposes that these areas serve
requires re-assessment, and when there is more dispute over the use of
mountain areas."

Fraser Darling was a strong supporter of National Parks, and I'd like to
finish with a call for the consideration of National Park status for, at
least, a large part of Harris. I believe such a status would have economic
benefits not only for Harris but for Lewis and the Uists as well.

There is a huge advantage here in the Western Isles that there is one single
local authority and although there would inevitably be representation from
outside the Islands on a National Park Board, the majority of that Board, as
in the other proposed National Parks in Scotland, would be comprised of local
representatives, reflecting the unique cultural importance of the area.

Local communities must be integrated into any national or international
priorities for our mountain areas. A new political will is required to turn
away from the historic bias towards the economic value of mountain land and
investment is needed in mountain regions to promote a sustainable economy,
high standards of management and effective conservation which benefit local
communities as well as visitors. I sincerely believe National Park status for
Harris could deliver these things and secure a vibrant future for the
communities living here."

<<<BACK