The John Muir Trust' “Better Protection for Wild Land” petition will be discussed in detail at the Scottish Parliament's Petitions Committee today (Tuesday 28 May) when MSPs take evidence from Paul Wheelhouse, the Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, and Derek Mackay, the Minister for Local Government and Planning.
The cross-party committee, which last month heard from the two top officials of Scottish Natural Heritage, will explore the Scottish Government's response to the Trust's campaign for a new national designation to protect Scotland’s finest wild land.
Speaking in advance of the meeting, Stuart Brooks, John Muir Trust Chief Executive, said: “We welcome the appearance of the two Ministers in front of the committee, which sends out the message that wild land protection is a matter of national importance.
“Since we lodged the petition more than two years, we have demonstrated that there is considerable public concern for the future of wild land and we are pleased that progress has been made in getting the issue of wild land protection onto the political agenda, especially in the most recent period.
“Mr Wheelhouse is aware of the depth of feeling about the future of Scotland’s wild land – in a recent letter to the John Muir Trust, he stated his support for the principle that areas of wild land should be protected.
“The recent publication of an official wild land map of Scotland marks a great advance for the cause of wild land protection. We also welcome the statement in the recent Scottish Government Scottish Planning Policy consultation document that ‘plans should identify and safeguard areas of wild land character…based on SNH mapping of core wild land published in 2013.’
“But we believe that the Scottish Government, having taken a strong step in the right direction, should now go further by reinforcing their declared support for wild land protection with a pledge to introduce a national designation.
“Policies can be chopped and changed as Ministers and governments come and go, but we believe the ongoing devastation of our landscapes, habitats and ecological systems demands bold, radical action that will safeguard our wild land for generations to come and allow us to repair the damage wreaked by centuries of exploitation.”
The Trust lodged its petition in January 2011 in response to the pressures that wild land has come under in recent years. In the most recent illustration of these pressures, the Highland Council last week raised no objection to a further two large-scale wind developments on wild land areas, despite objections for the government’s landscape and nature watchdog, Scottish Natural Heritage.