The BBC 2 Scotland program ‘The Real Monarch of the Glen’ has been attracting some debate on the Walkhighland’s forum, WalkTalk. If you missed the program or live outside Scotland the latest episode is available on BBC i-player.
The series is following MFI millionaire Paul Lister and his developments on the 23,000 acre Alladale Estate in the Highlands that he bought in 2003. Mr Lister hopes to introduce some of Scotland’s now extinct wildlife – including lynx, bears and wolves – to his estate, and to build a high electrified fence around it to keep them in.
Many people applaud the restoration of habitat and the reintroduction of animals to the wild when the habitat supports this (such as with the pending reintroduction of the beaver to Scotland – the first beavers will be released next spring). But Mr Lister’s plans are much more controversial. Some feel that the fence itself – upto 2.5 meters high and running for many miles over the hilltops, together with an access track alongside – will be an eyesore and will destroy the wildness of the area. Many more object to the loss of access – Mr Lister plans to make money from the scheme by charging for access in the company of one of his rangers. He has called for a ‘clear derogation’ from Scotland’s right-to-roam access laws – set up in 2003 after almost a century of campaigning by outdoors folk – and wants to be able to keep the public from walking on his land. Last winter the estate closed the Alladale Bothy, which had been renovated and maintained as a free shelter for walkers by MBA volunteers since 1973. The estate also contains the Corbett Carn Ban and two Grahams, as well as the eastern slopes of the magnificent Munro, Seana Braigh – could these too be closed to walkers?
Although Cameron McNeish will be on tonight’s episode to air the concerns of outdoor enthusiasts, many have seen the TV series so far as taking a very uncritical view of the estate’s plans. There is constant talk of ‘rewilding’ and restoring the wilderness – and of being a visionary, but very little mention of the alternative view that with a fence around it, charges to enter, and the estate being smaller than the average territory of a wolf pack, the plans actually amount to the building of a huge private safari park rather than a true wilderness refuge.
No official application for the fence has yet been made. Chris Townsend, president of the Mountaineering Council for Scotland which represents walkers and mountaineers, wrote on the TGO site that “the only way we can make ourselves heard at present is by writing to newspapers, magazines and the BBC about their uncritical promotion and by contributing to internet forums and blogs.”