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A new report commissioned jointly by Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, the Cairngorms National Park and Scottish Natural Heritage reveals widespread public appreciation of wild land in Scotland, and deep concern that it may be under threat.<\/p>\n
The report, Public Perception Survey of Wildness in Scotland, measures how much people: Use the outdoors, perceive the idea of wildness, and value wild areas. <\/p>\n
The results show that:<\/p>\n
81 per cent visit the outdoors at least every few months
\n 72 per cent consider it \u2018very important\u2019 that Scotland has wild areas
\n 60 per cent feel that wild areas in Scotland are under threat
\n 77 per cent believe it is \u2018very important\u2019 to protect wild areas
\n 86 per cent believe further action is needed to preserve wild land in Scotland.<\/p>\n
The John Muir Trust (JMT) says the survey, “shows people value wild land for its wildlife, its connection with Scottish culture and heritage, its natural beauty, its contribution to the diversity of our landscape, its recreational use and its international renown.”<\/p>\n
Of those who believe that further action is needed to protect Scotland\u2019s wild land, the most widely supported measures are, in descending order of popularity:<\/p>\n
Specific ‘wild land’ designation.
\n Effective planning control for wind turbines
\n Effective planning control for buildings;
\n Effective planning control for telephone masts and pylons; and
\n Reintroductions of species. <\/p>\n
Stuart Brooks, the Chief Executive of the JMT said: “This survey confirms that the vast majority of us believe that protecting wildness is essential. Scotland has some of the most magnificent wild land in Europe, which attracts visitors from across the globe and people are worried it is being industrialised and lost.<\/p>\n
“These figures should provide politicians from all political parties with the confidence to take immediate action and put protection measures in place. It shows that the John Muir Trust and other conservation charities are in tune with public opinion when we say that our wild land is more than just a resource to be exploited for commercial gain, but a precious, priceless asset that needs to be protected for future generations not yet born.”<\/p>\n
Helen McDade, Head of Policy for the John Muir Trust said: \u201cThe proportion of wild land left in Scotland is shrinking at an alarming rate. In 2002, 41 per of Scotland\u2019s landmass was free of any visual impact from man-made structures; by the end of 2009, that proportion had shrunk to just 28 per cent. In the past three years, if anything the destruction of our wild land has accelerated as industrial-scale wind farms spread across some of our most scenic and ecologically sensitive landscapes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe John Muir Trust has already lodged a petition to the Scottish Parliament seeking a new wild land designation, as the most robust means of ensuring the protection of our finest wild land. It is heartening to see that there is widespread public support for this action\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new report commissioned jointly by Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, the Cairngorms National Park and Scottish Natural Heritage reveals widespread public appreciation of wild land in Scotland, and deep concern that it may be under threat. The report, Public Perception Survey of Wildness in Scotland, measures how much people: Use the outdoors, perceive the idea of wildness, and value wild areas. The results show that: 81 per cent visit the outdoors at least every few months 72 per cent consider it \u2018very important\u2019 that Scotland has wild areas 60 per cent feel that wild areas in Scotland…<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7714"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24228,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7714\/revisions\/24228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Read more ›<\/div>\n