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Arran Moors - Scientific Objection
to its Designation as SSSI and SAP
Editorial re LandCare Scotland 2002: 2, 51-167
James Irvine
Teviot Agriculture, Cultybraggan Farm, Comrie,
Perthshire.
Teviot Scientific Consultancy, Edinburgh
(Filed 10 July 2003)
©LandCare Scotland
www.land-care.org.uk
There is mounting concern over the conduct
of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) with regard to the manner in
which it operates. The main brief of SNH is in relation to conservation
and biodiversity. SNH acts as a main adviser on these matters to
the Scottish Executive. When executing these powers SNH can affect
much of the land in Scotland and the people who live there.
In the previous issue of LandCare Scotland
(volume 2, issue 1, pp 3-49) the problems over SNH’s proposed
designation of the Sound of Barra as a possible Special Area of
Conservation (pSAC) were documented.
The present issue of the Journal is concerned
with the Arran Moors and the proposal by SNH that they become a
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSCI) and a Special Protection
Area (SPA). The quality of the science put forward by SNH is deemed
to be poor, and the probity of the behaviour of SNH in terms of
how SNH gathered and presented that science is questioned.
The data was gathered by a private researcher,
working in co-operation with the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds (RSPB), who claimed ownership of it as his personal intellectual
property. He refused SNH permission to divulge the data to objectors
to the proposed designations. They therefore were unable to make
the only lawful form of objection, a scientific one, to designations
which could well affect their rights over their own properties.
A fundamental principle of science is that
it should be open to peer review. Furthermore, there is a requirement
for government agencies such as SNH to be open with the public.
In this instance SNH appeared to act as both judge and jury in a
situation where the appellants were not properly informed of the
science upon which the SNH proposals were based. A competent and
open government agency should ensure that whatever research it commissions
that may affect people’s livelihoods should be available for
independent review. It would appear that some aspects of SNH activity
are poorly controlled.
In this article on the Arran Moors, compiled
by Ian Mitchell as a background briefing document for a petition
on the subject to the Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament
(no 462 - Mrs Margie Currie, Isle of Arran, representing 33 landowners
and farmers on the island), the reasons for concern over the conduct
of SNH are laid out in full as the matter is of substantial public
interest.
Although the petition by the objectors was
- and is still - under consideration by the Petitions Committee
of the Scottish Parliament, the designations of the Arran Moors
as SSCI and SPA was nevertheless imposed.
It is probable that in the future SNH will
have increasing influence on how land (and the rural environment
in general) is managed in Scotland. It is of importance to all who
live in Scotland (and to those who visit) that we are assured that
those who advise Government do so both competently and fairly. It
is also a responsibility of Government to ensure that they do.
LandCare Scotland is published by Teviot-Kimpton
Publications
A Division of Teviot Scientific Publications Ltd , Edinburgh
Registered with the British Library: ISSN 1462-6454
Email: landcarescotland@aol.com
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