The
Geographer Autumn 2013
The newsletter of the
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Reseeding Forests?
In This Edition... •R SGS’s New Logo
The multiple facets of modern forestry
•2 020VISION Fantastic Photos of Forests •D eer, Disease & Reversing Degradation •Q uality, Quantity & Community Involvement •H eritage Trees, Ancient Forests & Dying Arts •A Trip to Silesia’s Peace Churches •R eader Offer: The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland
Forewords by VANESSA COLLINGRIDGE and AUBREY MANNING
He is currently living in his home city of Edinburgh and is actively involved in a wide range of national and international conservation activities as Director of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Darren Rees is a professional wildlife artist located in Central Scotland. www.darrenrees. com Vanessa Collingridge is a geographer, explorer, broadcaster and author. Professor Aubrey Manning OBE is a distinguished zoologist, author and broadcaster.
£24.99
THE
ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND A TRAVELLER’S GUIDE
Scattered are the su Caledonia naturally s age.
Visiting th provides a through th and worke some spec years old. look forwa conservati future for wildlife.
A journey natural sp heritage w comprehe Details are of the site glens and transport, facilities.
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CLIFTON BAIN
Clifton Bain
plus other news, comments, books...
THE ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND
Clifton Bain has over 25 years of experience working in nature conservation. He has an Honours Degree in Zoology from Aberdeen University and enjoyed a long career as a policy officer with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He has twice toured all 38 of the pinewoods, most recently completing the journey by relying on public transport, walking and cycling.
CLIFTON BAIN Drawings by Darren Rees
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Greek proverb
RSGS: helping to make the connections between people, places & the planet
The
Geographer
forestry
I
n this, the Year of Natural Scotland, there is a great deal of work and discussion around the state, purpose and development of Scotland’s forests. At the beginning of this century almost 17% of Scotland is wooded, compared with less than 5% at the beginning of the last century, although it is plantation woodland that has brought about this difference. Along with its obvious aesthetic and timber value, highquality woodland has multiple benefits, from recreational access to important wildlife habitats, and from flood alleviation to carbon sequestration. Internationally too, the role of forests in potentially mitigating climate change, and their importance for global biodiversity, are increasingly being acknowledged. A greater recognition of these multiple benefits, and a growth in demand for woodfuel as a sustainable fuel source, are driving a call for more and more woodland in Scotland. There is a popular call for a ‘national’ tree, and there are proposals in Scottish Government to see an extra 100,000 hectares (386 square miles) of woodland within the next decade. However, there are many challenges facing the expansion of modern woodland. There are diseases such as ash dieback and needle blights, exacerbated by global trade and changing climates, which have the potential to change the landscape and the variety of trees in it. There are increasing numbers of deer, putting increasing pressure on new woodland creation and making natural regeneration almost impossible; more trees and more deer don’t really mix. And there is concern to ensure the quality of woodland is as important as the quantity (if not more so).
New RSGS Logo Mike Robinson
It was noted at a recent Board meeting that the RSGS crest we have always used is difficult to read or identify, especially when used in a smaller format. Since profile is critical for a small charity like ours, and a clear, distinct and recognisable logo is helpful in achieving this, we were tasked with coming up with a solution. Oh, and we couldn’t spend any money on it. I am delighted to say that, after some brainstorming and discussion, and some experimentation with different designs, we have arrived at a finished logo, based on our Finance Officer Pam’s idea to reflect this quarterly magazine, in terms of its colours and the fact that geography has many layers and aspects to it. With four component parts, the logo has references to the RSGS collection and historical geography (old map and compass), environment and nature (leaves), human geography (people), and physical geography (pebbles). The logo also has a sense of depth and perspective, again subtle reminders of the value of geographical thinking.
And amongst all of these competing pressures, there is a continuing appreciation of the beauty and popularity of forests in our culture and within the public psyche. There are efforts to promote our wonderful heritage trees, to collect and preserve seed stock, and to encourage old woodland skills and knowledge. And how better to illustrate these than with stunning images provided by photographers such as Lorne and Fergus Gill, who recently exhibited some of their Scottish nature photography at the Fair Maid’s House, and Peter Cairns, who created the 2020VISION programme recently exhibited at Blair Castle near Blair Atholl.
We hope you like it; Board have certainly been fulsome in their support for the new design, and first reactions from further afield have been very favourable. It does not mean losing the crest, as this will continue to appear on more formal documents, medals and other materials, but we now have a lively modern logo which is clearer and more distinct, which will allow us to become more identifiable, and which can be used more flexibly on the new website and other media.
My thanks to James McDougall and Forestry Commission Scotland for their assistance with this magazine. As ever, we hope you enjoy the range of articles and the insight that they offer.
Society signs up to miPerthshire
Mike Robinson, Chief Executive RSGS, Lord John Murray House, 15-19 North Port, Perth, PH1 5LU tel: 01738 455050 email: enquiries@rsgs.org www.rsgs.org Charity registered in Scotland no SC015599
Information about upcoming events at the Fair Maid’s House will be at smartphone users’ fingertips, as the visitor centre now features on miPerthshire. A simple way for Perth visitors and residents to find out about local events, the miPerthshire app can be downloaded free from GooglePlay and the iTunes App Store, and there is also a website at www.miperthshire.co.uk.
download the app
The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the RSGS. Cover image: Bluebells in North Wood, Ballathie. © Lorne Gill Masthead image: Beech leaves. © Mike Robinson
RSGS: helping to make the connections between people, places & the planet
The
Geographer
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Autumn 2013
NEWS People • Places • Planet Heritage Trees Exhibition Scotland boasts a number of culturally-rich trees that are entwined in myth, legend and stories: trees like the Birnam Oak, made famous by Shakespeare; trees with a very dark past, used as ‘hanging trees’ or ‘dule trees’; trees of local and national significance as the tallest, the widest, or the oldest.
Find Inspiring People Near You 24thSep - 24thOct
An exhibition of photographs, on display at the Fair Maid’s House until it closes for the winter on 24th October, captures just some of Scotland’s ‘heritage trees’, beautifully displayed in timber frames made from the same type of wood as the trees depicted. The exhibition is supported by Forestry Commission Scotland, as part of the Year of Natural Scotland celebrations.
A 130th Train Trip..? Next year is the 130th anniversary of the Society. In celebration, we would like to run a brilliant day out, but we need to know if this is something that people would like to be part of. We are developing a plan with one of our regular volunteers, Andrew Parrott, a self-confessed railway enthusiast, for a full day’s ‘hosted’ train journey, probably in late May 2014, starting from Stirling or Perth, travelling to Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee, and back to Stirling or Perth. A train with traditional coaches would be hired by RSGS from the Scottish Railway Preservation Society. Not only would it offer a great opportunity to catch up with like-minded friends and meet new ones, but we would have expert speakers, including we hope our President, Professor Iain Stewart, giving short presentations within the carriages, on topics such as landscape, geomorphology, coast, and the RSGS collection. The likely cost would be £120 for the day, including lunch on board, and if it is going to be successful we would need around 200 people to book. There is no commitment needed at this stage, but please let us know if you, or your local group, would be interested in joining this trip, so that we can gauge whether or not to develop the plans further. Contact Mike or Fiona in HQ on 01738 455050, or email enquiries@rsgs.org quoting ‘130th Train Trip’.
tell us if you’re d intereste
The 2013-14 Inspiring People talks season is now underway, with a programme featuring 90 talks in 13 areas across Scotland. From mountaineers and adventurers to academics and authors, with stories from around the world and insights into explorers and geographical issues, there is something for everyone. And with free admission to all talks for RSGS members, it’s a great reason to join the Society.
2013-2014 Illustrated Public Talks
motivational stories expertise on vital of adventure current issues inspirational insight s into people, places & planet 37 inspiring speake rs • 90 fascinating talks • 13 locatio Climbs ns
Dave MacLeod - Extreme
Clifton Bain is Director
of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, which exists to promote peatland restoration. Scotland holds 15% of the world’s blanket bog, so peatlands such as the Flow Country are vitally important for plants, animals and carbon storage.
Col John Blashfo rdSnell, a renowned explorer
Tom Christian
manages the National Tree Collections of Scotland initiative and the iCONic project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Both projects, helping to safeguard threatened tree species by creating conservation collections in Scotland, have taken him on plant collecting expeditions around the world.
wife of David Livingstone. Often seen as a shadow in the blaze of her husband’s sun, Mary played an important role in his success, and her own feats as an early western traveller in uncharted Africa are unique.
John Blashford-Snell - The Legend of Livingstone
Matt Dickinson
, a filmmaker and writer who specialises in wild places and himself, indigenous peoples, shares uses early images his research into and HM Stanley’s celebrates Isobel the personal Wylie Hutchison, original magic correspondence lantern slides to a pioneering film-maker of the Goodsir tell family, and RSGS the story of David held by the RSGS. Livingstone’s medallist who created Harry Goodsir a unique record remarkable expeditions was the surgeon of Arctic life in and his fight on Captain Sir the 1920s, focusing John against slavery. Franklin’s 1845 on He aims to reveal landscape, voyage of wildfl Arctic the owers and people’s real Livingstone, exploration, whose his achievement daily lives. sad final fate was s, his uncovered by the failures and his explorer John Rae. OPEN legacy today. witnessed the eruptions and tells the evacuations that TO EVERYONE story of her search for Mary, the changed Montserrat’s extraordinarily destiny in 1995. courageous and FREE FOR stoical In 2011 he went back to see how the MEMBERS island had recovered RSGS and to revisit areas which had been destroyed. COME AND He explores the major challenges that JOIN US! a community faces having lost twothirds of its land space.
Dr Andrew Cook
Julie Davidson
Matt Dickinson - Retracing Wylie Hutchison’s FootstepsIsobel
David Edwards
Ian Edwards - Woodlanders: New Life in Britain’s Forests
Ian Edwards returned
Kari Herbert - Heart
to Scotland, after years exploring forests in the Tropics, to document the ‘New Woodlanders’ who are breathing new life into Scotland’s native woods. Following a large replanting programme, there has been a resurgence in forest culture, with more people than ever working or playing in the woods.
of the Hero
Richard Else - Thirty Years at the Sharp Edge
Tim Emmett - Global Freezing! RSGS: helpin g to make the connec tions betwee n people , places & the planet
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Please help us to promote the talks to as many people as possible. You can use the link issuu.com/rsgspubs/docs/ rsgs_geographer_talks_66 to send the programme electronically; alternatively, please let us know if you would like some printed programmes for distribution.
20/08/2013 15:23
help promote the talks
Following the Gift of Time Mike Robinson
Thank you to those of you wh o contacted us in response to my letter in the last edition of , in which I pointed out our need both to raise the profile of the RSGS, and to clo se the funding gap by £25,000 a year for the next three years. A number of people have offered to give talks to groups in their local areas, or to write short articles for various publications; others hav e sent in donations or offered to run fun draising events on our behalf; their sup port is greatly appreciated. If anyone else would like to hel p us in any way, please do get in touch with me or Fiona at HQ. Anything that raises our profile, increases attendance at our talks, or directly generates money wil l help. If we each do just a little, workin g together we can achieve a lot. If we rec ruited just two new memberships at each of our talks this year, for instance, we would have an ext ra 180 memberships by April. Mike
NEWS People • Places • Planet World’s First Vertical Forest
Forestry Commission Scotland’s starter farms initiative is designed to help young farmers get a first step into the agricultural industry, by awarding tenancies on the National Forest Estate. Having won through against strong competition, the latest new tenants are being given ten-year leases to establish their own farm businesses at Kirkmichael in Ayrshire, and Port Menteith in Stirling. Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead welcomed the news: “It is a difficult time for many young farmers who are looking for their first proper foothold into the farming sector. I’m delighted that Forestry Commission Scotland is helping make this a reality.” FCS has now introduced seven new starter farms to tenants across Scotland, and is exploring further units in Aberdeenshire and Tayside.
Regional Meetings with Local Groups In August, we held three regional meetings attended by representatives from all but one of our local group committees. The main purpose was to extend the close working links we have. It was a great opportunity to hear about how HQ can help, and for groups to hear more about the breadth of RSGS’s work and some of our plans for the next few years. Thank you to all of you who attended.
RSGS Glasgow Group Outing to Melrose Alan Colvill, Chairman, RSGS Glasgow Group On a beautiful day in June, 31 RSGS members from Glasgow enjoyed a visit to Abbotsford House and Melrose. Travelling by coach, we lunched at the excellent Abbotsford Visitor Centre and walked in the beautiful gardens by the River Tweed, admiring Sir Walter Scott’s impressive home from the grounds, then drove to Melrose, entertained en route by Don Cameron’s historical introduction. At Melrose, most of the party elected to take the guided tour of the important complex of Roman fort, camps and amphitheatre at Newstead (‘Trimontium’), garrisoned from c80 to early 180s AD, and lying on the Roman Dere Street. Our tour guide was former Secretary of the Trimontium Trust, Donald Gordon, who walked us over the entire site and as far as the beautiful Borders Railway viaduct (not Roman!). Mr Gordon’s expert exposition of the ‘Roman Frontier Post and its People’ was the highlight of the day. We also had the options of visiting the Abbey, and Priorwood Garden and Harmony Garden. All in all, the day’s outing was highly successful, with something of interest for everybody.
The Native Woodland Survey of Scotland (NWSS) Derek G Nelson, NWSS Project Manager, Forestry Commission Scotland, and Dr Joyce Gilbert, Education Officer, RSGS With time and money being invested in the management and expansion of native woodlands, it is important that the resulting benefits are maximised for landscape, public recreation, biodiversity and, where possible, production of pine and hardwood timber. Between 2006 and 2012, FCS staff undertook the most comprehensive survey of its kind, visiting all relevant native woodlands of at least 0.5ha to assess their boundaries, extent, woodland type, composition and condition. The NWSS data has already proved to be of great value during the ash dieback crisis, where Scotland was in a position to comment on the extent of the problem within a matter of days. The data will also be a fantastic educational resource, particularly for secondary schools and universities. A number of targeted resources are now being produced by FCS in partnership with RSGS, and piloting of materials will begin soon. See www.forestry.gov.uk/nwss for further information.
RSGS Book Collection The bulk of the RSGS’s book collection is held by the University of Strathclyde’s Andersonian Library, with over a kilometre of books, journals, magazines and pamphlets, on a vast range of geographical topics, including many rare and unusual texts. See www. strath.ac.uk/library/usingthelibrary/ stock/rsgs for quick links to the
RSGS collection held at Strathclyde. RSGS members can gain free access to the Library by displaying a valid membership card at reception, and may borrow up to ten items at a time from the six-week or oneweek loan collections. ‘Walk-in’ user
access is also available for some of the electronic databases. The Library, which is open from 8:00am to 7:00pm on weekdays, and from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Saturdays, is on Cathedral Street, about a five minute walk from Glasgow Queen Street station.
forestry
Bosco Verticale is a towering 27-storey structure under construction in Milan, Italy. When complete later this year, it will be home to the world’s first vertical forest. Each apartment in the two residential towers of the building will have a balcony planted with plant life – a total of 900 trees and a wide range of shrubs and floral plants, which would fill a hectare of forest on flat land. Plant irrigation will be supported through the filtering and reuse of greywater produced in the building. Alongside the environmental benefits naturally provided by plant life, the vegetation will protect the building from noise, and will reduce summer temperatures, leading to energy savings.
FCS Starter Farms
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Geographer
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Autumn 2013
NEWS People • Places • Planet Greener land
Professor Colvin’s recent portrait of Robert Falcon Scott, and a picture of it ‘under construction’ to show how it was pieced together.
We are pleased to announce our support for a portrait commission of world-renowned explorer, and twice RSGS medallist, Roald Amundsen. Artist Professor Calum Colvin OBE blends sculpture, painting and photography to produce his images. He assembles objects related to his subject matter, paints and photographs them to provide the final image, and then produces a limited photographic edition. See www. calumcolvin.com for further details of his work.
receives the final portrait, with one further image presented to the RSGS. The cost to each member of the syndicate is £1,650. Each syndicate member can choose the size of their image (four feet in height or more is not unusual) and the medium on which it is produced (canvas is often used). The edition is strictly limited to nine – one for each syndicate member plus one for the RSGS – with no further images produced unless a unanimous decision to do so is taken by all syndicate members and Calum.”
purchase a portrait
This Amundsen project is being organised by RSGS member Malcolm Good, who explains, “The idea is that eight individuals join together in a syndicate to commission the portrait of Amundsen. Each syndicate member
This is a great opportunity to own a portrait by a world-renowned artist. To get involved or find out more, please contact Mike at HQ, or Malcolm Good at malcolmgood@ hotmail.co.uk or 07841 763021.
Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, reported in August that Greenland, perhaps not surprisingly with expected levels of warming, could be green by the end of this century. Currently only four indigenous tree species grow on the island, in limited patches in the south, with three-quarters of the country covered by the Arctic ice sheet. Professor Svenning stated that forests “will be able to thrive in fairly large parts of Greenland, with trees such as Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine. This will provide new opportunities for the population of Greenland.” Of course, trees have a much higher albedo than ice sheets, so the warmer it gets, the more the land will absorb the sun’s heat, increasing the rate at which Greenland warms.
Putting Town Centres First
forestry
Roald up, Roald up!
GeThoegrapher Spring 2013
The newsletter of
the
Royal Scottish Geograph ical Society
Losing Heart?
Re-imagining our
town and city centre
s
In This Edition ... • What’s Happen ing to Scotland’s Towns? • News: Mary Robinson, Livingstone Medallist
Scotland’s Towns Partnership, a campaign group led by retail expert Leigh Sparks, has demanded that planners work to a ‘town centre first’ model when considering new retail developments, with planning permission awarded to out-of-town sites only if a suitable location cannot be found in a town centre. The group also wants to see a review of the ‘role and function’ of every town in Scotland, with communities asking themselves “What’s the purpose of this place?” “What is the city but the people?”
William Shakespeare
• Malcolm Fraser Reviews Town Centres • Alcohol, Art, Activism and Alternative Approaches
• Shops: Old and New • Reader Offer: Beacons
plus other news, comments, books... RSGS: helping to make the connect ions between people, places & the planet
RSGS GEOGRAPHER
SPRING FOUR
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On the Tracks of the Highland Drovers Dr Joyce Gilbert, RSGS Education Officer The RSGS helped a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) group embark on the first DofE expedition in Scotland to take ponies into wild terrain, inspired by our Stories in the Land project. Shela Ryan, the DofE Co-ordinator in Fort William, was delighted when her latest group of young people decided they wanted to take their expedition on horseback. “I was really excited when I heard that Stories in the Land was based around old drove routes,” she said. “I knew this was too good an opportunity to miss out on.” After four months of extensive training and workshops, including navigation, camp-craft, natural
horsemanship, first aid (for ponies and people), creative journaling, art and film-making, the DofE girls embarked on a practice ride in July, following an old drove route near Lochaline. The expedition was not without its challenges, from locked gates and grumpy farmers, to steep ground and boggy terrain. But by working together, and placing trust in their ponies and each other, the girls arrived tired but exhilarated at Achnaha Community Woodland, where they were met by friends and family before joining a group of ‘18th century drovers’ camped by the shore, for an evening of stories and songs around the fire. There was no doubt that with the
Legacy Giving challenges came many valuable learning experiences: “Being in an outside space and travelling from one place to another brings up thoughts and feelings that help younger people just explore where they are in themselves. But coming out and being in that place and feeling the grass… that’s where the learning happened.”
Legacies are a vital form of support for many charities such as the RSGS. We can all make a positive difference, large or small, in the world we leave behind. Please consider helping the RSGS into the future by writing a bequest into your Will.
NEWS People • Places • Planet Stories in the Land The RSGS’s Stories in the Land 19 2 project is being showcased through an exhibition at the Scottish Storytelling Centre (SSC) in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF) whose theme this year is ‘Once Upon a Journey’. The exhibition runs from 19th October to 2nd November, and a main feature will be Haldane’s map of drove routes in Scotland. th Oct -
Iraq’s first national park
nd Nov
We are also running two storytelling events, on 19th October at the SSC and on 26th October at the Highland Folk Museum, where some of the young people with whom we have been working will join professional storytellers to sing songs and tell stories inspired by the Scottish landscape and the epic journeys of the Scottish drovers.
visit the exhibition
See www.tracscotland.org for full details of the SISF programme, and storiesintheland.blogspot.co.uk for more information about Stories in the Land.
Highland Council Biomass
World’s largest offshore windfarm Clean energy generation in the UK has been given a boost with the opening of the world’s largest offshore windfarm. The London Array, located more than 12 miles from the Kent and Essex coasts, is capable of generating 630MW of energy from its 175 turbines – enough to power nearly half a million homes.
In July, Iraq announced the creation of its first national park. The Mesopotamian Marshlands were once the third largest wetlands in the world, covering up to 15,000km2. Home to the indigenous Ma’dan Marsh Arab culture, they were a vital resource for regional fisheries and reeds, and a globally important area for birds and other wildlife. But only c7% of the marshlands survived a campaign by Saddam Hussein’s regime to drain and burn them. The marshlands have slowly started to recover since 2003, and it is hoped that the designation will help protect them from Iraq’s increasing urbanisation. Azzam Alwash, founder and president of environmental group Nature Iraq, said, “Development is encroaching into the wildlife’s area and taking away habitats. I want progress, but I don’t want development to overtake the Iraqi tradition of living in harmony with nature.”
Scotland’s National Tree The Scottish Government has launched a public consultation to find out whether people would like a national tree for Scotland, and if so, which species. The consultation promotes the cases for birch, rowan, Scots pine, and wych elm, but any tree could be considered. Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse said, “Our woodlands and forests are part and parcel of our heritage and shape our often rugged, green and stunning landscapes, and they play a vital role as green lungs, storing carbon and improving air quality. A national tree could be a powerful symbol to help raise the profile of trees and their contribution to so many aspects of today’s society. At no time has it been more important as some of our woodlands are currently under threat from a number of serious tree health problems.”
forestry
The Highland Council has awarded a four-year, £1.2m pa contract to Fort William-based HWEnergy, for the servicing, maintenance and repair of biomass installations on its 59 sites, including the supply of wood fuel. Many highland communities are off the gas network, so biomass offers an attractive alternative to more traditional fossil fuels. The contract will result in projected annual savings of £900,000 and 7,500 tonnes of carbon.
© Green Prophet
choose a tree
© Lorne Gill / SNH
Visit consult.scotland.gov.uk/forestry-commission-scotland/ national-tree or email scotlandsnationaltree@forestry.gsi.gov.uk to give your views before 3rd December.
Buy an inspiring gift that lasts all year. RSGS Gift Membership makes an excellent Christmas present for friends or family.
The
Geographer
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Autumn 2013
NEWS People • Places • Planet Treezilla Treezilla (www.treezilla.org), the monster map of Britain’s trees, is the latest citizen science project from the OU. Developed in partnership with Forest Research and Treeconomics as part of the OpenScience Laboratory, its ambition is to create a catalogue of Britain’s trees and to record their value for the environment.
The same Street View technology used in streets around the world has been used to create a photo tour of the Fair Maid’s House. Google search users will be able to view a high-quality, interactive, 360-degree experience of the visitor centre, no matter where they are. They’ll get a taster of the visitor centre, which will in time develop to provide further information on the Society and how to become involved. It is a great way to showcase the visitor centre to those interested in bringing groups to visit or hiring rooms for meetings, events and weddings. Of course, nothing compares to the real thing! The Fair Maid’s House will be open 12:30pm to 4:00pm, Tuesday to Saturday, until 24th October.
visit the Fair Maid’s House
The Bedrock Walk Jean Langhorne In mid-July, as part of the Stories in the Land project, a small group of people walked from Dalwhinnie to Glen Nevis, taking part in ‘The Bedrock Walk – a journey through geological time’. We followed the route of the Thieves’ Road, used for centuries by cattle thieves, which passes Ben Alder and Ben Nevis and traverses through a geologically diverse landscape, where changes in the bedrock are reflected in the topography, soil, vegetation and land use. This journey on foot over five days brought together a multi-disciplinary group: a geologist, a geographer, a writer, a poet, several artists, a few educators, and a group facilitator from SpeyGrian Educational Trust. The collaborative venture was an opportunity to travel slowly together, at a pace that enabled an engagement with the landscape at all scales, from crystals to mountains, with time to develop our personal reactions to the places we passed through and to share our different perspectives. For the ten participants, this mobile conference was a way to make connections and build fellowship. We were very lucky to have Simon Cuthbert as our ‘resident’ geologist on the journey. He brought the rocks and the landscape to life with genuine enthusiasm, and told geological stories in four dimensions to boggle our minds with the concepts of deep time and continental drift. It was challenging to think outwith the human timescale and to think of Scotland’s landscape as dynamic and not fixed. New realisations and valuable insights gained during this week will, I’m sure, inspire new ways of thinking for all of us.
forestry
Fair Maid’s House put on the (Google) map
Treezilla is free and open to everyone to use. Once a tree has been recorded, by inputting data about location, size and species (among other things), treezilla provides an estimate for the value of the ecosystem services which that tree provides; such as capturing CO2, reducing flood risk, reducing energy use through moderating temperature fluctuations, and improving air quality. Large inventories of tree data already held by local authorities and institutions can also be uploaded to treezilla, providing a platform for investigations into topics including tree diseases, their contribution to the ecosystem, and how climate change affects tree growth and health.
The Scott Expedition British adventurers Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere, who spoke to RSGS audiences in 2010-11, are heading to Antarctica to try to complete Captain Scott’s ill-fated 1910-12 Terra Nova Expedition. Starting in October, they are undertaking a four-month unsupported 2,900km journey on foot from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back. If successful, they will be the first people to complete the return journey that Captain Scott died attempting, and will have achieved the longest unsupported polar journey in history. Captain Scott’s grandson, Falcon Scott, said it would be a “truly exceptional and meaningful way to recognise and commemorate my grandfather’s expedition to the South Pole”. See scottexpedition.com to follow the expedition.
Ordering is easy. Email or phone today! Simply contact us on enquiries@rsgs.org or 01738 455050.
Please order by 30th November if possible.
Saving the Old Champions
I visited Leptis Magna the other day. I didn’t really know how many Roman sites there are in Libya! Apparently it is the largest Roman site outside of Italy. Anyway we had it to ourselves basically.....the potential for tourism in this country is massive.
The Man Who Planted Trees Jim Robbins
“I think of trees as ‘critical ecological infrastructure’, vital to maintaining life on the planet.”
Jim Robbins is the author of The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet, published by Profile Books.
In 2001, I wrote a story for the New York Times about a northern Michigan shade tree farmer named David Milarch, a former bodybuilder and competitive arm wrestler who planned to clone the largest trees of North America’s iconic species, from the oaks to the redwoods, to protect the genetics of those big old trees. For most people climate change was a far-off threat, but Milarch took it seriously and worried that America’s biggest and best specimens – the Champion Trees – were being allowed to die and tip over, and their genes disappear. One day, he thought, those libraries of ‘proven survivor’ genes might be important to future forests as the climate grew more uncertain. Scientists and people involved with tree planting all told me the same thing about his idea: it makes absolute sense to clone the largest tree of every species to protect them. Science has done a poor job with trees, and doesn’t know much about them. So until the research is done, they said, protect the ancient genetic library. The idea only seems more important as time goes by. Forests are dying all around us in the American West, as temperatures that once routinely plunged to 30 and 40 below zero, now rarely do. I learned what climate change can do
when bark beetles attacked my 15 acres of pine forest in Montana. The first year, 2003, they killed a handful of centuries-old trees. By the fourth year they had spread unchecked and killed more than 95% of our forest. We cut them all down to be ground up and made into cardboard. Then there are the bristlecone pines, the oldest trees in the world. These gnarled, wind-whipped trees survived by adapting to harsh mountaintop terrain, where little else, including their enemies, could live. That has changed, and mountaintops are warming faster than anywhere else. The bristlecones are under assault from bark beetles and an exotic fungus, and scientists believe all will die in the not too distant future. When the world’s oldest trees start dying, it’s time to pay attention. Trees and forests are far more vital to the human endeavour than we know; we’ve vastly underestimated the role they play in sustaining all life. Governments use a term called ‘critical infrastructure’, referring to such things as transportation systems and electrical generation that are needed for the function of society. I think of trees as ‘critical ecological infrastructure’, vital to maintaining life on the planet in ways known and unknown – a kind of sophisticated eco-technology. It’s well known that trees sequester CO2. But they also emit water vapour that has been shown to travel many miles and spread a cooling effect, even globally. Trees create habitat for insects, the bottom of the food chain, and other wildlife; when
insects thrive, so do birds and other species. Their ability to filter is robust. They sweep air pollution out of our urban air, and clean water through their complex root systems. Willows and poplars are used to clean up toxic waste on the landscape, and remove the endocrine disruptors that plague us. The Swedish town of Enköping spreads its sewage sludge on a willow plantation which cleans it and uses it for nourishment. Then the willows are harvested and used to generate electricity. One of the great unknowns about trees is their aerosols. Trees emit chemicals that are proven antibacterials, anti-fungals and antivirals. Acetysalicylic acid (aspirin) is emitted by willow trees around the world into rivers and lakes and the air, and has been shown to prevent a range of cancers as well as heart disease and stroke. Are these emissions a way for nature to maintain the health of the biosphere? It’s not been studied. Katsuhiko Matsunaga, a marine chemist at Hokkaido University in Japan, discovered that as tree leaves decompose, humic acid leaches into the ocean and helps fertilise plankton, critical food for other sea life. Japanese fishermen began an award-winning campaign called Forests Are the Lovers of the Sea, planting trees along the coasts and rivers that rejuvenated fish and oyster stocks. Also in Japan, researchers have long studied what they call ‘forest bathing’. Hiking through the forest has been shown to reduce stress chemicals, and to increase NK (natural killer) cells in the immune system that fight tumours and viruses. Elsewhere, researchers have demonstrated that anxiety, depression and even crime are lower in neighbourhoods with trees. Trees do all of these things and self-replicate; what more can you ask? And unless we take care of them, with some urgency, we will miss them when they are gone. © Fergus Gill / 2020VISION
The
Geographer
Seeding the New Champions
Climax Forest - less a destination, more a dramatic moment
6-7
Autumn 2013
Duncan Stone
The term ‘climax’, as applied to trees or forest types, is gradually falling out of favour with foresters and ecologists. A thicket of slightly different definitions has grown up, but broadly the term covers the trees which dominate after a long and uninterrupted period of succession, where one tree species gradually gives way to another with a competitive advantage. In many cases, the successional sequence of trees involves fast-growing, shadeintolerant species giving way to slower-growing, shade-tolerant species – leaving the climax species as the most shadetolerant and stable forest type for extended periods. Beech is perhaps the best example of a British tree with these properties, casting such a deep shade that only its own seedlings can grow, and even then only around the edges and in clearings. In contrast to beechwoods, forest ecosystems like the Caledonian pinewoods that don’t contain any strongly shade-tolerant species tend not to develop such stable patterns, with some examples of Scots pine and birch going through alternating cycles.
forest research institute in Massachusetts. The nearby golf club was put up for sale, and the university leapt at the chance to buy this patch of open grassland, set within the vast second-growth forests of New England. They are working out a management regime to keep it as open grassland (I suggested Highland cattle…), not because they’ve lost interest in forests, but because they recognise the value of grasslands as very early successional habitats. Of course, we value things simply for their rarity, but we also recognise that we often secure the maximum wildlife and biodiversity interest (and maybe landscape and visual value) by having all successional stages present within a local area, from grassland through to old slow-growing, shade-tolerant trees. In other words, we should value individual components not only for their innate interest, but for their contribution to the processes of succession and disturbance. Late-successional (‘climax’) forests aren’t better than early-successional ones; they are simply part of this greater drama.
The trouble is not with the process of succession, but with the concept of a climax as a somehow inevitable, pre-programmed, desirable destination. Some definitions add the rider that such climax forest develops and is sustained “for as long as a site remains undisturbed”. That certainly makes for a more coherent definition, but also illustrates the weakness of the concept, because disturbances – storm damage, drought, waterlogging, disease, fire, grazing – are not exceptional but are intrinsic elements of woodland and the life of trees. It is only our limited human attention span that sees stability instead of the slow pulse of major disturbance events, beating across decades and centuries, and resetting or transforming our forests.
Disturbance drives much of forest structure, and thus novel disturbances are likely to give us novel forests. Throughout the temperate forest zone, novel pests and diseases, driven in
I spent last year working in Harvard Forest, a wonderful
many cases by changing climate, are snuffing out tree species and altering forest structures. In Scotland alone, we’re facing the prospect of really serious declines of ash, juniper, larch, and Scots, Corsican and lodgepole pines. Other likely casualties include Lawson cypress and horse chestnut – and we’re only just beginning an extended period of environmental change and chaos. It’s not a comfortable time to be a forester or a lover of the woods. However, rather than bleakly accepting the decline of these trees and the consequences for wildlife and landscapes, I suggest we should be inspired by the idea of “conserving the stage rather than the actors” (Anderson 2010). In other words, we should ensure that the drama of succession and disturbance continues, even if we need to introduce new trees to take the roles of our current and future casualties. In our native forests, the substitutes would inevitably be non-native, and perhaps performing less well than the absent leading players. But surely that is better than the great drama of woodland succession becoming incoherent, the story lost entirely?
“…we should ensure that the drama of succession and disturbance continues, even if we need to introduce new trees to take the roles of our current and future casualties. ” Further Reading
Anderson MG, Ferree CE (2010), Conserving the Stage: Climate Change and the Geophysical Underpinnings of Species Diversity (www.plosone. org/article/ info:doi/10.1371/ journal. pone.0011554)
Glenfeshie. © Lorne Gill / SNH
Quantity vs Quality
100,000ha more - finding the space Simon Pepper, Woodland Expansion Advisory Group
“…where should we be seeking to locate more woodland?”
Sitka sapling. © FCS
© Lorne Gill
At 17% of the land area covered in trees, Scotland is a very lightly wooded country. Although we have more woodland cover than England, together we are very nearly at the bottom of the European league table; only Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland have less than the UK. This is despite a huge increase in planting, mainly in Scotland, since the early 1900s when woodlands covered only 5% of the land. Whether this is a good thing depends, sometimes literally, on your point of view. Different types of forestry deliver quite different combinations of social, economic and environmental benefits. At their best, woodlands (we usually think of them as such when they are nice) can be beautiful, gloriously rich in wildlife, and useful as a productive source of materials, as shelter, as places for gentle or energetic recreation, as an important tool in the management of rivers, flooding and pollution, as screening around less lovely elements of the landscape, and so on – the list of possibilities is great, for both rural and urban settings. And it’s not just the kind of woodland, but its scale and the way it is owned and managed, and the extent to which local people are involved, that can make a big difference. So efforts to encourage more tree planting have been a continuing feature of government policy since devolution, always seeking the best combination of these benefits across the piece. These efforts were given a major boost when it was officially recognised that woodland expansion would also help Scotland meet its climate change targets. By
capturing carbon from the atmosphere, forestry is the one land use where more is better in terms of net emissions.
robbing precious pasture, research suggests well-designed shelter belts can help livestock welfare and productivity.
So the question arises, where should we be seeking to locate more woodland? This is a challenge posed by Ministers last year to the Woodland Expansion Advisory Group (WEAG), a small group representing a range of land use interests. On the face of it, there are a lot of empty spaces, so it shouldn’t be difficult to accommodate the Scottish Government’s target of 10,000ha a year for the next ten years (at least), heading broadly in the direction of 25% cover. But if you take out the land which is already built upon, or too high, too rocky, too peaty, too valuable as natural or cultural heritage or as productive farmland, the candidate areas are looking decidedly thinner on the ground. And of course it’s all down to the willing co-operation of the owner of the land in question, and the design of funding schemes to assist – forestry is simply uneconomic these days without significant grant support.
Upland landscapes aside, much of the best potential for multiple benefits may actually lie in the lowlands, along river corridors, on floodplains, around towns, and in good soils where broadleaved trees can produce high-quality hardwood timber as well as delightful scenery. But of course it is here that competition is greatest, not only from arable farming, but from the growing demand for golf courses, grazing for horses, more houses and roads, and so on. And it’s often near towns that local people are most interested in helping to plant and care for, and perhaps own, woodland. How can opportunities be created for more local participation?
Map these constraints, and the eye is immediately drawn to the big open spaces of the uplands; the big, bare, highland estates, and the marginal grazing lands where agriculture is less productive. Could estate owners, most of whose ‘sporting’ objectives are pursued without any public subsidy, be persuaded to plant woodlands, perhaps as future cover for the deer which form such a central element of their economy? Should they even be allowed to maintain deer in such numbers that the natural regeneration of woodland is chronically suppressed over millions of acres? And might some farmers take up planting for the benefit of livestock on exposed hillsides? Far from
Decisions on these questions are difficult to make at a large scale. Solutions lie in overcoming the barriers which inhibit faster uptake of planting grants, including the design of these grants, the gulf between the cultures of farming and forestry, and the excessively clunky systems currently in place for deciding where and how woodland planting should be encouraged to deliver the best suite of benefits. The 24 recommendations of WEAG, covering many of these and other issues, have met with strong Ministerial support (see www.forestry.gov.uk/weag). One of the main decisions has been to explore, through pilot schemes already underway in Aberdeenshire and the Borders, how woodland expansion may be one of the policy objectives pursued more effectively through a more integrated approach to land use planning at a local scale.
The
Geographer
8-9
Autumn 2013
Quality not Quantity Dr Deborah Long FRSGS, Programme Manager, Plantlife Scotland
Christopher Smout wrote in 2011 in our report Quality and Quantity that “The native woodlands of Scotland are a precious part of our heritage, enormously enjoyed by the population and internationally admired for their beauty and biodiversity. But – like historic buildings or archaeological monuments – they can be easily diminished and destroyed by neglect. Stirling Castle has been wonderfully restored and we won’t allow Skara Brae to be swallowed up by the sea. Yet, by our own inaction, are we risking the destruction of the heritage of the Caledonian pine and the Atlantic oakwood?” The myth of our Caledonian Forest, covering Scotland with dense forest up to the limit of tree growth, has been a strong tenet of Scottish identity. This has resulted in our tendency to treat woodlands and open habitats as separate and distinct entities, and to manage them separately too. However, evidence suggests that Scotland’s forest landscapes are likely to have been a complicated mosaic of habitats, both wooded and open, like the mixture of habitats seen, for example, in parts of the Cairngorms today. Many moorland and grassland types were part of a wider ‘wildwood’ mosaic, becoming more expansive and open over time with the increasing impacts of human activity, managing uplands and expanding agriculture. Throughout history, Scotland’s woodlands have been used for everything from grazing livestock
to harvesting timber, from hunting animals to gathering fruits and fungi. As recently as a hundred years ago, they were still being regularly used to source hurdles, poles, tan bark and charcoal; bracken, leaf litter and branches were collected for animal bedding and fodder, and woodlands provided shelter and pasture for livestock and deer. All this human activity kept woodlands diverse – there were glades, patches of grassland, recently cut areas, and some high trees. Far from harming woodland wildlife, this active management kept our woodlands rich and varied, providing opportunities for many different fungi, plants and animals to flourish. Today, traditional management of woodlands has declined dramatically. In addition, much of the woodland in our hills is either fenced off, preventing access to grazing animals, or is accessible to unsustainable numbers of animals. Financial support from various woodland grant schemes has hastened this process by encouraging the fencing off of woodland and infilling gaps in the woodland canopy with new tree planting. Under these conditions, often unmanaged and ungrazed, many of our woodlands have developed into high forest, devoid of structural complexity, habitat diversity and, crucially, light. In 1947, 49% of broadleaved woodland in Britain was classed as either coppice or scrub, and just 51% as high forest. By 2002, high forest represented a staggering 97% of the broadleaved resource. Most woodland plants are not shade-tolerant and prefer lighter conditions. This applies not only to woodland flowers but also to lichens, mosses and liverworts. Scotland today has more woodland than 90 years ago. In 1919, when the Forestry Commission was set up, Scotland’s forest covered 5% of the land area. Today, it
Oak leaves. © Mike Robinson
has reached around 17%, with 5% being native woodland and the remaining 12% non-native plantations – with a target of 25% by 2050. Even at its current size, Scotland’s woodland is home to 36% of Scotland’s threatened species. Scotland’s native woodland is not a rare and restricted habitat; it is more than 1,000 times larger than our upland hay meadows and 14 times larger than our lowland raised bogs. Yet, characteristic woodland plants continue to decline. It would seem that government ambition to create woodland at a rate of around 10,000ha per year is too simplistic an approach to tackle the continuing decline in woodland species diversity. More woodland is a wellintentioned aim, but what we really need is better woodland. So why are Scotland’s woodlands losing their life and vitality? They aren’t being bulldozed, concreted over or burned down – they are still standing and you can still walk through them. The simple answer is that too many of our woods are neglected, mismanaged or under-managed. This is the major threat to their plant life and to the other wildlife that depends upon a rich woodland flora. Overgrazing by a soaring deer population is compounding the problem. If our native woodland – much of it of international importance – is to be protected and enjoyed by future generations, then all woodland owners need to take a more informed and more active approach to woodland management. We do not need more woodland empty of wildlife and devoid of natural beauty.
“…are we risking the destruction of the heritage of the Caledonian pine and the Atlantic oakwood?”
Twinflower. © Deborah Long / Plantlife
Making the Most of Our Woodland
Spatial Planning on Scotland’s National Forest Estate Dr Helen Sellars, Planning Framework Project Leader, Forest Enterprise Scotland
“The NFE contains half of Scotland’s woodland resource, and so is instrumental in delivering the Scottish Forestry Strategy.”
The primary role of Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES, which operates as an agency of Forestry Commission Scotland) is to manage for public benefit the public land of the National Forest Estate (NFE), which occupies 9% of Scotland’s land area. FES remains committed to its forest management and timber production roots, but there is a drive to demonstrate that with clear strategic thinking and good spatial planning the NFE can offer much more. The NFE is one of the biggest opportunities for the Scottish Government to implement the principles of the Land Use Strategy, in line with which FES aims to deliver multiple benefits by working in partnership with nature and linking people with the land. The NFE will also help implement Scotland’s climate change commitments by harnessing the ability of trees to sequester carbon, whilst providing flood mitigation, and ensuring the Estate’s biodiversity is robust and able to adapt, a substantial contribution to the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. The NFE contains half of Scotland’s woodland resource, and so is instrumental in delivering the Scottish Forestry Strategy. FES is working hard to translate this national strategic decision making into local action. In Scotland, the NFE is divided into ten ‘Forest Districts’. District strategic plans make the link with the national strategic directions more explicit, and translate the national vision into a regionally-distinct spatial plan, to show not just on what but where regional efforts will be focused. Where the focus is on habitat management and restoration, effort will be targeted where it will have highest impact. For example, Forest Districts (such as Lochaber
or Cowal &Trossachs) with a high percentage of plantations on ancient woodland sites will commit to site restoration to ensure that 85% of areas on ancient woodland sites will be restored to largely native species. FES will focus tourism investments where they will derive most benefit; for example, providing world class facilities such as The Queen Elizabeth Forest Park near Aberfoyle, which helps generate revenue for the local rural economy; or providing recreational facilities close to large populations, such as Kilpatrick Hills in the Central Belt.
be considered as one plan. Public engagement is a key consideration in all of this planning. FES engages at all levels of the planning hierarchy with key stakeholders such as NGOs and the general public, especially at local level, to ensure their input into how the land around where they live is managed. As one of Scotland’s most significant land managers, with multiple priorities and with a range of national and local aims and
In other areas, FES will consider how it can increase timber productivity, looking spatially at site suitability within a changing climate to identify those areas of the NFE best suited, for example, to increasing Cowal & Trossachs Forest District Design Plan Management Map. productive views to consider, FES has designed broadleaves (such as Dumfries & some advanced development tools. Borders, and Tay Forest Districts). For example, ‘Forester GIS’ holds District Strategies will in turn drive spatial records on the detail of the the new Land Management Plans NFE land holding; currently under which will integrate varied land further development, the intention management priorities to maximise is to make it web-based and more public benefit and optimise flexible, allowing planning to keep ecosystem service provision; from adapting to meet the increasing conserving vulnerable species, to demands placed on this important maintaining a supply of timber national land resource. and biomass, to functioning as the largest area for recreational provision in Scotland. They will also drive the move to ‘landscape scale’ land management, so that, for example, all relevant land holdings in the Tweed Valley could
FES’s spatial planning will help us to make better choices about land use and management, to ensure the best use of limited resources to maximise a whole range of benefits from Scotland public forests.
The
Geographer
10-11
Autumn 2013
Fuel Good Factor - Woodfuel: sustainable, clean, green heat James McDougall, Forestry Commission Scotland
The use of woodfuel to produce renewable heat is growing rapidly, as people realise the financial and environmental benefits of this natural fuel source. The use of woodfuel in Scotland has increased five-fold over the last six years, and its increase in popularity is matched by the increasing range, type and size of users, from small domestic installations to large commercial activities. Woodfuel has been in use domestically since man first harnessed the effects of a lightning strike and learned to replicate the process using flints and tinder. For thousands of years, wood fires were the source of heat, security and more palatable food – and wood fires drove the slow steady steps of early civilization and industrialisation. It is no wonder that, to this day, wood fires are a source of deep-rooted, satisfying comfort. Wood-burning stoves and boilers continue to be ideal for homes. They are attractive, efficient and cost-effective, particularly where woodfuel supplies are local or (even better) your own, and in off-gas-grid areas. Woodfuel is sustainable and cleaner to burn than fossil fuels, so the energy it generates is ‘carbonlean’. Modern stoves and boilers can burn logs, wood chips or pellets. Logs and pellets are generally the best option when your system requirement is less than 80kW or when space for equipment and storage is limited. Wood chip boilers are more suitable for larger domestic situations where system requirements exceed 80kW. Logburning stoves and boilers have to be filled by hand, but some pellet and all wood chip boilers have automatic woodfuel feeders and only need to be stoked once or twice a day. Industrial-scale operations are also winning converts. The E.ON power station built at Steven’s Croft near Lockerbie is the UK’s largest dedicated wood burning plant. Built by a Siemens/Kvaerner consortium, this CO2 neutral plant burns around 475,000t of sustainable woodfuel a year, including 95,000t of short rotation coppice. It can save up to 140,000t of greenhouse gas emissions annually. One large-scale application favoured by local authorities and
housing developers is Combined Heat and Power (CHP) installations. In these systems, woodfuel is used to generate heat as well as steam to drive turbines which generate electricity. Possibly one of the most effective ways to cut industrial or buildings-related energy costs, CHP systems convert up to 90% of a fuel’s energy into electrical power and useful heat. By comparison, systems that generate electricity alone generally have a low conversion efficiency, around 30-45%, whether for fossil fuel or biomass; a significant proportion of the energy available in the fuel is lost as ‘low-grade’ heat, unless it can be used, for example in industrial facilities. The Scottish Government strongly advocates the deployment of biomass in heat-only or CHP schemes, generally prioritised in off-gas-grid areas, at a scale appropriate to make best use of both the available heat, and local supply. This approach is vital if Scotland is to meet the 2020 renewable heat target, which depends heavily on biomass. So where does most of our woodfuel come from? Currently most woodfuel used in Scotland is sourced and processed here. Along with our forests and woodlands, under-managed farm and estate woodlands are a source with great potential. The increasing demand for woodfuel increases competition for the lowest value wood, which in turn means that income for forest owners, and biomass processors and merchants, also increases.
be used. Tonnes of sawmill byproducts have traditionally ended up in skips, costing thousands of pounds to dispose of in landfill. Sawdust, particularly dry sawdust from sawing kiln-dried timber, is highly suitable for wood pellet production. There is also an estimated 700,000t of residue from tree surgery and other park and garden maintenance work (arboricultural arisings) produced in Scotland each year, some of which is suitable for woodfuel. The key to future growth is good forest management and developing ways of harvesting wood for fuel. However, the success and rapidly growing popularity of woodfuel and biomass systems means that our existing sources are unlikely to meet future demand. In 2011, 1.2m green tonnes of wood (one third is recycled wood) was used for heat and power generation; the total Scottish harvest is currently around 7m green tonnes. Growing woodfuelspecific crops by short rotation coppice or short rotation forestry could be one answer. Forestry Commission Scotland is trialling new sources and processes that will help to develop this ‘energy forestry’ sector in years to come.
“Currently most woodfuel used in Scotland is sourced and processed here.“
Woodchips. © FCS
The forestry and timber industries generate large quantities of byproducts and thinnings which can © Mike Robinson
Inspiring Change
2020VISION: Big Ideas to Rebuild Our Natural Home Peter Cairns
The 2020VISION roadshow will be touring the UK until 2015. See www.2020v. org for details. A flagship book is also available.
2020VISION is a bit of a first: it brings together 20 of the UK’s top professional nature photographers to tell a story. Not a story of doom and gloom, not a story of habitat loss and potential species extinction: this is a story of hope and inspiration. Most people don’t respond to negativity, and most people’s relationship with nature isn’t scientific, it’s emotional. So 2020VISION set out to tell a very positive story, an emotional story, a motivational story. Up and down the country, people are coming together to restore, reconnect and revitalise our fragmented habitats and beleaguered wildlife populations. We’re talking here about fresh thinking, brave thinking, BIG thinking. We’re talking about big nature repair jobs at a landscape scale. Showing a mass audience these inspiring projects
through stunning imagery – a language that taps into people’s emotions – is what 2020VISION is founded upon. The ‘Holy Grail’ of course is motivating people to take action themselves. So what’s that got to do with forestry? Well let’s be honest, our forests are too small and too fragmented to function as they should. The good news is that forests, perhaps more than any other habitat, are at the centre of ambitious expansion and restoration plans, not only in the wild corners of the country but in and around our urban centres. Great news for wildlife, great news for climate change, and, crucially, great news for people. More than anything, 2020VISION and the wider conservation community have to resonate with people as, right now, nature needs people as much as people need nature.
Autumnal birchwood impression. Native and mixed species, young and old trees, standing and lying deadwood, fungi and lichens – forests are living engines that need all their component parts to work properly.
Uath Lochans, Glenfeshie. Often dubbed as the ‘jewel in the Cairngorms crown’, Glenfeshie is at the centre of one of the UK’s most ambitious forest restoration plans, to create contiguous native woodland on a scale not seen for centuries.
There is no bird more symbolic of a fresh approach to conservation than the osprey. Now breeding across Scotland, many in old pines in the Caledonian forest, their success has inspired thousands of people to think differently, to care.
The
Geographer
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Autumn 2013
Red squirrels have become symbolic of a change in conservation thinking. From vermin to icon in just a few short decades, they are now ambassadors for forest connectivity and functionality.
Barnluasgan Oakwood, Knapdale Forest, Argyll. The aptly-named Celtic Rainforest is one of the wettest places in the UK. An incredibly rich and diverse carpet of mosses and liverworts cloaks these special woods. All images © Peter Cairns, except Barnluasgan Oakwood © Lorne Gill / SNH
Craigellachie National Nature Reserve. As a pioneering species, birch is often dubbed as invasive, but birches are biologically rich and, as shortlived trees, offer myriad species the benefit of deadwood, often in short supply.
Loch Mallachie at sunset. The RSPB’s Abernethy Forest is to double in size in the next 200 years; a combination of planting and regeneration will see the forest expand, allowing the processes that drive it to flourish.
Goldeneye duck, Glenfeshie. These rare tree-cavity nesting ducks took to artificial nesting boxes several decades ago, and are now prospering in the Cairngorms, favouring isolated forest-lined lochans.
Aibidil na Gàidhlig le Craobhan The Gaelic Alphabet Through Trees The Gaelic alphabet contains only 18 letters. Though there are also some letters with accents, these are not considered additional letters.
Each letter of the Gaelic alphabet relates to a tree name and this system was used to teach children the alphabet, much as we use the alphabet song in English. There are differing combinations of tree names between the various versions of the Gaelic alphabet and there is no definitive version.
An excellent example of the close connection between the Gaelic language and Scotland’s natural heritage is the Gaelic alphabet. The Gaelic alphabet contains only 18 letters; though there are also some letters with accents, these are not considered additional letters.
Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage to promote further understanding of the connection between Gaelic and the landscape and environment of Scotland.
Here is a rough guide to the pronunciation of the tree names in Gaelic :
Each letter of the Gaelic alphabet relates to a tree name, and this system was used to teach children the alphabet, much as we use the alphabet song in English. There are differing combinations of tree names between the various versions of the Gaelic alphabet and there is no definitive version. A Gaelic alphabet poster was produced by Forestry
Ailm – Ay-ilm Beith – Bay Coll - Call Dair – Dahr Eadha – Ehy-ah Feàrn – Feh-arn Gort – Gorsht Uath – Oo-ah Iogh – ee-ogg
Luis – Looss Muin – Moon Nuin – Noon Oir/Onn – ohr/ah-wyn Peith bhog – Pay voh-k Ruis – Roosh Suil – Sool Teine – Chain-yeh Ur – Oor
Here is a rough guide to the pronunciation of the tree names in Gaelic: Ailm
Ay-ilm
Luis
Looss
Beith
Bay
Muin
Moon
Coll
Call
Nuin
Noon
Dair
Dahr
Oir/Onn
Ohr/Ah-wyn
Eadha
Ehy-ah
Peith bhog Pay voh-k
Feàrn
Feh-arn
Ruis
Roosh
Gort
Gorsht
Suil
Sool
Uath
Oo-ah
Teine
Chain-yeh
Iogh
Ee-ogg
Ur
Oor
Issues Facing Forestry
Deer Management - Getting Out of the Rut! Mike Daniels, Head of Land & Science, John Muir Trust
“Since red deer counting first began in the 1960s, the estimated Scottish population has nearly trebled.”
The roaring stag, monarch of the glen, is a Scottish icon, and is one of the ‘Big Five’ animals chosen to represent this Year of Natural Scotland. But behind its Landseer image lies a complex and troubled story, of ever-increasing deer numbers, spiralling costs to the public purse, and the ceaseless march of deer fences across Scotland’s hills and glens. It’s a tale of environmental damage wreaked in pursuit of antlered trophies for the wall – damage that includes declining mountain woodlands, the near extinction of natural tree lines, trampled blanket bogs, and the steady loss of biodiversity. The deer are an innocent party in all this, of course. They’re doing what comes naturally – feeding, breeding and seeking shelter. Native red deer are an essential part of Scotland’s ecology, but since their natural predators (wolves, lynx and bears) have been exterminated, their population number lies entirely in the hands of landowners. Across most of Scotland, any incentive to mimic nature and her natural predators has long gone. The Victorian rise of the shooting estate ensured that the emphasis was placed on increasing numbers. Today this is encouraged by estate agents who add £40-50,000 to the valuation for each ‘shootable’ stag. Inevitably this has led to growing populations. Since red deer counting first began in the 1960s, the estimated Scottish population has nearly trebled from 150,000 to over 400,000. As well as exerting an environmental toll, this rising population comes with a heavy price tag. Increasing numbers of vehicle collisions, damage to environmental protected sites, and kilometres of deer fences all cost the public purse tens of millions of pounds annually. For the deer, there is also a high price to pay. Thousands of deer die every year from starvation and exposure, the result of confining ever larger numbers to ever smaller unfenced areas.
of the year (not something natural predators would recognise). In Scotland, unlike most of Europe, cull targets are entirely voluntary and there is no sanction for failure to meet them. Even where an internationally protected environmental site is being damaged by deer, the authorities can only ‘encourage a voluntary management agreement’. And within such an agreement, any deer reduction must be balanced against its potential socio-economic impact on the hunting interests of neighbouring estates. Calculating such socio-economic impact is an interesting exercise. There is not one estate owner in Scotland who would claim to have made their wealth from deer shooting. But Scotland’s natural environment – woodlands, peat bogs, heaths – have been heavily impacted and damaged by deer for centuries. They are way out of balance. Yet when any attempts are made to reduce deer populations, they are met with howls of protest from neighbouring shooting estates. Dramatic claims that a ‘traditional’ way of life is threatened and that local jobs will be lost are spun in local and national media. Such stories have swirled around Creag Meagaidh, Glenfeshie, Mar Lodge and Quinag over recent years. Such claims ignore three inconvenient truths. First, any reductions merely bring populations back to
where they were a few decades ago. Second, estates involved in these reduction culls wish to retain deer, not exclude them through fencing. Third, not a single job has been lost, with estates involved in reduction culls retaining or increasing their deer management employment. As to ‘tradition’, it is unlikely the Victorians would recognise the way shooting estates operate today: high deer densities, hills covered with deer fences and bulldozed hill tracks, and off-road vehicles taking stalkers and their guests to remoter areas previously only accessible on foot. Similarly, any attempts by governments to impose more sustainable management on sporting landowners have met with stiff resistance. The latest attempt in 2010, to introduce a statutory code for deer managers, was watered down amid claims it would infringe the property and even the human rights of shooting estate owners. Instead they argued for the retention of the ‘voluntary approach’, the right to manage deer as they wanted. Meanwhile the deer population continues to rise, more land continues to be fenced off, and damage to the natural environment goes on. If we want more trees, we need fewer deer. It is time to admit that the voluntary system doesn’t work, that self-regulation is failing, and that we need to rethink the way deer are managed in Scotland.
Incredibly, this situation is underpinned by legislation. Close seasons restrict when deer can be culled, to maximise trophy value and prevent ‘disturbance’ the rest © FCS
Red deer stag in winter woodland. © Peter Cairns / 2020VISION
The
Geographer
14-15
Autumn 2013
Tree Disease - Are We Up a Gum Tree? Tim Hall, Operations Manager, Woodland Trust
There is nothing new about our awareness of the importance of tree diseases. In 1664 John Evelyn dedicated a chapter of Sylva to “the infirmities of trees”; and most people are aware of the ravages that Dutch Elm Disease inflicted across the UK from the late 1960s. What has changed is the apparent ever-increasing number of diseases that are already here or on the horizon, described by some as a ‘tsunami’ of tree disease. But what actual threat do these diseases pose, and need we be concerned? As an example, Chalara fraxinea (ash dieback) was first identified in the UK in 2012 and could lead to the loss of 95% of our ash trees over the next decade or two. Ash is Scotland’s fifth most abundant native tree, with an estimated million ash trees outside woodland; their loss will have a very significant impact on our landscape. From an ecological perspective, semi-natural ash woodland has the largest number of associated tree and shrub species of any native woodland type. Ash supports over 100 insect species; at least 40 species of invertebrates are wholly or largely dependent on ash; 220 of the 536 lichens that grow on ash in the UK are nationally rare or scarce; over 100 sites in Scotland that are designated for their conservation importance (many of international importance) have ash as a qualifying or significant feature. And the species dependent on ash will, in turn, have species dependent on them. Whilst ash is not a significant economic component in modern forestry, it is nevertheless an important hardwood timber species, is one of the best quality firewoods available, and is a valuable element in the forester’s toolkit as a gap species. So, whilst it is true that dead ash in our landscape can and will be replaced by other species such as sycamore, there will be a significant ecological, cultural and economic loss. And the
resulting simplified ecosystem will be much less resilient to future change, whether from one-off events, other diseases or climate change. A similar narrative could be told for other diseases that are already in Scotland, such as Dothistroma needle blight affecting pine, Phytophthora affecting a whole range of species, or pests of severe risk of arriving here soon, such as Oak Processionary Moth. There are several interlinked causes for the apparent rise in the level of risk from such diseases. Diseases are a natural and ‘healthy’ part of a dynamic and balanced ecosystem, and nature will always adapt to change. However, extremes of weather resulting from climate change can cause pests and diseases already present in the country to become a problem; trees already stressed by drought or flood are more likely to succumb to disease. But by far the biggest factor is the importation of diseased plants and associated materials (such as soil) or processed timber and packaging. In the case of ash and other native trees it is, for a variety of reasons, common practice for nurseries to collect seeds in the UK, export them to EU nurseries for growing on, and then import back to the UK for sale and planting. Whilst there are import regulations in place, monitoring for the numerous pests and diseases that are out there is a hugely complex, difficult task which at best can only ever be partially effective.
the Forestry Commission on the OBSERVAtree project, a citizen science project to increase awareness and understanding of the spread of tree diseases. As an individual, you can try to buy only those plants that have been grown and nurtured in the UK. Our woods and forests are there to be enjoyed by everyone, but if we all clean the mud off our boots we can minimise the risk of spreading disease from one wood to another. If there can be a silver lining to the arrival in this country of diseases like Chalara, it is that it has at least raised awareness amongst the public and decision makers of the importance of tree diseases, and reminded us of the value of our diverse trees and woodlands.
Healthy ash leaves. © Steven Kind / WTPL
Ash dieback. © Alison Kirkman / WTPL
So what can we do about it? The Woodland Trust and other landowning NGOs in Scotland have started by only buying trees that they can be assured have been grown their entire lives within the UK. This is not as simple as you might think, comes at a cost, and will only reduce, not eliminate, the risk of spreading disease. The Woodland Trust is also working with partners including Healthy ash trees. © Ken Leslie / WTPL
“…by far the biggest factor is the importation of diseased plants and associated materials…”
Community Engagement
Community Forestry
and Scotland’s National Forest Estate Bob Frost, Community Development Policy Advisor, Forestry Commission Scotland In Scotland, community involvement in forestry, including the country’s National Forest Estate (NFE), has significantly increased over the last two decades. This is reflected in an expansion in the number of community woodland groups, from 122 in 2007, to 204 in 2012. Traditionally, community forestry in Scotland has been defined by community ownership of woodlands and/ or community control over woodland-related decision-making. This focus on geographical communities – rather than communities of interest – predominates in rural Scotland, and the majority of these placebased forestry groups are located in the Highlands and Islands area; for example, Laggan Forest Trust, Sleat Community Trust, Kilfinan Community Forestry Company, and North West Mull Community Woodland Company.
“A further political driver that has had a greater impact on urban communities and their local woodlands was the social inclusion agenda and the concept of ‘environmental justice’...”
The North West Mull Community Woodland Company bought 690ha under the National Forest Land Scheme.
In urban Scotland, community forestry has evolved in a slightly different direction since its introduction in the early 1980s. The initial focus was on the physical rehabilitation of postindustrial landscapes by establishing new ‘community woodlands’, a model strongly championed by urban local authorities. These mainly agencyled projects focused on physically improving areas of vacant, derelict and under-utilised land as part of wider landscape improvement initiatives. Increasing momentum In the 1990s, wider political drivers had a significant impact on the community forestry sector and provided a boost in
particular to assetbased community development across Scotland. A main driver was political devolution and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. One of the first Acts to be introduced by the new parliament was the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. This not only codified Children took part in a forest school session on Bluebell Woods, Drumchapel, Glasgow. a general right of responsible access people to help them benefit from to land, but also introduced a and enjoy their local woodlands. ‘Community Right to Buy’. The future In response, FCS introduced the The Land Reform (Scotland) National Forest Land Scheme Act 2003, and the wider to provide a mechanism for debates around land tenure and community organisations to ownership, are currently being apply to acquire any part of the reviewed by an independent NFE, if it could be demonstrated Land Reform Review Group. that it would be in the public In addition, the Scottish interest, and even if the land was Government is planning to not being sold. consult on a Community Mainstreaming of community Empowerment and Renewal Bill. forestry The draft Bill aims to include The impact of this increased issues such as the transfer of momentum has been a public assets to communities, mainstreaming of community and how communities can get forestry in forest policy. However, more involved in the design the changes stimulated by the and delivery of public services. land reform agenda have largely It is too early to predict the delivered benefits to people and final outcome of these two communities in rural Scotland. initiatives and their impact A further political driver that on the relationship between has had a greater impact on communities and the NFE, but urban communities and their one certainty is that this dynamic local woodlands was the social area of activity will continue to inclusion agenda and the concept develop. of ‘environmental justice’ Looking back, it can be seen that (everyone having the right to a community forestry has evolved good quality environment). The significantly from its origins in majority of Scotland’s most the late 1980s. However, when deprived communities (those trying to look forward, the only with low incomes, poor health, thing that can be predicted and low educational attainment) with any certainty is that the are found in urban Scotland and, relationship between people, their with socially deprived areas being communities and local woods will synonymous with poor quality continue to evolve. The challenge, environments, the Scottish as always, is trying to make sure Government began to increase its that the benefits from using and focus on these areas during the visiting Scotland’s National Forest 2000s. Estate are enjoyed by people In response, FCS developed the across the country. Woods In and Around Towns programme in 2005. Today this programme continues to provide funding to manage existing woodland, create new woodland and, importantly, work with local
The
Geographer
16-17
Autumn 2013
Plantations - the next generation Barney Jeffries, for The Forestry Commission (GB)
From natural habitats being destroyed to communities losing their land, badly planned tree plantations have caused some serious environmental and social problems. But they can also support rural jobs and economic development while producing the timber people need in a highly efficient and sustainable way. If we want to conserve the world’s natural forests, then plantations are going to have a big role to play.
partnership.
The land around Kranskop has been legally restored to its original owners, the AmaHlongwa and AmaBomvu communities. Mondi is renting it back, and paying an annual fee to the community owners for the timber it harvests. In the meantime, it’s working with the communities to set up and develop their own businesses and to train them in forest management. The idea is that, when Mondi’s lease expires That’s why WWF after 20 years, local has set up a project people will have the called New Generation Zebras alongside SiyaQhubeka skills and capacity Plantations (NGP), Forests’ eucalyptus plantations, to manage the which brings together iSimangaliso Wetland Park. plantations on their forestry businesses own. Since Mondi will still need and government agencies, wood for its paper and packaging including Forestry Commission business, they’ll have a readyScotland, to promote better made buyer, and Mondi will have plantations. Earlier this year, a reliable supplier. WWF-South Africa and pulp and packaging company Mondi, The tour also paid a visit to Lake one of South Africa’s largest St Lucia in iSimangaliso Wetland plantation owners, hosted NGP’s Park, to see how careful landfirst study tour to Africa, where use planning can reduce the plantations are set to expand negative impact of plantations at an unprecedented rate over on the environment. Until a few the coming decades. Some years ago, pine trees had been 40 people from around the planted right up to the edge world came together to share of the lake: as a result, water experiences and see what lessons flows were low and salinity levels could be learnt from plantations too high. When SiyaQhubeka in South Africa. Forests – a partnership between One of the key principles of the NGP concept is making sure local communities have a say in, and benefit from, plantations – an issue that’s as relevant in Scotland as it is in South Africa. In the early 20th century, in an echo of Scotland’s Highland Clearances, the South African government forced indigenous people off their land to make way for agriculture, including plantations. It’s only recently that communities have been able to claim back their land. A visit to Kranskop in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands showed how Mondi has turned this potentially contentious issue into a mutually beneficial
Meanwhile, the commercial plantations provide a buffer zone around the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, and wildlife corridors and firebreaks within them have extended the area in which animals can graze and roam. Water levels in the lake have risen, and wildlife is thriving. For Bob Frost, Community Development Policy Advisor for Forestry Commission Scotland, there are strong parallels between land restitution in South Africa and the land reforms in Scotland that have seen half a million acres transferred into community ownership over the last two decades. “Apart from the dramatic views, it felt like a day back in the office,” he said. “Many of the issues are very similar. Community ownership can build resilience, provide jobs and keep people in rural areas. But in both Scotland and South Africa, communities may need support and capacity to engage with the commercial forestry sector.” “It’s refreshing to see how constructively Mondi has embraced this challenge,” he added. “I think there are lessons to be learnt for how the private sector can engage with community owners in Scotland.”
Hippos at Lake St Lucia, iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
NGP participants listen to a presentation on land restitution, Kranskop.
“If we want to conserve the world’s natural forests, then plantations are going to have a big role to play.”
Mondi, local communities and the South African government forestry agency – took over the land in 2004, they worked with conservationists to map out areas suitable for commercial plantations, and wetland conservation zones. Around 9,000ha of trees have been cleared from wetland areas and the native vegetation restored.
Lobelia forest. © Mike Robinson
Heritage Trees
Heritage Trees of Scotland James Ogilvie, Head of Social and Planning Policy, Forestry Commission Scotland
More than 130 of Scotland’s most remarkable trees are stunningly presented in the second edition of Heritage Trees of Scotland, published by Forestry Commission Scotland and The Tree Council. See www.forestry.gov.uk/ heritagetreesscotland for more information.
‘Heritage’ is a much overused word these days, but it’s difficult to think of a better term to describe Scotland’s unique bounty of extraordinary trees, which is probably the richest arboricultural legacy of its kind in the world. If trees can be likened to people, then heritage trees are the ‘characters’: exceptional, extraordinary, uncommon and unexpected. Often they inspire wonder; sometimes they instil humility; always they capture one’s imagination. As living milestones they play a vital and defining part in Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage. Heritage trees comprise several categories. Many are ancient specimens: veteran survivors of a bygone age. Some are record champions and giants: the tallest, widest or largest of their kind. Some are historically or culturally important, with uniquely Scottish connections. Several are weird and wonderful, with unusual or grotesque appearance. A few are botanical curiosities, introductions forming a living legacy of Scotland’s plant hunters and collectors, or native rarities with a special botanical interest. And then there are named individuals and groups of trees: singletons, avenues and groves of particular importance or significance.
“…heritage trees are the ‘characters’: exceptional, extraordinary, uncommon and unexpected.”
The Rannoch Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) stands in splendid isolation on Rannoch Moor, growing on top of a giant boulder through whose crevices the roots have somehow managed to find sustenance. © Edward Parker
Ancient veterans typically range from 200 years old for ‘short-lived’ species such as birch, to more than a thousand years for long-lived species like yew. Scotland’s oldest include the centuriesold Cadzow oaks, some as old as medieval cathedrals, and the Lochwood Oaks, which enabled dendrochronologists to sequence tree-rings back to 1571. But it’s yews that really stretch the imagination, sometimes living for thousands of years. Indeed, at 5,000 years old, the oldest tree in Europe, the Fortingall Yew is reckoned to be of Stonehenge vintage. Champions and giants abound in
Scotland, superlatives in height or girth (and most of them still growing!). Amongst the 19th century North American introductions thriving in Scotland’s climate are the UK’s tallest tree (a distinction disputed by the Douglas firs at Reelig Glen and the Hermitage), the largest-girthed tree (a giant redwood at Cluny Garden), and the ‘Mightiest Conifer in Europe’ near Loch Fyne. Broadleaves can also reach epic proportions, like the largest-girthed sweet chestnut, at Cockairnie near Aberdour, and the world-beating beech hedge at Meikleour. Historical and cultural trees play a prominent and much-loved part in the country’s cultural heritage. Many are associated with important and colourful events or people in Scotland’s past: a living link with the nation’s history, such as the Wallace Yew, the Covenanters’ Oak and Queen Mary’s Thorn. Weird and wonderful trees can either be naturally strange or made freakish by human intervention. These include such oddities as the weeping larch at Kelburn, the ‘pedestal’ larch at Dunkeld House, the Twin Trees of Finzean, and a handful of great ‘layering’ yews, such as Ormiston and Whittinghame. Trees made unnatural by human intervention include the Bicycle Tree at Brig o’Turk and the former Argyll Wishing Tree (now sadly deceased). Amongst Scotland’s introductions and rarities are native species not found naturally elsewhere, like two whitebeam species found only on Arran. There are also botanical mutants, unique genotypes such as the fastigiate beech at Dawyck, the Camperdown Elm near Dundee and the Corstorphine Sycamore in Edinburgh. Others, often held in collections, include early introductions by famous Scottish plant collectors such as David Douglas (the Douglas fir at Scone), Henry Veitch (the Japanese larches at Dunkeld), and James Naesmyth (the European larch at Dawyck and Kailzie).
Celebrity trees, avenues and groves are well-known local features, appearing as named trees on old maps and often associated with historical events. Examples of avenues and groves include the Act of Union Beeches at North Berwick, the mighty Redwood Avenue at Benmore, and Diana’s Grove at Blair Castle. Although heritage trees have existed in harmony with their environment for centuries, they are all too vulnerable to human impacts. Today’s threats range from built development, vandalism, damaging maintenance and visitor pressure, to more subtle agents such as pests and diseases, to unknown future changes – pollution and climate change for example. Tragically, ancient trees which bore silent witness to Scotland’s history can be felled in a matter of minutes and destroyed within a matter of hours… I started by comparing heritage trees to people and, like old people, old trees are particularly vulnerable. All too often, wonderful veterans continue to be lost through the misuse of technology. But perhaps the greatest threat of all is ignorance. Heritage Trees of Scotland is part of the answer: FCS’s response to that threat and a celebration of our unique tree bounty. The Cadzow Oaks are an internationally important group of c300 sessile oaks (Quercus petraea), thought to have been planted by King David I in the mid-12th century, when he used nearby Cadzow Castle as a hunting base. © Archie Miles
The
Geographer
Ancient Forests
18-19
Autumn 2013
Not out of the woods yet… Clifton Bain, Director, IUCN UK Peatland Programme
Clifton Bain has over 25 years of experience working in nature conservation. He has an Honours Degree in Zoology from Aberdeen University and enjoyed a long career as a policy officer with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He has twice toured all 38 of the pinewoods, most recently completing the journey by relying on public transport, walking and cycling.
He is currently living in his home city of Edinburgh and is actively involved in a wide range of national and international conservation activities as Director of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Darren Rees is a professional wildlife artist located in Central Scotland. www.darrenrees. com Vanessa Collingridge is a geographer, explorer, broadcaster and author. Professor Aubrey Manning OBE is a distinguished zoologist, author and broadcaster.
£24.99
tresses, whose delicate white flowers brighten up the forest floor; control of grazing in the ancient pinewoods is helping this species recover. Another example is the capercaillie, the ‘horse of the woods’ (named after its ‘clopping’ call), whose numbers are perilously low at only 2,000 birds in Scotland; conservation effort involves managing vegetation to encourage the blaeberry plants that provide food for the capercaillie chicks, and removing old deer fences to reduce collision risks for these heavy birds. But more work remains to be done and there are still challenges ahead, particularly in considering the role for sustainable wood production along with conserving wildlife and access for people. All of this within the context of a changing climate. Having worked in conservation for over 25 years, my own fascination with the pinewoods operates on several levels. There is the aesthetic appeal of the bottle-green crowns of Scots pine with almost salmon-pink, contorted stems and
There is diversity in these old woods, reflecting their age and the varied ground structure. Twisted trees cling to scree slopes, stunted pine grow only a few metres tall in waterlogged peat soils, and mighty, straight stems thrive on welldrained gravel soils. One of the key features of the ancient pinewoods is their connection with the past. The massive trunks and freestyle branches convey a wonderful feeling of age. Echoes of days gone by linger in these atmospheric places. You can touch a tree that was alive during the Jacobite uprisings. The pinewoods have naturally seeded and grown since the last ice age, with individual trees reaching maturity at around 300 years.
Forewords by VANESSA COLLINGRIDGE and AUBREY MANNING
THE
ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND A TRAVELLER’S GUIDE
will continue to be influenced by people. But that does not lessen their appeal, as they still provide an experience of a natural link stretching back over millennia. Each pinewood has its own special tale and offers something different for the visitor to enjoy. Choosing to use public transport, walking and cycling can mean some fairly strenuous journeys, but Scotland has a fantastic network of facilities to allow low-carbon travel. In this Year of Natural Scotland, we should celebrate the conservation effort that will ensure people can enjoy the many layers of natural and cultural history contained in these ancient pinewoods.
Scattered across the Scottish Highlands are the surviving remnants of the ancient Caledonian pinewoods; woods which have naturally seeded and grown since the last ice age. Visiting the ancient pinewoods of Scotland provides an emotional connection to the past through the visible traces of people who lived and worked there over the centuries, and some spectacular individual trees over 350 years old. It also provides the opportunity to look forward, since one of the world’s great conservation success stories means a new future for the woods and their charismatic wildlife. A journey to the ancient pinewoods offers a natural spectacle alongside a rich cultural heritage which is also described in this comprehensive and fully illustrated guide. Details are provided on how to reach each of the sites, some in the farthest mountain glens and others easily accessed by public transport, with well-marked routes and visitor facilities. This book is also a tribute to all who have shared my passionate belief that the pinewoods are special and helped turn around their fate.
CLIFTON BAIN
Clifton Bain
Clifton Bain will speak to RSGS audiences in Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh in January 2014.
THE ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND
branches set against a moorland Preserved remains of trees that Scattered across the Scottish backdrop. The smallest woods, grew over 4,000 years ago can Highlands in remote glens lie the such as Glen Alladale in the north now be seen exposed in eroding ancient woodlands of Scots pine and Glen Falloch in the south, peatbogs. The journey to the woods (Pinus sylvestris var Scotica) that seem vulnerable yet enduring as also has historical connections. have inspired travellers from Queen Ancient cattle Victoria to the Ettrick droving routes Shepherd. Even the and 18th century most stalwart scientists military roads are moved by these across the natural monuments. Highlands provide “To stand in them is a network of to feel the past” is the paths along which much-quoted phrase centuries of from Professor Steven writers have trod and Jock Carlisle’s and remarked on comprehensive account the old pinewood of native pinewoods in remnants. the 1950s. They made a plea for action to secure Understanding the the future of the woods, Capercaillie male flying in pine forest, Scotland. © Peter Cairns / 2020VISION signs of human and fifty years on a management they stand amidst the bare hills. remarkable conservation success left by generations of people Then there is the excitement story has been achieved. Where gives an added layer of interest of seeing some of Scotland’s mature trees were dying with no to the woods. Vast quantities of most charismatic creatures. young to replace them, there is now timber were removed for ship Red squirrel, pine marten, the management to encourage natural building and supplying materials endemic Scottish crossbill, and regeneration. in the great wars. Sheep and deer crested tit – pinewood specialists numbers were increased as land Public and private investment is whose fate is closely linked to the management priorities shifted. helping recover the diverse form condition of the pinewoods – have And more recently the planting and and structure of the pinewoods all experienced population declines then removal of non-native conifers along with their associated species over the last century; restoration has left its mark. These woods and habitats. One beneficiary of of the pinewoods brings hope that are not pristine, natural relics of new management is the scarce that they will thrive again. primeval forest, they have been and Scottish orchid, creeping lady’s-
CLIFTON BAIN Drawings by Darren Rees
The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland is our Reader Offer this quarter; see the back page for details.
“Echoes of days gone by linger in these atmospheric places.”
Trees and Climate
A Matter of Degrees Mike Robinson, Chief Executive, RSGS
“Avoiding a 2°C rise in global average temperatures is a good idea, in the same way that you would want to avoid a 2°C rise in your own body temperature.”
September saw the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report. The first volume of the report provides a comprehensive analysis of the latest research on the basic science of climate change, prepared by more than 250 scientific experts from a wide range of universities and research institutes in nearly 40 countries, who were commissioned by the world’s governments to review all of the available evidence, including thousands of scientific papers. The experts’ assessment for the IPCC was subjected to one of the most rigorous audit processes in the history of science, with more than 50,000 comments made on draft versions that were made available to hundreds of reviewers around the world, including many of those who refute the science altogether. The process only allowed inclusion of data which had been separately corroborated by at least two peer-reviewed papers (which invariably means that by the time it is produced it is probably two or three years behind the curve). It was also subject to scrutiny by representatives of the world’s governments. If anyone has ever tried to seek agreement for even a simple sentence through a committee, you will know how hard it can be to arrive at a clear outcome. Imagine a process as complex and involved as this, and it is a minor miracle that anything cohesive popped out at the end. Perhaps not surprisingly given
the number and extent of people involved, one copy was leaked by a sceptic earlier this year. In it, the IPCC indicated a total budget “for greenhouse gas emissions that should not be exceeded if the world is to have a reasonable chance of avoiding global warming of more than 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures”. Avoiding a 2°C rise in global average temperatures is a good idea, in the same way that you would want to avoid a 2°C rise in your own body temperature. A 2°C rise would mean that temperature variations were more extreme. It would also increase the ‘energy’ in the atmosphere, meaning more precipitation, stronger airflows, and greater storm intensity, although locally some parts of the world could experience much greater increases whilst others remain less affected. This idea of an overall ‘budget’ is quite logical. Different greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for up to 100 years or more, so it is the total cumulative emissions in the atmosphere which will determine whether we ultimately exceed the thresholds for 2°C, 3°C, 4°C or more. The higher the levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, the higher the likelihood of exceeding certain temperature levels. The 2006 Stern Review suggested that the probability of exceeding 2°C, if CO2 levels reached 450 parts per million, was 38% to 78%. (At 500 ppm it was between 61% and 96%.) We are currently sitting at just over 400ppm, and increasing at 2-4ppm per year. For all but the
last 250 years, humankind has only ever known atmospheric CO2 levels of between 180 and 280ppm. At the UN climate change summit in Cancún, Mexico, in December 2010, the world’s governments agreed to try to limit global warming to less than 2°C. While most countries have made varying commitments and pledges to reduce emissions, none more so than Scotland, the current commitments are collectively inadequate and would still mean that the emissions budget for 2°C will be exceeded within the next 20 years or so. It is heartening that Scotland’s lead has influenced other nations, and many are beginning to bring forward legislation of their own – most recently, the Irish Dáil took evidence from Stewart Stevenson, the Environment Minister in the Scottish Government at the time of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act, in considering their legislation. Efforts are now building to try to create a new international treaty, to be ratified at the 2015 climate change summit in Paris, to try to ensure that sufficient global emissions reductions are made and the upward trend in emissions is reversed sooner rather than later. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report will help to inform this process. But the window of opportunity to minimise this risk is closing, and some commentators insist may have already shut. Should we resign ourselves to a 3°C or greater rise? Or should we be doing more to cut back?
The
Geographer
20-21
Autumn 2013
The pros and cons of REDD Chris Lang, redd-monitor.org
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is a simple idea: governments, companies or forest owners in the Global South should be rewarded for keeping their forests instead of cutting them down. Putting a price on the carbon stored in forests would make trees worth more standing than cut down.
carbon back to the atmosphere. As climate change gets worse, forest fires are more frequent and more devastating. ‘Measurement’ refers to measuring the carbon stored in forests. But accurately measuring forest and soil carbon is extremely complex, and is prone to large errors. All four of these problems remain.
Lord Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank and author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, was convinced. Kalimantan Longhouse, Indonesia. “Curbing deforestation In addition to being complicated, is a highly cost-effective way setting up REDD projects has of reducing greenhouse gas turned out to be expensive and emissions and has the potential time-consuming, as two examples to offer significant reductions of REDD projects from Indonesia fairly quickly,” he wrote on page demonstrate. 603 of the Review. Dorjee Sun is a Singapore-based Unfortunately the reality is that social entrepreneur and CEO reducing deforestation is a great of a company called Carbon deal more complicated than just Conservation. In 2009, Time putting a price on forest carbon. magazine recognised him as The idea of making payments a ‘Hero of the Environment’ to discourage deforestation for his work as a carbon credit was discussed during the broker on the Ulu Masen REDD negotiations that led to the 1997 project in the province of Aceh Kyoto Protocol. It was rejected in Indonesia. The project was primarily because of four developed by the Provincial problems: leakage, additionality, Government of Aceh, a major permanence, and measurement. conservation NGO, Fauna & Flora International, and Carbon ‘Leakage’ refers to the fact Conservation, and was supposed that while deforestation might to protect 770,000ha of forest be avoided in one place, the and generate 3.3 million carbon forest destroyers can move to credits a year. But the Ulu another area of forest or to a Masen REDD project today is at different country. ‘Additionality’ a complete standstill and not a means that the project offers single carbon credit has been more emissions reductions than sold. In 2012, Aceh elected a new business as usual, the problem governor who shows little interest being the near impossibility in protecting Aceh’s forests. of predicting what might have When I visited the project area at happened in the absence of the the end of 2012, the indigenous REDD project. ‘Permanence’ people living in the area were refers to the length of time that frustrated. Anwar Ibrahim, an carbon is stored in the trees indigenous leader, told me, not cut down under the REDD “We’ve never seen anything from project. Again, we are faced REDD. It’s like the wind. We can’t with the near impossibility of see it, can’t touch it.” predicting the future. All trees eventually die and release the
The Rimba Raya project in
Central Kalimantan is going ahead – and has sold carbon credits – but it has been far from plain sailing. In 2011, after three years of development, Reuters reported that the project was “close to collapse”. The Ministry of Forestry handed over half the 90,000ha project area to a palm oil company. By then the project had cost US$2 million. With the REDD project area reduced to 64,000ha (of which 47,000ha generates carbon credits), it was May 2013 before the project finally had the necessary permissions from the Indonesian authorities. But the project remains controversial, because of the involvement of two large fossil fuel companies, and because the project is selling carbon credits that were generated between July 2009 and June 2010, when the company developing the project did not have legal tenure over the project area. The problem is that trading carbon does not address the issue of climate change, as Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein pointed out in a 2012 interview: “If you want to get serious about climate change, really serious, in line with the science, and you want to meet targets like 80% emissions cuts by mid-century in the developed world, then you need to be intervening strongly in the economy, and you can’t do it all with carbon markets and offsetting.” None of this is to argue that conserving forests is not important. But saving the rainforests does not reduce the burning of fossil fuels. And keeping fossil fuels in the ground is the only way to address climate change. In 2012, I wrote to Lord Stern to ask him whether he still believed that REDD would be cheap, quick and easy. I’m still waiting for his reply.
REDD is the United Nations collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries. See www. un-redd.org for more information.
“…reducing deforestation is a great deal more complicated than just putting a price on forest carbon.” Secondary rainforest, Indonesia.
Education
Higher Geology Update
Earth Heritage, the UK’s geological and landscape conservation magazine, is available to download free from www.earthheritage. org.uk. Contact Colin MacFadyen (colin. macfadyen@snh. gov.uk) for further information.
In June, a small group comprising Prof Stuart Monro (Our Dynamic Earth), Dr Ruth Robinson (University of St Andrews), and Dr Joyce Gilbert (RSGS) met Minister of Science Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, along with representatives from SQA, the Learning Directorate, Education Scotland, and Annabelle Ewing MSP. We had previously circulated our ‘ask’ for a new Higher in Earth Science, a great opportunity to do something innovative that builds on knowledge and skills from the 5th year sets of Highers, and has a wide array of skills training and an independent learning framework. We argued that there was insufficient coverage of geology in other courses, and we questioned why a subject that is so important to the economy, jobs and our understanding of the planet didn’t have a higher priority. We are now awaiting the Minister’s response, but in the meantime both the Glasgow Herald and the Times Educational Supplement Scotland independently published articles questioning the decision to axe Higher Geology.
Woods for Learning Sally York, Forestry Commission Scotland Trees, woods and forests connect with all aspects of learning from material science to poetry. From wee garden oases amidst the urban jungle of the Royal Mile, to the wild beauty and magic of Glen Affric, young people have countless opportunities across Scotland to find and experience trees and their connections with economic, environmental and social sustainability. The FCS Woods for Learning Plan is aimed at the 3-18 age group, with a key focus on enabling learning outdoors. We work with many partners, including RSGS, to provide the assistance adults need to take learning outside and © Mike Robinson make connections with learning inside. There is a progression through the school ‘learning journey’ that can use trees and woods to bring the learning alive, from Forest Kindergarten for early years, via the ‘Wildwoods’ experience and other stories, to Forest School, to the OPAL tree health survey, identifying trees and their uses, to Rural Skills, Native Woods and Advanced Higher Fieldwork. “Gie me ae spark o’ Nature’s fire, that’s a’ the learning I desire”, wrote Burns. FCS will continue to work with partners to get, and keep, that spark alight for our young people, especially by linking learning indoors to the outdoors.
The Bough Tent Dr Issie MacPhail, Honorary Research Fellow, School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow
Alec John Williamson sitting beside boughs prepared to take a ‘set’, Clashmore, Stoer 2007.
Hazel was one of the first trees to take hold after the ice receded c10,000 years ago. From the arrival of the first nomadic hunter-gatherers into these new landscapes until the mid 20th century, hazel was integral to daily life and was closely associated with human settlement. Hazel takes a ‘set’ or shape easily, coppices well, and produces food in the form of nuts which can be ground into flour. Hazel trees and hazelnuts appear repeatedly in old stories from all over Europe; in Gaelic culture, hazelnuts are associated with wisdom. Hazel was used to make baskets, creels, fish traps and walking sticks; smaller boughs and withies served to make fences and woven shelter walls; larger boughs were used for roofs and tents. For centuries, the bough tent was used by tin-smithing travelling families across Scotland to practise their seasonal work in the straths and glens. The tent frame is made
from hazel boughs – straight lengths of about 11 feet. The demise of coppicing since the mid 20th century makes finding suitable boughs very difficult nowadays. The boughs are cut and ‘set’ in the winter months, by fixing one end into Mark Kneebone, Gary Smith and Calum Millar dismantling a bough the ground and tent, Melness 2007. the other end into a drystane dyke, camping sites, a cairn of stones is ensuring a tight bend is achieved, left ready for that purpose. A full then left for several months until bough tent, using 20 boughs, is needed in the spring. extraordinarily strong, warm and Originally the covering was animal hide; more recently, canvas has been used. The boughs are put a foot and a half into the ground in angled holes made with ‘the stake’ or tinsmith’s anvil, and the edges of the canvas are held down with big stones; in regular
stable in bad weather. The door can be opened at either side – useful when the wind shifts. A stove made from an old metal drum sits in the centre of the tent. In half an hour you can have the tent up and the kettle on – important in places with ‘interesting’ weather.
The
Geographer Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) The ICH in Scotland team led by Professor of Geography Alison McCleery has been commissioned by Creative Scotland to investigate the role of ICH, particularly traditional music, in tourism development in Scotland. A key output will be guidance notes for tourism providers and ICH practitioners on presenting authentic examples of ICH to paying visitors while also profiling and protecting its special and often fragile character. In February the team advised the Dutch Government on the safeguarding of ICH, and in April they presented key findings from a previous study to an invited audience at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. The team’s new research assistant, Jared Bowers, has just submitted his completed PhD thesis on aspects of ecotourism in Guyana for examination at Newcastle University.
Open University The OpenScience Laboratory The OU has launched The OpenScience Laboratory, an online laboratory for practical science teaching, developed with funding from the Wolfson Foundation. Experiences available with The OpenScience Laboratory include a 3D geological field trip to Skiddaw in the Lake District, where students can examine the rock characteristics and get up close to identify the texture, grain shape and size, draw sketches and record observations. The current applications will be used in the teaching of OU students both in conventional modules and in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) through FutureLearn. The laboratory is an open initiative, so most of the applications are available to students and the public across the globe. The co-directors of The OpenScience Laboratory, Professors Steve Swithenby and Nick Braithwaite, also welcome partnerships for online practical science projects. See www. opensciencelab.ac.uk or contact openscience@open.ac.uk for details.
University of Dundee Planet The HEA journal Planet has migrated from the excellent legacy of the Plymouth GEES team to the new Editorial Board and Journals Team at the HEA in York. The Editorial Board (Jennifer Hill at UWE, Dawn Nicholson at MMU, and Alison Reeves at the University of Dundee)
University of the Highlands and Islands Towards sustainable upland estates in Scotland A common theme emerging from research reported in Lairds, Land and Sustainability, a new book on sustainable estate management (see back page), is the need for greater communication and collaboration, and the potential for partnerships between community groups, estate management, third parties and government agencies. This is critically important to the current land reform debate, and is central to the ‘sustainability toolkit’ developed by Jayne Glass with practitioners from land management, community development and conservation. For both estates and nearby communities to communicate and engage effectively and to determine their ‘sustainability’, community empowerment is critical. Though many would argue that collaborative approaches to land management weaken the potential of revolutionary land reform and redistribution, the slow rate of community land acquisition and apparent lack of motivation to undertake community ownership outwith the Highlands and Islands suggest that, in general, the best approach is to seek to promote sustainability within the current system. Many private estates have been owned by the same family for centuries, and are likely to continue their current trajectory; wider right-to-buy arrangements would probably increase conflict. Consequently, private landowners need to engage effectively with their local communities; with benefits in terms of reduced opposition, more positive perceptions, and potential income streams involving community partners, further regulation may then not be necessary. There is also a critical role for government and third party agencies in minimising barriers to effective
engagement and providing support to facilitate successful partnerships between private estates and rural communities. In the current era of localism, assisting private enterprise could both support the aspirations and empowerment of rural communities and contribute to current policy implementation, building both institutional and community capacity.
Scottish Geographical Journal Livingstone Studies: Bicentenary Essays edited by Justin D Livingstone
The SGJ continues to develop, thanks to the considerable efforts of editors Lorna Philip and Tim Mighall, both at the University of Aberdeen. The latest instalment is a special double issue (129.3 and 129.4) on Dr David Livingstone. 2013 marks the bicentenary of the explorer’s birth, which has been widely celebrated across Britain in a range of public events, lectures and exhibitions. In Scotland, these commemorations have even had considerable government support. Taking the bicentenary as an opportunity to revisit this major Victorian celebrity, the SGJ is drawing together the latest research in the field of Livingstone studies. Guest edited by Justin Livingstone, Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Research Fellow in Critical Studies at the University of Glasgow, the issue includes scholarship from a range of disciplines. It contains papers by geographers, imperial historians, social scientists, historians of Africa, literary critics, digital humanists and museum curators. Topics covered include the famous ‘Dr Livingstone, I Presume?’ encounter, the publication of the best-selling Missionary Travels, the geographical ‘archive of exploration’, and the Victorian imagination of Africa. As the current bicentenary celebrations show, this explorer from Blantyre in Lanarkshire has not been forgotten. The papers take this up, by examining Livingstone’s complex reputation and his ongoing remembrance in Britain and Africa.
22-23
Autumn 2013
University News
Edinburgh Napier University
is already processing new articles for immediate publication, and would like colleagues to consider publishing in Planet (see www. journals.heacademy.ac.uk for details). The Board is looking for pedagogic research in the form of short articles of around 3,5004,000 words (but can accept longer manuscripts and those supported by audio or video footage). The aim is to ensure that the research process behind reflexive learning and teaching is published quickly and in a form that is easily accessible to the GEES community.
Scottish Geographical Journal
The RSGS’s academic journal is available from Taylor & Francis on-line at www.tandf.co.uk/journals/ RSGJ or in hard copy. All RSGS members are entitled to receive the Scottish Geographical Journal for free. If you are not currently receiving the SGJ but would like to, please contact us by emailing enquiries@rsgs.org or phoning 01738 455050.
Woodland Skills
The New Woodlanders Ian D Edwards, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Ian Edwards will speak to RSGS audiences in Edinburgh and Glasgow in November 2013, and in Kirkcaldy in March 2014.
© Lorne Gill
When Herbert Edlin published his classic book Woodland Crafts in Britain just after WWII, he was describing a way of life that had not changed since Thomas Hardy’s Woodlanders was written more than 60 years before. However, that did not last, and in the next few decades Britain lost nearly all of the woodland crafts that had evolved over centuries. And as home-grown timber was replaced by exotic imports or wood substitutes, especially plastics, there was a parallel decline in woodsmanship and many woodlands were left unmanaged. It was a situation that Edlin partly predicted, but he could not have imagined that he was writing an epitaph for some of the most important rural industries, from bodging chairs or making charcoal to creating the gates, fences and hurdles that defined much of our countryside. In recent decades, despite the continuing overall decline in the management of many estate woodlands as boundaries break down, herbivores gain access, and bracken encroaches, there has also been a resurgence in interest in woodlands and
woodland crafts. Since the 1980s, pioneering groups such as Reforesting Scotland and Trees for Life have been breathing new life into Scottish woodlands and the restoration of native woodlands, by tree planting and natural regeneration, and the increased use of the woods for leisure and people’s livelihood have gone hand in hand. Inspired by the northern forest cultures of Scandinavia, individuals, families and whole communities have become involved in woodland management, harvesting © Mike Robinson wild foods or materials, building wooden structures and crafts. A small minority of the new woodlanders actually depend partly or solely on the woods for earning a living. The 60 case studies that feature in my Woodlanders book include a medical herbalist, two basket makers, an organic fertilizer manufacturer, a winery, a wood turner, a chair maker, a chocolatier, and a dozen other people who make all or part of their income from woodland resources from fungi to firewood. For many of them, it is about taking an abundant natural resource like hazel sticks, elder flowers, bog myrtle or pine
needles, and adding value to produce something that is worth many times the value of the raw materials. The common feature of all of these micro-businesses and enterprises is that they are based on sustainable principles. They have a vested interest in the future of the woodland from which they extract their materials, and they support management, such as the control of grazing animals or regeneration of mature stands of trees, that will ensure that the forest continues to be healthy and productive. What applies to the gathering of mushrooms, bark or berries applies equally well when it comes to harvesting bigger things – coppice poles, firewood or whole trees. As more and more individuals and communities acquire woodlands, they are faced with the apparent dilemma of whether to cut it for timber or protect it for wildlife. But in reality you can do both, and the most successful community woodlands that have sprung up all over the country are proving that selective harvesting of mature timber can provide a useful income as well as opening up the canopy to encourage regeneration and a greater biodiversity.
“Inspired by the northern forest cultures of Scandinavia, individuals, families and whole communities have become involved in woodland management, harvesting wild foods or materials, building wooden structures and crafts.”
The
Geographer
Off The Beaten Track
24-25
Autumn 2013
The Peace Churches of Silesia Robert Preece, Chair, RSGS Inverness Group
In the province of Śląsk (Silesia) in southwest Poland is the town of Świdnica (Shfeed-nee-tsah), with a population of c60,000. It has an attractive town square, and a cathedral with a tower 103m high, the second-highest historic spire in Poland. However, it is the Peace Church on the edge of the town centre which marks this place out for a visit. It was some effort to get from where I was staying in Wrocław (formerly Breslau) to Świdnica, and not just because it was a Sunday. The rail journey included a change at a very unremarkable rail junction in the middle of apparently nowhere-inparticular, with a station desperately needing an upgrade. Also my InterRail pass was not valid for the final part of the journey, operated by a rail company run by the local province. I had to purchase tickets at a ticket office where the clerk and I had no common language. The 10km from the junction to Świdnica cost me the vast sum of 4 złoty (c80p) each way! Arriving at Świdnica, I didn’t even know that I was at the right station, as there was no visible sign on the platform. However, we arrived at the time stated, so I got off! Like many smaller railway stations in Poland, there are no overbridges or underpasses, and certainly no signs telling you it’s an offence to cross the track. You just follow the ‘crowd‘ over the track. Fortunately the station is in the first stages of renovation; it might have a new nameboard by now. After a look round the town centre, I visited the cathedral. The original church was accidentally burned down in 1532 by the town’s mayor. He fled the town, pursued by angry townsfolk who beat him to death. The replacement 16th century church became a cathedral only in 2004. Some guess work (as I could not acquire a street map) took me to the Peace Church (Kościół Pokoju), to find it mobbed by tourists, and a commentary in Polish coming from the loudspeakers. The church dedication is to the Holy Trinity, but in a predominantly Roman Catholic
Świdnica town square.
country this is an Evangelical church, with links to German Lutheranism. Bus loads of Germans visit during the summer, as it is quite close to the present-day border. The Church was built as part of the settlement of the Peace of Westphalia, a series of treaties in 1648 which ended the Thirty Years War. Emperor Ferdinand III, who strongly favoured Catholicism, was obliged by the Swedish to allow Evangelicals to build three ‘Peace Churches’, one in each of the hereditary duchies of Jawor, Głogów and Świdnica. The restrictions were that the churches could only be built of wood, loam and straw, would be outside the city walls, and would have no tower or belfry. Building work had to be completed within one year. The three churches became the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe. The church at Głogów burned down in 1758, but the other two remain and are now World Heritage Sites. The Świdnica church was the last of the three to be constructed, and contains not a single Peace Church exterior. nail. It is in the shape of a Greek cross, with the main aisle 44m long by 10m wide, and can apparently accommodate 7,500 people, thanks to the clever use of galleries and the positioning of the pulpit. The Baroque interior is quite incredible. The altar includes a basrelief of the Last Supper, sculptures representing Moses, Aaron, Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, and a carving of a book with seven seals, on which is a lamb with a flag. There are two organs which have undergone various restorations over the years; the main instrument is adorned with
moving figures of angels, as well as ringing bells. The Hochberg Family gallery, built c1698, was a token of gratitude for the family‘s donation of two-thirds of the wood needed to build the church – some 2,000 oak trees. Access to Świdnica by car is simpler than by rail, but either way, it’s well worth the effort. There is an international Bach festival each July, and I can recommend the restaurant on the ground floor of the Town House, which I sampled whilst waiting for my train back to Wrocław, and where the waiter was happy to practice his English on his only customer!
Peace Church pulpit and galleries.
“Arriving at widnica, I didn’t even know that I was at the right station, as there was no visible sign on the platform.”
Book Club
The Power of Just Doing Stuff
Lairds, Land and Sustainability
How local action can change the world
Scottish Perspectives on Upland Management
Rob Hopkins (Green Books, June 2013)
edited by Jayne Glass, Martin F Price, Charles Warren & Alister Scott (Edinburgh University Press, July 2013)
People are finding that ‘just doing stuff’ can transform their neighbourhoods and their lives. This book is packed with inspiring real-life examples from around the world, of people who have created innovative local businesses and invested in all manner of new enterprises. It argues that this is the seed of a new economy with, at its heart, people deciding that change starts with them, and with a more local economy rooted in place, in well-being, in entrepreneurship, and in creativity. This book explains ideas that the Transition movement has defined over the last eight years, and shares the experience and thrill of working as a community.
Better Than Fiction
The Foresters
edited by Don George (Lonely Planet, November 2012)
This is a collection of original travel stories told by some of the world’s best novelists, including Isabel Allende, Peter Matthiessen, Alexander McCall Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, Téa Obreht and DBC Pierre. Exhilaratingly varied in place, plot, and voice, these tales all share one common characteristic: they manifest a passion for the precious gifts that travel confers, from its unexpected but inevitably enriching lessons about other peoples and places to the truths, sometimes uncomfortable but always enlarging, it reveals about ourselves.
Clifton Bain, illustrated by Darren Rees (Sandstone Press, April 2013) He is currently living in his home city of Edinburgh and is actively involved in a wide range of national and international conservation activities as Director of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Darren Rees is a professional wildlife artist located in Central Scotland. www.darrenrees. com Vanessa Collingridge is a geographer, explorer, broadcaster and author.
James Miller (Birlinn, September 2009)
This is the story of forestry and the foresters in Scotland through recent centuries. It is a story of loss and recovery, of generations of men and women dedicated to their occupation in often difficult and uncomfortable, even dangerous, circumstances. Based on interviews and extensive historical research, Miller’s engaging investigation uncovers the rich history of the foresters and examines, in both social and economic contexts, the importance of the forests to Scotland, and particularly the Highlands. Illuminating and compelling, this is a thoughtful and engaging story with many strands, casting a captivating light on this industry and the complex and inspirational individuals who have lived their lives through it.
Forewords by VANESSA COLLINGRIDGE and AUBREY MANNING
THE ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND
Clifton Bain has over 25 years of experience working in nature conservation. He has an Honours Degree in Zoology from Aberdeen University and enjoyed a long career as a policy officer with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He has twice toured all 38 of the pinewoods, most recently completing the journey by relying on public transport, walking and cycling.
The Story of Scotland’s Forests
THE
ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND A TRAVELLER’S GUIDE
Professor Aubrey Manning OBE is a distinguished zoologist, author and broadcaster.
Clifton Bain
£24.99
CLIFTON BAIN
Scattered across the Scottish Highlands are the last surviving remnants of the Caledonian forest, naturally seeding and growing since the last ice age. Visiting these ancient woods provides an emotional connection to the past, with visible traces of the people who lived and worked there over the centuries, and a chance to look forward, as a conservation success story means a new future for the pinewoods and their spectacular wildlife.
eader Offer R £5.99 discount
Scattered across the Scottish Highlands are the surviving remnants of the ancient Caledonian pinewoods; woods which have naturally seeded and grown since the last ice age.
Visiting the ancient pinewoods of Scotland provides an emotional connection to the past through the visible traces of people who lived and worked there over the centuries, and some spectacular individual trees over 350 years old. It also provides the opportunity to look forward, since one of the world’s great conservation success stories means a new future for the woods and their charismatic wildlife.
Offer ends 31st December 2013
A journey to the ancient pinewoods offers a natural spectacle alongside a rich cultural heritage which is also described in this comprehensive and fully illustrated guide. Details are provided on how to reach each of the sites, some in the farthest mountain glens and others easily accessed by public transport, with well-marked routes and visitor facilities.
This is a personal and passionate account of the human interventions that have shaped the ancient pinewoods. A journey to the pinewoods offers a natural spectacle alongside a rich cultural heritage, all described in this comprehensive guide, lavishly CLIFTON BAIN illustrated with many colour photographs, maps, and drawings, and including details of how to reach each of the sites, some in the farthest mountain glens and others easily accessed by public transport, with well-marked routes and visitor facilities. This book is also a tribute to all who have shared my passionate belief that the pinewoods are special and helped turn around their fate.
Drawings by Darren Rees
Readers of The Geographer can purchase The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland for only £19.00 (RRP £24.99) + p&p. To order, phone MDL distributors on 01256 302692 and quote the reference ‘8JM’ Help us to make the connections between people, places and the planet. Phone 01738 455050 or visit www.rsgs.org to join the RSGS. Lord John Murray House, 15-19 North Port, Perth, PH1 5LU
Charity SC015599
Printed by www.jtcp.co.uk on Cocoon Preprint 120gsm paper. 100% FSC certified recycled fibre using vegetable based inks in a 100% chemistry free process.
True Travel Tales from Great Fiction Writers
The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland A traveller’s guide
Although the globally unique dominance of private ownership remains a distinctive characteristic of Scotland’s upland areas, increasing numbers of estates are now owned by environmental NGOs and local communities, especially in the decade since the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2003. This book synthesises research carried out on a diverse range of upland estates by the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College UHI. With the Scottish Government promoting a vision of environmental sustainability, and with the new diversity of ownerships and management now appearing, this timely and topical book investigates the implications of these different types of land ownership for sustainable upland management.