§ Viscount Thursoasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the fact that the Department of Agriculture for Scotland keep statistics showing the areas of rough grazings and hill land, they can now state what proportion of such land in the District of Caithness is covered by Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs); and when the further 36 Sites extending to 13,959 acres now under consideration are notified, what percentage of the rough grazing area will then be covered by SSSIs.
§ The Earl of MansfieldThere are some 120,000 ha (296,500 acres) of rough grazing in Caithness. Precise information as to how much of this area is covered by the existing Sites of Special Scientific Interest is not recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, but on an approximate estimate it may amount to something like 10 per cent. No estimate can be made at present of the extent of rough grazing covered by the Sites not yet notified.
House adjourned at twenty-nine minutes before ten o'clock.