§ Dr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether mention was made in the United Kingdom report to the conference of the parties to the Ramsar convention of the threat to important wetlands and peatlands in Caithness and Sutherland; and if he will reproduce in the Official Report that section of the United Kingdom report which deals with Caithness and Sutherland.
§ Mr. RidleyThe United Kingdom report to the conference of the parties to the Ramsar convention referred to Caithness and Sutherland in the following terms
The blanket mire areas of Britain and Ireland and the landscape of Sutherland and Caithness, in the Flow Country of Scotland, in particular have recently been identified by the International Mires Conservation Group and others as being of global importance and one of the world's outstanding ecosystems. A study in Wales has shown that 35 per cent. of the mires examined have been completely lost since 1900. Lowland raised mires in Scotland and northern England have been reduced by 87 per cent. since 1940 mainly due to afforestation but prior to this agricultual reclamation and peat extraction have taken place. In 1986 the Nature Conservancy Council published a major policy document which reviewed the effects of afforestation on nature conservation in Great Britain, and the Government is considering the recommendations it contains. Of the 192,000 ha of the Flow Country, 35,000 ha have either been planted or approved for planting. Some areas are safeguarded as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the Government is considering possible ways of ensuring that an appropriate balance betwen conservation and other land uses is achieved.