Forestry (Hansard, 25 January 1988)

§ Mr. Rifkind

I have today written to the chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council in the following termsAs you know, the Government have been considering carefully your Council's report 'Birds, Bogs and Forestry: the Peatlands of Caithness and Sunderland' and your representations about the relationship between afforestation and nature conservation in the area. You will be aware that helpful discussions have taken place between Departmental and NCC officials to clarify certain aspects of the report. Officials have also had the benefit of seeing some of the detailed scientific material which will in due course be incorporated in your report 'The Flow Country'. It would clearly not be right to attempt to reach final conclusions on this matter at the present time. First, 'The Flow Country' has not yet been finalised. Second, the Highland Regional Council have, as you will be aware, set up a working party to propose a land use strategy for the area. The working party is currently assessing evidence and is likely to report next month. We have, however, sought to form an interim view on your findings in order to consider their implications for forestry in the short term. In this, we have been helped by the receipt of interim responses to your report from the Highland Regional Council, the Highlands and Islands Development Board, the Countryside Commission for Scotland and the Crofters Commission. We acknowledge the important service which your Council have rendered by highlighting the exceptional nature conservation interest occurring in Caithness and Sutherland. We agree that much of the two counties is of national and international importance for conservation. We do not think, however, that the whole of the area identified in 'Birds, Bogs and Forestry' can be considered to be of uniformly high importance. Indeed, the detailed evidence contained in your own work suggests that there are varying degrees of conservation significance, and we believe therefore that it is possible to identify a selection of key areas which should be safeguarded, amounting in total to a very substantial are a of peatland. These would require a substantial expansion of the SSSI network and, taken together with the sizeable area within existing SSSIs, might amount to around half of the total unafforested peatland area of some 350,000 hectares. We envisage that these areas would, in particular, include the most important bog systems and bird habitats, especially on the wet flows. It seems to us that some new planting needs to take place in Caithness and Sutherland both in order to contribute to the overall national forestry planting programme and to maintain local employment in forestry and maximise the opportunities for future investment in wood-processing industry. We consider, moreover, that the evidence points to the view that Caithness and Sutherland can accommodate some further afforestation without affecting the conservation significance of the area as a whole. There is, of course, no question of any forestry approval being given or grant offered without full regard to the conservation case and, as you know, the consultation arrangements which currently apply throughout Caithness and Sutherland provide for disputed cases to be referred, if necessary, to me. I have seven such cases before me at the moment as a result of NCC objections. I have advised the Forestry Commissioners that I support their view that grant should be offered for a substantial part of the area subject to application at Limekiln and Whitewell. I have examined the available evidence carefully and have concluded that the conservation evidence is not sufficient to justify opposing forestry over the very large tract of land involved. However, I am aware that the southern part of this site does contain 72W some wetland and pool complexes which are of considerable interest and I have asked the Commissioners to seek NCC's detailed views before determining the precise boundary of the area which may be approved for planting. I have also decided to support the Forestry Commissioners' intention to approve the applications at Jubilee Wood (Shinside), and Loubcroy, subject to certain modifications suggested by the Commission's Wildlife and Conservation Officer in respect of the Jubilee Wood application. I am proposing a further discussion with NCC about areas of peatland that might be excluded from planting at Sciberscross where, however, I have given general approval to the planting proposals. All these are areas outside the main region of prime peatland, and not of outstanding intrinsic conservation value according to the information before me. The remaining three cases, on the other hand, do lie in the heart of the flow country and involve land comprising peatlands and wader habitat of high quality and I have asked for these cases to be referred back to your Council for a decision on future designation. I shall be considering further cases in the next few months and it may be appropriate to give additional approvals. Each case will, however, be scrutinised with great care, and the conclusions I have reached on the present tranche should not be taken as establishing a presumption in favour of forestry on other sites in their vicinity. The present arrangement under which consultations with your Council on forestry grant applications extend to the whole of Caithness and Sutherland is, of course, an interim measure only, pending the more precise definition of the conservation interest and the establishment of the appropriate measures to protect it. It is therefore essential that high priority is given by NCC to the work of identifying those parts of the area which are of prime importance for nature conservation so that they can be safeguarded. With regard to the means of protection, we consider that the notification of SSSI's is the only satisfactory approach to the conservation of areas of prime importance in Caithness and Sutherland, though your suggested approach of seeking to make ad hoc management agreements may provide a convenient means of protection where this is necessary to secure protection in advance of the SSSI programme. While the selection of SSSIs is, of course, ultimately a matter for NCC, it would I believe be helpful in this case for the various officials involved within NCC, the Departments concerned and the Highland Regional Council to get together at an early date so that the site selection process can be tied in with the on-going work of the HRC working party, with the application of the forestry consultation procedures and with the assessment of the financial implications arising from potential management agreements. I shall arrange for my officials to get in touch with yours to discuss the next steps. I propose to make this letter public, along with an announcement about the forestry cases referred to above.

The letter refers to a number of forestry grant applications which are before me at the moment. I have advised the Forestry Commissioners that I am content for grant to be offered in the four cases listed, subject to further consultations with the Nature Conservancy Council about the boundary of the area to be planted in the first two cases and subject to some minor modifications to improve the planting design in the third case. These cases concern the following applications:

Proposed area to be planted
Location	(hectares)
Limekiln and Whitewell, Caithness	1,307
Sciberscross, Sutherland	790
Jubilee Wood, Shinside, Sutherland	19
Loubcroy, Sutherland	202