Caithness and Sutherland (Peatlands) (Hansard, 16 May 1988)

§ Mr. Moynihan

The text of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the International Union for Nature and Natural Resources in Costa Rica on the subject of the peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland is as follows:

17.63 International importance of Scottish Peatlands, United Kingdom AWARE of the international importance of the peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland, and in particular the peatlands of the flow country of northern Scotland, as an important part of an area identified in the World Conservation Strategy as a priority biogeographic province for the establishment of protected areas; AWARE that blanket bog is an extremely rare global habitat type, restricted to a few areas where cool oceanic conditions prevail; AWARE that the blanket bogs of Caithness and Sutherland, Scotland, form the largest remaining example of this habitat type in the world; INFORMED that "The Conservation and Development Programme for the United Kingdom; A Response to the World Conservation Strategy" states that the results of upland bird surveys show that "forestry operations should be planned with great care"; NOTING that peatland ecologies from nine countries at a conference of the International Mire Conservation Group (held in September 1986) expressed their dismay at the extent to which afforestation was found to be destroying this internationally important habitat, and viewed the speed of destruction with particular alarm; NOTING the reports produced by the Nature Conservancy Council, the United Kingdom Government's own advisers on nature conservation, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, documenting the loss of these blanket bogs to commercial forestry; RECALLING the commitment of all Parties to the Ramsar Convention including the United Kingdom to promote wise use of wetlands and in particular wetlands of international importance; AWARE of the United Kingdom Government's recent decision to protect a very substantial area of the Caithness and Sutherland peatlands, but at the same time to allow new afforestation of about 40,000 ha.

United Kingdom sites listed as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention
Name	County/Region	Date Designated	Area (ha)
Bridgwater Bay	Somerset	5 January 1976	2,703
Bure Marshes	Norfolk	5 January 1976	412
Cors Fochno and Dyfi	Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys	5 January 1976	2,497
Hickling Broad and Horsey Mere	Norfolk	5 January 1976	892
Lindisfarne	Northumberland	5 January 1976	3,123
Loch Druidibeg, Loch a'Machair and Loch Stilligary	Western Isles	5 January 1976	1,780
Loch Leven	Tayside	5 January 1976	1,597
Loch Lomond	Strathclyde and Central	5 January 1976	253
Lough Neagh and Lough Beg	Antrim, Londonderry, Tyrone, Armagh and Down	5 January 1976	39,500
Minsmore—Walberswick	Suffolk	5 January 1976	1,697
North Norfolk Coast	Norfolk	5 January 1976	5,559
Ouse Washes	Cambridgeshire and Norfolk	5 January 1976	2,276
Rannoch Moor	Tayside	5 January 1976	1,499
Abberton Reservoir	Essex	24 July 1981	1,228
Cairngorm Loch	Grampian and Highland	24 July 1981	179
Claish Moss	Highland	24 July 1981	563
Loch Lintrathen	Tayside	24 July 1981	218
Rostherne Mere	Cheshire	24 July 1981	79
Silver Flowe	Dumfries ad Galloway	24 July 1981	608
Chesil Beach and the Fleet	Dorset	17 July 1985	763

328W

The General Assembly of IUCN, at its 17th Session in San Jose, Costa Rica, 1–10 February 1988:

1. Congratulates the Government of the United Kingdom on its recognition that much of Caithness and Sutherland is of national and international importance for conservation and that a very substantial area (amounting to approximately half of the presently unafforested area of peatlands in these counties) is to be safeguarded.
2. Calls on the Government of the United Kingdom to exercise extreme caution in the authorisation of any further planting proposals within the Caithness and Sutherland peatlands until it is clear where such plantings may take place without detriment to nature conservation.
3. Calls on the Government of the United Kingdom to ensure that the 40,000 ha of land that it is envisaged may be afforested falls outside important areas for nature conservation within the Caithness and Sutherland peatlands.
4. Calls on the Government of the United Kingdom to support, in areas not protected or afforested, farming practices that are compatible with conservation interests.
5. Calls on the Government of the United Kingdom to designate appropriate areas within the Caithness and Sutherland peatlands as a Ramsar site or sites and to consider nominating them for listing under the World Heritage Convention.