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I found this last night of Viscount Thurso describing an area of flow in Caithness during a late 80's Lords sitting on the Nature Conservancy Council which finds its way to afforestation and environmental protection in the Flow Country.
If we ignore the very big elephant in the room that Sinclair's paternal forbearers cleared much of this area, and his son, the current Lord Thurso now is very sympathetic to conservation, the number is quite interesting for anyone who knows this part of Caithness.
This encompasses an area that includes pretty much the whole of Strathmore Peatlands SSSI, a large part of Wild Land Area 36, and the infamous afforested area around Altnabreac.
This whole area is largely owned by Lord Thurso (himself and via the family trust) as a conservation/sporting estate. RSPB own Carn nam Muc and Blar nam Faoiloag (bought from Sinclair). Latheronwheel estate on the A9. And Securities Management Trust Ltd owning the forestry.
Forestry aside, management here is interesting. It's managed for conservation with sporting use now coming second in priority list. In my time spent there I've yet to see bad sporting practice. Management Agreements are in place with the RSPB and landowners for non-RSPB land.
With a quite comfy relationship between landed gentry and conservation NGOs, and an area covered by environmental designation and landscape protection. Not to mention heavily concentrated landownership. How do we make the case for repeopling this landscape?
Repeopling would interrupt the contentedness of the landed gentry (sporting and conservation) as well as the environmental NGO/movement (conservation). There's the real risk this area is left to die under the guise of perceived good environmentalism.
We're almost at the stage where thousands of years of human habitation has dwindled to nothing. We're living through the last remnants of this being a peopled landscape. And we're losing this landscape in perpetuity to inconsiderate conservation policy and management.
We can't let land reform and repeopling miss these depopulated areas which fly under the radar because of 'good' environmental management as well as 'good' or 'benign' ownership. There's a social remit here that we can't forget.
And as we restore previously afforested areas of flow. We should restore them faithfully to what they were, peopled. Not what the restorers might wish to see, wilderness. There's a danger that a green map hides what was once there before.
Close to a 1000 people used to live in this small part of Caithness and now that number is almost at zero. We have time to save this landscape but we need to recognise that it's importance goes well beyond the narrow interests of its current management and ownership.
Lastly, there's absolutely no reason that the environmental importance of this area can't be restored and enhanced with people in it. People lived sustainably in this landscape for a lot longer than the unsustainable practice that came in over 300 years, and pushed people out.
