Activists have appointed plans from a charity organization for nature reserves to build fences near a popular Munro “insane” and asked them not to ignore the warnings of the experts.
John Muir Trust (JMT) suggests installing fencing in Schiehallion, Perthshire, to keep the animals away from seedlings while planning to introduce Montane Willow into the mountain.
According to a request from the Freedom of Information (FOI) by the away movement of the Fairies Campaign Group, which opposes these plans, experts from the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) have expressed concerns about the project.
Activists said the idea undermined the role of charity as a protector of Scotland's wild places and claims that it was “madness” to breed trees on the upper reaches of the 1083 m high mountain.
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A claim: “In Scotland there are no such fences with 3000 feet.”
NTS has been restoring Mountain Woodland on the nearby Ben Lawers for more than 30 years. According to the FOI, the team, warned of the difficulty of hammering fence posts in Schiehallion rocky highlands.
The team also raised the challenges of getting devices and crews up the mountain, together with the irreconcilable conditions at great altitude, of which they said they would make it difficult to maintain fences.
“Most of the lower sections should be okay, but the areas of the reservoir could be a problem,” said the FOI reported.
“Many contractors just don't do it or do not know how to evaluate it, or do not want to bring their name for what they see as a damn or unsightly fence, or find it just too ridiculous.”
Victor Clements, an activist for away with the fairies, said JMT should listen to the NTS advice.
“Anyone we know has told John Muir Trust that this fence was a bad idea from the start,” he told the courier.
“And everyone told them they should continue to plant trees down the mountain.
“There are no fences in Scotland in Scotland.
“The National Trust for Scotland has more experience with these things than any other, and John Muir Trust should have listened to them.”
One spokesman for the NTS said: “The National Trust for the Scotland team of Ben Lawers shared some feedback on the plans for Schiehallion from a practical point of view in relation to the fences in challenging environments.
“This is based on their experiences and knowledge that has been collected over decades of natural regeneration work.”
The JMT said that it had more than 40 years of experience in the administration of land for preservation and that fences were only used as the last way out.
“It is not our preferred solution,” said a spokesman for the courier.
“At the East Schiehallion, a fence is required to protect the naturally regenerating seedlings – no planted trees – from the destructive pasture of sheep that hike to the country.”
The spokesman added that almost half of the new cattle fence in East Schiehallion would upgrade existing fences.
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“We work closely with a number of contractors who are ready to install the fences in line with the plans,” she added.
“And according to the permits granted by Nature Cot, the work now begins.
“The fence is financed by donations and funds that have been determined for this purpose.”
A spokesman for the trust added that they had “asked” how the words and actions of the campaign group aligned themselves to protect the future of Scotland's landscape.
“We are devoting ourselves to the protection and the preservation of wild places,” they said.
(Image: Richard Webb/Geographer)
“And our focus on East Schiehallion is the natural -based regeneration of a crucial mountain forests for current and future generations.
“We wonder how the words and actions of the” Away with the Fairies “campaign agree with the wish to protect the future of Scotland's unique and fragile habitats.”