PRIVATE investors buying land to plant trees and access lucrative grants have been accused of causing a 'second Highland Clearance'.
That's the view of a number of Scottish farmers, who feel they are being squeezed out of their homes as more and more look to put their money into “nature-based solutions”.
The accusations emerged during a special BBC show on the issue, which will air the views of farmers in Perthshire and Speyside tonight. Landowners in Wales also expressed similar sentiment when speaking to Eorpa host Anna MacLeod.
READ MORE: UK Forest Market Report 2021: Another record-breaking year for industry
Alastair Nairn, who is a tenant farmer in Glenlivet, Moray, set to lose one third of his land to Gresham House, said: “I would say that this is a second Highland Clearance, but it's worse this time round because the land that we lost is gone forever because it's going to go under trees.
“And there's no way back from that.”
More money than ever before was traded on land across the UK last year, according to Tilhill and John Clegg & Co’s UK Forest Market Report, and increasingly this was in the form of private investors.
Alastair added: “(There is) a huge effect on people, a huge effect on the community.
“In fact this is happening on many of the most fragile communities we have in Scotland where everybody is really important because when when the people who work on the land go, the school closes, the local garage goes, the pub shuts and it has a huge impact on the the rural community.”
Government schemes to encourage ‘reforestation’ through tree planting has sparked confrontation between communities and companies, it will be argued in tonight's programme.
The Scottish and Welsh governments are encouraging schemes that aim for a net zero future.
Wales has a target to be 95 per cent carbon neutral by 2050 and plan to reach their goal by planting millions of trees to create a ‘national forest’ the length of the country.
While in Scotland, the Just Transition Commission aims to create “a fairer, greener future for all” through achieving net zero.
In another case study, Welsh farmer Ian O’Connor lost out on an opportunity to buy his own farm to Foresight, which bought a local farm in what was thought to be a seven-figure deal.
He too is concerned about his people losing their connection to the area as he now rents the remaining land from the group.
He said: “My dream is to own my own farm. We want to buy a farm so we have somewhere for ourselves.
“We’ve got three boys and the hope is that they will get the opportunity to carry on as they want or at least that we will have our own place going forward and that will give us security as a family to stay in the area.
“After the deal fell through, I went to the company and asked them to spare the bottom land that is too good for trees, in my opinion.
“And in the end I bought some 30 acres and the farmhouse with the small sheds and farmyard.
“I would have preferred to have bought it all, but if we get the chance to rent it that keeps us in the area and means we can grow our business and some sort of security if the children want to come back.
“But it’s not as good as owning your own land.”
Mairi McAllan MSP, Minister for Environment and Land Reform, stressed the Scottish government’s position on the issue.
She said: “This is an existential threat to human life across the planet and our communities. And the science is very clear and screaming at us and has been screaming at us for decades.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that our ability and the world’s ability to stop, and to start absorbing carbon and support biodiversity is going to help us protect life on the planet.
@forestryjournal File this under things you love to see 😍 #forestrymachines #forestryequipment #forestrylife #forestry #JohnDeere ♬ Fire - Official Sound Studio
“That’s obviously got opportunities for rural communities, but there are risks and we need to work to mitigate them and one of the risks is that as people start to understand the value of that land as part of climate change and tackling it, the more the value of it goes up.
“We need private investment in this, we cannot do with the public purse alone, everything that we have to do, but investment must be responsible and it must have community engagement at its heart."
The Highland Clearances were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly from 1750 to 1860.
Eorpa airs on BBC Alba tonight at 8.30 PM and is available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here