![]() Rausing and Povlsen, now Scotland’s largest private landowners, have championed rewilding projects on their estates, embarking on reforesting projects, banning driven grouse shooting, deer control programmes and conserving persecuted birds of prey. It is thought that if the survey and engagement campaign, called Lynx for Scotland, succeeds in providing enough public support, an application for a licence to release the first of up to 40 lynx into the wild could be made in about five years.Ī cluster of densely forested Highland estates in the Cairngorms, including estates owned by Povlsen and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve at Abernethy, are seen as the most likely sites for a pilot project. Their experience has simply strengthened our resolve.” “The Norwegians told us that to reintroduce predators into our country would be an absolute catastrophe. Martin Kennedy, the deputy vice-president of the NFUS, said: “Predation in Norway has reduced over the past decade – not because of fewer predators, but the fact that hill farmers have simply stopped keeping sheep. The National Farmers Union of Scotland (NFUS) said lynx were blamed for a fifth of those losses. The scheme faces heavy opposition from Scottish farmers, who cite the loss of about 20,000 sheep in Norway to its native predators, the wolverine, lynx, bear and wolf. A prerequisite for any discussion over lynx is we need to know the Scottish public are in support of this and would tolerate this.” “The question with a large predator is less about science and more about people’s attitudes, beliefs and priorities. There have been several studies to assess the ecological feasibility of bringing back lynx that’s the easy bit in many ways. Pete Cairns, the director of Scotland: The Big Picture, said: “Our role is to get the process moving, to pick up the baton in a meaningful way. The lynx, Europe’s largest native cat, became extinct in northern Britain more than 500 years ago through habitat loss, hunting and persecution, but proposals by other rewilding advocates to reintroduce the species into the UK have foundered.Ĭonservationists believe the new project, run by the Vincent Wildlife Trust and Trees for Life, alongside campaigners at Scotland: The Big Picture, has a significant chance of success.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |