ISBN 0 7486 6272 (paperback) The ight of Anna Paterson, ish Library Contents List of Mustrations Preface From Ekman: The Forest of Hours Acknowledgements ‘The Scottish Environment in Fiction and Fact Literature and Perceptions of National Identity The Official Environme Education and the Environment Stewardship of the Land I Scotland’s Landscape — the Resource Stewardship of the Land Il: Conserving or Marketing? Greening the Mean Streets? The Environme Development, Research and Development in the Countryside ‘What Is Left of Scotland's Landscape? Bibliography Index ” 49 7 oyScotland's La “You couldn't stand the view, Bushybrows. We can't stand it and we're perfectly fit’ Iwant to follow up the way nature is treated both in Scottish culture and in policy, on the assumption that in a democratic state, policy is at least symptomatic of the cultural beliefs of the citizens. Because of Scotland’s present state of political and cultural transition, it also seemed important to add interviews with key people to the reading of background material. The project looked ready to start ramifying endlessly unless some principles of selection were introduced. 8 with culture, I felt it was necessary to focus on text. Although the visual arts, films, TV programmes and so on are vital evidence of how a society goes about its business, writing is still a dominant means of expression. So I have looked in books and magazines and newspapers for clues of how the n feels about the environment, and also in the writing by public bodies like the Scottish Office Executive, quangos? and voluntary organisations, One of the most fascinating parts of he reading was trying to find the Scottish landscape in recent works of fiction, From the early 1970s onwards, literary writing, ‘as been a flagship of Scottish national consciousness and cultural renewal, and arguably a driving force behind the campaign for increased political independence in 1979. Reading is many books as possible from the last thirty yeas, I looked for how ‘nature’ was written about, if at all. The rarity of ‘ovels that integrated the non-human world into the existence the human characters was striking, Academic writing is important too, but emanates from a complex, rule-bound world and has to be ‘translated’ for the general public into simplified messages. Until the last decade or $0, there have been few investigations of the role of the onment in Scotland outside the framework of the natural, sciences or industrial research. Scottish environmental history 18 a change of heart.* Although the social sciences such as social anthropology have been examining people/nature relationships, these studies are vely rarely set in Scotland. Cultural studies is another ‘The Scottish Environ ent in Fiction and Fact relevant area that has grown throughout the 1990s. Work on national identity and the heritage industry in Scotland has taken off, influenced by books such as Scotland ~ The Brand by David McCrone and his colleagues. Politics is another form of cultural activity that should directly reflect the concerns of the citizens. ‘The environment’ has not ever come close to being a serious issue in Scottish politics. Part of the reason might be that until recently, the politicians have been working too far away from home on a London stage, but they are also responding to a widespread lack of interest in their home territory. In the new political world presided over by the devolved Parliament, Scotland’s iconic landscapes have featured quite widely in the discourse, but there has been little evidence of any political will to generate new policies with dominant environmental content. To get a better grasp of what environmental awareness has meant for Scottish society, three chapters are devoted to exam- ining some practical outcomes. These have been roughly ibdivided as relevant to respectively the countryside, the ‘built idscape’ and to some aspects of the ‘green economy” The idea is not so much to provide complete accounts and complete prescriptions, but to look at how rhetoric and reality match. In. each case, there will be quotes from what has been written and/or said by professional practitioners about Scottish problems in. the selected areas. In this group of chapters, as in Chapter 2, the hardest task was selection of certain areas and elimination of others. Some of the reasons for the time limit — nothing earlier than 1970 ~ have already been hinted at. As for limitation on the subject matte, it raises many questions. Is it possible to discuss human ecology but refer only to pollution, waste minimisation and recycling? Is it justifiable to write about land reform and development of the Scottish countryside, but mention only in passing matters as important as public access and reshaping of the farming industry? Should the present and future of Scotland’s town and city landscapes be discussed without a review of public and private traffic management? I feel that these must indeed be possible, or any attempt at ‘green’ debate will fall on the need for all-inclusiveness.Acknowledgements 'HE FOLLOWING people talked to me about aspects of Scotland’s environment. The first group is quoted b} in various chapters. The second group has also contributed enormously by talking and providing information, helping and advising. Tam very grateful to them all, including those who provided me with unattributable information. Roger Crofts, James Dalhousie, Kevin Dunion, Tasso and Margaret Elephtheriou, Geoff Fagan, Arne Jernelév, Sandy iday, Robin Harper, Syd House, Alison Kennedy, Howard iddell, Thomas Lindhquist, Rory MacLellan, Fraser iddleton; Mats Olsson, Michael Osborne, James Robertson, Christopher Smout, John Smyth, Mark Wells, Colin Wishart, Gunnar Zettersten, Bengt Brik Bengtsson, lan Blyth, Hans Borg, Janet Brand, Geri jank, Alison Glenn, John Gunn, Veilla Hill, Dag Klockby, Alan and Andrew Paterson, Rebecca Tarschys, Ceci Ruben, Deyan Sudjic, Andrew Whitehouse. 1 The Scottish Environment in Fiction and Fact Scotland’s Landscape: Icon or Environment? [ivnseats scant pr of dally Bi n Sean. Glens ind lochs and seashores have combined into an iconic nat- ional landscape, displayed everywhere with pride and affection, Only Scotland’s history — or at least its more dramatic moments — appears to be as powerful a source of the Scottish sense of identity. Both historical episodes and landscape scenes are used in a national marketing exercise, seemingly as effective with local. people as with foreigners. The potency of the landscape images is confirmed by their capacity to shift commodities. Scottish nature looks appealing enough to persuade people to buy almost anything, from shortbread to inward investment options. It is so much more surprising then that more practical and tangible signs of identifying with nature are so weak. All indi- cators seem to point the same way: compared with many other ‘western European people, the Scottish have shown litte inter- est either in nature conservation or in the many issues grouped under the general heading of ‘environmentalism: It is this dis- connection between image and reality, and between human society and the landscape ‘outside’ that is the subject matter of this book. This quote from Alasdair Gray’s remarkable novel Lanark" sums up the result of my researches: One morning he said to the nurses making the bed, ‘What's outside the window?" ‘Just scenery. Miles and miles of scenery? “Why ate the blinds never raised? 1