A Dalry hill farmer is questioning Scottish Government policy of mass commercial afforestation of rural areas.
Jim Ramsay claims turning over huge tracts of upland for commercial forestry is devastating for wildlife.
And Mr Ramsay, of Milnmark, says wealthy individuals and investors are exploiting forestry grant schemes to plant up good-hill land, including around Dalry and Carsphairn – despite Scotland exceeding other countries’ targets.
He said: “Scotland is already producing more than twice the timber per capita than the European average. How much will be enough?
“The Scottish Government is handing rural Scotland to faceless investment companies from outwith the country.
“In the process rural Scotland is being taken out of the hands of a resident population who have farmed there for thousands of years.
“We are virtually giving Scotland away with ridiculously over generous forestry grants paid from the public purse – often to a wealthy elite.”
Mr Ramsay questioned assertions that planting conifers captured carbon – and criticised big businesses being allowed to offset carbon emissions through trading carbon credits.
He said: “The science shows that conifer plantations absorb more heat than more reflective moorland coupled with soil carbon losses from afforestation completely wipes any carbon sequestration by the trees.
“In reality these ‘credits’ become nothing more than excuses for those corporations to carry on polluting.
“The Scottish Government needs to call this in and take stock of the science here.”
Mr Ramsay warned Sitka plantations were damaging wildlife – particularly ground nesting birds like the whaup – with the destruction of agricultural land running counter to the government’s own policies on food security and sustaining rural communities.
He said: “The late Derek Ratcliffe of the Nature Conservancy Council estimated that 5,000 pairs of curlews have been lost to the Galloway and Borders hills alone through commercial afforestation.
“The whaup’s decline signifies the loss of rural Scotland – when they go many working people of the countryside will go with them.”
He added: “Their habitat loss involves not just the afforested area but also surrounding land.
“That’s because they won’t nest near cover for potential predators such as foxes and crows.
“Up here we still have two pairs – but there used to be dozens.
“Clearly the Scottish Government’s policy of the integration of farmland and forests is a disaster for these birds.
“Big grant money is driving the destruction of the curlew and the destruction of rural Scotland.”
In response, environment and land reform minister Mairi McAllan insisted productive forestry was “vital” in tackling climate change and supported thousands of rural jobs.
She said: “Both productive species and trees for the environment are needed to tackle the twin crises of climate change and nature loss – and support Scotland’s economy.
“We are taking a number of actions to ensure that the increasing levels of natural capital investment in Scotland deliver benefits for local communities and wider society, including through the introduction of a new Land Reform Bill.
“Very recently we also announced new Interim Principles for Private Investment in Natural Capital which will apply to any new investment in woodlands in
Scotland.
The environment and land reform minister added: “New measures have also been taken to strengthen the eligibility rules under the Woodland Carbon Code which may help cool the land market and encourage new planting to diversify species mixes.”
