Work is ongoing to repopulate some of the country’s most remote territories and reverse years of decline set by the Highland Clearances and mass migration.
Peter Peacock, policy director of Community Land Scotland, said: “Vast areas of the Highlands that were cleared are still empty. There is a very strong cultural sense of ‘why should they be empty, why can’t they go back?’
Around 500,000 acres of Scotland - home to some 25,000 people- are managed by community landowners who have successfully taken land out of private hands. Despite the sizeable hurdles, more than 300 new homes have been built by just 12 community land organisations with new enterprises in sectors such as tourism, renewables, retail and forestry supporting livelihoods. On Eigg, which was bought by the community from its landlord 20 years ago, the population has grown by 60 percent.
Knoydart was home to around 65 people in 1999 when the community bought the estate from the Bank of Scotland after its owner went into receivership. Now 115 people live there with a range of community businesses helping to employ local people, from a home maintenance firm to a venison butchery and forestry.
With Scotland’s population to rise by 350,000 by 2039, some believe Scotland’s rural areas offer a potential alternative to the country’s creaking urban centres. People numbers are due to rise by 21 per cent in Edinburgh and 17 per cent in Aberdeen over the next 22 years. Meanwhile in Highland, despite significant recent growth, the figure falls away to 3.5 per cent.
Despite the population rise, some communities remain incredibly fragile. In the Western Isles, population is due to fall by 13.5 per cent due to “negative natural change” - or when the death rate outstrips the numbers born. Women are less likely to move to the islands and more likely to leave.
Around one-fifth of Scotland has now been designated “wild land.” However, some believe the wild land designations don’t recognise man’s place in the environment over centuries. Mr Peacock added: “Some of our members look out on wild land and they don’t see wild land. They see forlorn land, land that is empty and that was once full of people, of children.” “In some of the land that is now designated wild land, people were living there until 80 years ago.” Mr Peacock added,“Of course we want people to still enjoy the mountains, the views, the landscapes. But it’s quite nice to see a few natives in the foreground.”
The John Muir Trust said the wild land areas were designed to protect against such industrial development - and not to impede community developments. Chief executive Andrew Bachell said: “The purpose of the map, as we see it, is not to block housing, hydro schemes or any other community-scale projects, but to provide a degree of regulation and protection of important landscapes from outside commercial interests.”
Peter Peacock, policy director of Community Land Scotland, said: “Vast areas of the Highlands that were cleared are still empty. There is a very strong cultural sense of ‘why should they be empty, why can’t they go back?’
Around 500,000 acres of Scotland - home to some 25,000 people- are managed by community landowners who have successfully taken land out of private hands. Despite the sizeable hurdles, more than 300 new homes have been built by just 12 community land organisations with new enterprises in sectors such as tourism, renewables, retail and forestry supporting livelihoods. On Eigg, which was bought by the community from its landlord 20 years ago, the population has grown by 60 percent.
Knoydart was home to around 65 people in 1999 when the community bought the estate from the Bank of Scotland after its owner went into receivership. Now 115 people live there with a range of community businesses helping to employ local people, from a home maintenance firm to a venison butchery and forestry.
With Scotland’s population to rise by 350,000 by 2039, some believe Scotland’s rural areas offer a potential alternative to the country’s creaking urban centres. People numbers are due to rise by 21 per cent in Edinburgh and 17 per cent in Aberdeen over the next 22 years. Meanwhile in Highland, despite significant recent growth, the figure falls away to 3.5 per cent.
Despite the population rise, some communities remain incredibly fragile. In the Western Isles, population is due to fall by 13.5 per cent due to “negative natural change” - or when the death rate outstrips the numbers born. Women are less likely to move to the islands and more likely to leave.
Around one-fifth of Scotland has now been designated “wild land.” However, some believe the wild land designations don’t recognise man’s place in the environment over centuries. Mr Peacock added: “Some of our members look out on wild land and they don’t see wild land. They see forlorn land, land that is empty and that was once full of people, of children.” “In some of the land that is now designated wild land, people were living there until 80 years ago.” Mr Peacock added,“Of course we want people to still enjoy the mountains, the views, the landscapes. But it’s quite nice to see a few natives in the foreground.”
The John Muir Trust said the wild land areas were designed to protect against such industrial development - and not to impede community developments. Chief executive Andrew Bachell said: “The purpose of the map, as we see it, is not to block housing, hydro schemes or any other community-scale projects, but to provide a degree of regulation and protection of important landscapes from outside commercial interests.”
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