Future plans for the Caingorms go to consultation
Views are being sought on the proposed transfer of ownership of the Cairngorm Estate from Highlands and Islands Enterprise to Forestry Commission Scotland.
The Cairngorm Estate is currently owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) which is looking to identify a new owner. HIE’s aspiration is that the estate should continue to be managed in the public interest with the new owner balancing the recreation and conservation priorities of this sensitive environment.
The suggestion that Forestry Commission Scotland might take on the estate has attracted widespread support from various organisations and local communities.
A consultation document on the proposed transfer has been sent to 80 different organisations with an interest in the area. The Commission and HIE are now seeking views of people who know and love the Cairngorms.
David Jardine, Forestry Commission Scotland's Forest District Manager for Inverness said:
"Forestry Commission Scotland has long experience in land management within the National Park and already manages a number of other sensitive mountain environments. We are also increasingly working in partnerships to encourage communities and other organisations to get the best out of the land.
"Forestry Commission Scotland would welcome comments from the local communities and stakeholders on the proposed transfer of land and how best to structure the management of the estate if the Commission takes it over."
Cairngorm Estate is located twelve kilometres east of Aviemore within the Cairngorm National Park and covers 1418 hectares of moorland and mountain. The area is valuable for its wildlife, hosting mountain plants and sub-arctic birds such as dotterel and ptarmigan; yet it also contains the Cairngorm ski-area and funicular railway which attract around 220,000 paying visitors each year making a very valuable contribution to the local tourism economy. The Estate contributes to the wider Cairngorm area which is unique in Scotland for the scale, range and transition of mountain habitats.
Douglas MacDiarmid, HIE’s director of global connections, said:
“Initial consultation has indicated that a wide number of public and private interests support the proposal for HIE to transfer ownership of the Cairngorm Estate to Forestry Commission Scotland.
“HIE’s policy on its property and land holdings is not to remain a long-term landlord, but to dispose of properties it no longer needs, recycling the money it raises into new development projects.
“We welcome this wider round of consultation on the future ownership of the estate and look forward to examining submissions in the autumn.”
Anyone interested in having the opportunity to contribute their say to the future management of should write to David Jardine, Forestry Commission Scotland, Tower Road, Smithton, Inverness, email cairngorm@forestry.gsi.gov.uk or click on www.forestry.gov.uk/cairngormestate. Replies must be with Forestry Commission Scotland by 15 November 2006.
Full details of the consultation paper are available online at www.forestry.gov.uk/cairngormestate
