Turning the Clock Back Two Millennia to Recreate Scotland's Wild Past
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08.12.07
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/turning_the_clock_back.php
There are natural reserves and then there are natural reserves: Alladale Estate — a peaceful 23,000-acre Highland estate offering luxury digs and wildlife sightseeing for a couple hundred visitors every year — aims to become Britain's first fully-fledged ecological game reserve by reverting it to a state of nature 2,000 years old. Paul Lister, the millionaire owner of Alladale, having just obtained a dangerous wild animal license — enabling him to reintroduce elk, wild boars, lynx and others — now hopes to complete his life-long dream of recreating Scotland's once remote wilderness.
Working with neighboring landowners, he wants to convert his and adjoining estates into a reserve for indigenous flora — including juniper, hazel, Caledonian pine and round birch — and fauna. "We received our dangerous animals licence last week and as soon as the foot and mouth regulations die down we'll be bringing in two young elk from Sweden as part of the first step," said Hugh Fullerton Smith, the general manager of Alladale. "We already have wild boar and have fenced off 440 acres as part of a game reserve trial which scientists from Oxford University are monitoring."
Their objective is clearly ambitious: Smith says they want to create "the biggest enclosed wilderness reserve in Europe." Once completed, the game reserve is expected to attract an estimated 50,000 visitors each year. Lister promises there will not be any stalking or shooting.
Smith and his team are drawing inspiration from the Shamwari Game Reserve near Cape Town, South Africa, where ecologists successfully reintroduced five of Africa's big species — the lion, buffalo, leopard, rhino and elephant. If properly managed — with careful supervision of the visitors and other externalities — but otherwise left to its elements, this game reserve could prove to be a big success down the line. Hopefully this one will set the example for more to come.
===Dangerous species' Highland haven
Millionaire granted licence to recreate Scotland's wild past on 23,000-acre estate
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/12/conservation.theobserversuknewspages/print
- The Observer
- Sunday August 12 2007
Under a cold, damp grey sky the muffled roar of water cascading down treeless hillsides, hewing its way through the granite bedrock, provides almost the only sound amid a glen of tranquillity.
Alladale Estate lies less than 25 miles and world away from the modern bustling city centre of Inverness, yet it is at the forefront of conservation and eco-tourism in Britain.
Alladale is a working 23,000 acre Highland estate providing luxury accommodation, deer stalking and fishing for a few hundred visitors a year, but owner and millionaire philanthropist Paul Lister has bigger plans. He aims to create Britain's first ecological game reserve by turning the clock back more than 2,000 years.
Last week the Highland Council granted the estate a dangerous wild animal licence, meaning wild boar, elk, wolves, lynx and bears could soon be reintroduced.
Lister, the son of Noel Lister - the co-founder of the MFI furniture empire - has spent the last 20 years of his life dreaming of recreating Scotland's remote wilderness from a time long before humans began altering nature for their own ends.
As the owner of Alladale he wants to transform his 23,000 acres, along with almost as much again from neighbouring landowners, into a reserve for indigenous flora, fauna and animals.
The new game reserve will be home to Caledonian pine, juniper, hazel and round birch along with the reintroduction of lichen and grasses.
Experts believe that if anybody can accomplish the reintroduction of the European grey wolf, which was hunted to extinction in Scotland in 1743, and the bear, which was driven out 900 years ago, it is Lister.
'We received our dangerous animals licence last week and as soon as the foot and mouth regulations die down we'll be bringing in two young elk from Sweden as part of the first step,' said Hugh Fullerton Smith, a New Zealand-born wildlife expert and general manager of Alladale who was brought in to help set up the game reserve.
'We already have wild boar and have fenced off 440 acres as part of a game reserve trial which scientists from Oxford University are monitoring.'
'Eventually we need to create probably the biggest enclosed wilderness reserve in Europe and then we will hopefully reintroduce some larger carnivores such wolves and bears.'
The estate covers five glens and two river systems, with over 10 hill lochs tucked away among a range of hills. It was bought by Lister for £3.2m four years ago.
A haven for red deer, seeka deer, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, kestrels, merlins, ravens, hooded crows, otters, badgers and pine martins there are only a handful of people who live permanently on the estate catering for about 300 walkers and 100 hunters a year.
However, supporters of the new game reserve claim it will eventually draw an estimated 50,000 visitors a year. Many of the ideas being incorporated at Alladale have come from the Shamwari Game Reserve near Cape Town in South Africa, where they have successfully reintroduced the African big five - the leopard, lion, buffalo, rhino and elephant.
'There will be more wilderness and there will be no stalking or shooting,' promises Lister who has included the planting of more than 250,000 indigenous trees as part of his project.
Slowly Lister is managing to convince neighbouring landowners, small farmers and other local people of the positive side of his plans, which involve tagging the animals and building 37 miles of electric fence, the longest in Europe.
The initial fears of wolves roaming the hills attacking farm animals has given way to the more practical problems of how to cater for the thousands of new visitors bringing welcome employment and economic viability to an area where even sheep farming is subsidised. While some land managers have expressed concerns about Lister's predators, the most common objection is the fencing off of the land which some fear will prevent the public's right to roam.
Labels:Nature, Game Reserve, Restoration, Extinction, Tourism Of Nature, Right To Roam, Indigenous Flora & Fauna, Employment From Tourism, Economic Viability From Tourism, Economic Viability
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