Scottish upland forests: History lessons for the future

Abstract

This paper sets out to show how historical and cultural land-use in the Scottish Highlands has influenced the development, distribution, structure and composition of upland forests. It challenges the widely accepted Victorian perception of a Highland “wilderness”, with an alternative view of a more populated pastoral landscape that prevailed prior to the Highland clearances. There is evidence that from the 11th century, the Scottish uplands were occupied by people who were managing the land and the vegetation to meet the needs of their pastoral way of life. The breeding and movement of livestock was essential to that way of life, and can be traced back as far as historical records exist. The evidence shows that this pastoral lifestyle, which involved seasonal transhumance, was practiced right across Scotland. It is therefore unlikely that any surviving remnant woodland in the uplands has escaped the influence of grazing management at some point in its history. Three case study areas are examined. These areas have been chosen to illustrate variants of historic transhumance and agriculture; known in Scotland as the shieling system. Cultural, historical and biological records from the three case study areas are related to the surviving woodland remnants. Historic place names have been investigated to give an indication of previous land-use and vegetation. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques have been used to make comparisons between open woodlands on historic maps with present day canopy cover. Within the case study areas, the remnants of historic cultural landscapes with associated vegetation, large open-grown veteran trees and species-rich upland pastures, are related to their historical land-use origins. This paper suggests that consideration of these historical origins can help inform a better understanding of Scotland's landscape heritage and ecology, and should be taken into account in the planning and management of future landscape restoration in the Scottish Highlands.