IT'S HAPPENING Now the Scottish farmers have begun protesting

Scottish farmers, crofters and gamekeepers are staging a peaceful demonstration to express their concerns and anger at the policies being driven by Scottish government against their rural way of life.

Green MSP Lorna Slater, the Scottish government’s biodiversity minister, and first minister Humza Yousof had been expected to announce Cairngorms 2030 – a project worth £37m funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.

Both had been expected to launch the project at the Albert Memorial Hall, in Ballater, Aberdeenshire on Monday morning (22 January), but they cancelled due to the stormy weather.

See also: Highlands farmers in tractor demo over rewilding of Cairngorms

The hall is home to one of the branch offices of the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), which delivers the policy ambitions of Scottish government in the national park.

On Monday morning, a procession of tractors, Land Rovers and farmers, crofters and gamekeepers carrying placards made their way from the car park at Ballater station to the Albert Memorial Hall to continue their peaceful demo outside the CNPA branch office.

Green agenda
Deirdre Falconer, regional co-ordinator from the Grampian Moorland Group, told Farmers Weekly that farmers, crofters and gamekeepers would be coming out in force to express their frustration about the project, which she said “does nothing for locals, their heritage and way of life”.

“The project includes plans to spend £9m on visitor infrastructure, £19m on peatland restoration, trees and river restoration, and a couple of million on wellbeing. But there is no money for housing or anything to address the real issues that are in the park,” she said.

“The policies that are coming out of Scottish government are literally eroding the way of life for people living in these rural areas. It is like an attack on the countryside.

https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/environment/scots-rural-workers-hold-demo-against-rewilding-policies