Fios - The
North Lewis Weekly : 26 November 1999
SNH Review Status of Rona
and Sula Sgeir As National Nature Reserves
Scottish
Natural Heritage is currently engaged in a widespread review of all National Nature
Reserves in Scotland. Among the NNRs to be examined will be North Rona and Sula Sgeir.
There are currently over seventy NNRs in Scotland, including the two North Atlantic
islands that have historic links with the district of Ness. The Reserves are areas
of special significance which are reserved for nature and are managed in the interests of
natural heritage. However, such sites are typically open to the general public although
some, like the two remote islands, are not easily accessible because of their location.
Sula Sgeir, the barren
rock situated about 41 miles north of the Butt of Lewis, is best known for the large
gannet colony that inhabits it during the breeding season. Home to one of the most
important gannet colonies in Europe, the sgeir also provides the backdrop for the age-old
annual guga hunt, in which a group of Ness men traditionally cull a few thousand immature
birds for their meat.
Lying 44 miles NNE of the
Butt is the island of North Rona. Similarly, it also has a long association with Ness,
although its topography is dramatically different. North Rona is relatively fertile
and offers good natural grazing for livestock despite its isolation on the periphery of
Europe. Over the centuries the island has been owned or managed by a succession of
Ness farmers and their tenants. It has traditionally supported crops for human and animal
consumption, together with valuable grassland for grazing sheep. The people occupying the
island over the centuries have also benefited greatly from the food, oil and natural
products and fertilisers that the abundant marine and bird life has provided.
Sula Sgeir and North Rona
are both owned by the Barvas Estate, with Iain MacLean of Cross Skigersta Road currently
holding the grazing rights to the two islands.
Of the 71 NNRs in
Scotland, 16 are owned outright by SNH. The remainder are either leased or managed with
the agreement of the owners. Sometimes conservation bodies, most notably the RSPB and the
National Trust, may manage some of these sites, but most remain in the ownership of
private landowners.
In 1899 – exactly a
century ago – an enthusiastic landowner made the first private nature reserve in
Britain, at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. However, it was not until 1949 that legislation
was put in place to create National Nature Reserves. The first of these was declared at
Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross in 1951. Over recent decades, general legislation and
environmental safeguards have offered substantial protection to British natural heritage
sites. This has partly reduced the need for specific intervention by government and
agencies in environmentally sensitive areas within of the country.
A further development has
been the introduction of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Some of these are
recognised as internationally important sites in the European Natura network. The area
surrounding and including Loch Stiapavat at Knockaird is an existing example of a SSSI
site.
SNH are currently
consulting landowners and the local authorities. The agency is also contacting
individuals, such as Councillors, who may have responsibility for districts affected by
any future changes.
It is likely that most of
the existing NNRs will continue to have that distinction, because they satisfy the new
role and relevant criteria. Some new NNRs may be created and others may no longer merit
the classification and be ‘de-declared’, although they will continue to be
safeguarded through the SSSI distinction.
It is anticipated that the
SNH review will be completed early next year. |
