Filed for The Guardian, 14 August 1991
An eleventh-hour change of heart by the Scottish Secretary Ian Lang MP has re-kindled hopes that the magnificent Highland estate of Mar Lodge may be saved for the nation.
Following a meeting with conservation organisations on Tuesday, the Scottish Office is now investigating funding mechanisms that would enable the 77,000-acre estate at the heart of the Cairngorms to be bought by a consortium of voluntary and public sector organisations.
The options being explored over the next few weeks include funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, which was given £25 million by the government in 1986 to help purchase three English estates. The Crown Estate is also to be approached to see whether it can make a contribution short of overall purchase.
The Crown Estate has previously made two offers in excess of £8 million, both of which have been rejected by Mar Lodge’s owner, John Kluge, an American billionaire. The aim was to buy the estate, which contains three of Britain’s five highest mountains as well as valuable fragments of ancient Caledonian forest, and then lease it back to the government’s Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland to be managed for conservation.
With the collapse of the Crown Estate’s efforts, a voluntary consortium including the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Chris Brasher Trust has promised to fund half of the £10 million or so thought necessary to acquire the property. Until recently the Scottish Office failed to give any indication that it is prepared to help find the other half, appearing aloof and unconcerned about the prospect of a private buyer.
But now Mr Lang, who toured the estate by helicopter and Land-Rover a week ago, is said to be “anxious to find a solution to the question of Mar Lodge estate, which is recognised for its considerable importance to nature conservation in Scotland.” He has asked the secretary of the Scottish Office environment department, Dr Gavin McCrone, to come up with some specific proposals before the end of the month.
No-one can predict whether Mr Lang’s belated but welcome intervention will save the day. Hopes have been raised then dashed before, in a saga beset by controversy and confusion since it was first highlighted by Environment Guardian in March. But the fact that the Scottish Secretary is now staking his green credibility on the issue in the run-up to a general election must mean something.