Call of the Wild

After being inspected by inquisitive red deer we jump into a Land Rover to bump along tracks into the deep, steep-sided glen. On the skyline a golden eagle wheels above the ridge hunting for prey, while shaggy cattle graze next to a meandering river teeming with salmon. But as we drive back, a group of wild boar run towards the vehicle and just behind the main lodge we have seen European elk. Is this really the Highlands of Scotland as they are meant to be, or some kind of zoo?

Sitting in a former bothy, now luxury accommodation for paying guests a few minutes by 4x4 from the main country pile, Paul Lister says he is most definitely managing a 23,000 acre wilderness reserve. It is a dream to return the land to nature, which started to become reality seven years ago when he bought the place – reportedly for something over 3 million.

"I have a vision for this part of the Highlands and I came to a point where I was no longer involved in business and I wanted to make a contribution and do something positive for nature. In Scotland over the past 500 years, or even 1,000 years, man has been gradually deforesting the area to a point where now we are left with just less than 1 per cent of the forest we used to have. Therefore, it is a wilderness but it gives great potential to improve it and I think where we can we should be doing all we can to make the environment a better and more healthy place. That's why I bought Alladale – not for traditional purposes like most people who own estates, for sport reasons or recreational reasons, mine is centred around conservation and landscape restoration."

Lister, whose father founded MFI, says he is not in direct business any more. He says 40 per cent of his work sees him concentrate on Alladale, 40 per cent on the European Nature Trust and 20 per cent on "family affairs" which concentrates on investments and property management. He rejects the idea that he is a multi- millionaire, because his money is in trusts and he "technically lives off an income".

But he's no stranger to controversy. His desire to bring wolves to Alladale has raised more than eyebrows, and the high fences which keep the animals in and protect young trees from grazing deer are by no means welcomed by all. These structures may be good for the reserve, but are not very friendly to walkers, eager to make the most of land access reforms.

Lister, who splits his time between Sutherland and the south of England, says this is by no means a quick- return business venture and the fences are necessary. "It is a long-term project, particularly when you are talking about trees. We are in the process of planting hundreds of thousands of trees in the coming year or two. In the old days, centuries ago, there were wolves in the Highlands keeping deer numbers in check. I think most people know now that there is a huge over-population of red deer in the Highlands. No trees can grow and regenerate naturally without having a fence, and that's the issue. Deer have an incredible impact on the ground and if we have no trees, or little regeneration, then that would affect insect life, bird life and so on. It is just trying to rebalance things."

After a lunch of a roasted wild boar in the dining room of the main lodge, which ticks all the right Monarch of the Glen boxes, it is hard not to be seduced by this Highland hideaway – the snooker room, the box of fishing rods outside and the re-assuring crunch of gravel as the Land Rover takes us back down another glen.

But what of the animals? Four years ago wild boar were brought in, an attempt to help improve the ground through their constant foraging. The boar rip up the heather and bracken which carpet many hillsides in the Highlands and help to naturally distribute, and germinate, tree seedlings. These were joined by a male and female European elk three years ago. Lister says there are no plans to release them on a large scale because they will be competing with the red deer for food. Rather, he says, they will be more an "exhibit for visitors and schoolchildren who come up. We can educate them about the species of elk and what they were here for and how long ago they were here and a bit of history about them."

The next animal projects for Alladale are bringing in red squirrels from the Cairngorms and starting up a Scottish wildcat breeding centre. European bison are also on the agenda. There is no history of bison in Scotland; the reason to keep them is scientific, to keep a gene pool of the animal in case existing herds in eastern Europe are hit by disease.

But with all these animals being placed into enclosures, are we not really looking at a zoo in the Highlands?

Absolutely not, says Lister. The long-term plan does not involve the wild boar, elk or bison. Instead it would be a large enclosure, or reserve, hopefully with the wolves. "As far as the big vision is concerned there has always been a huge amount of people who would love to see wolves back into the freedom of the countryside in Scotland."

He concedes that wolves running totally free across the Highlands is not going to happen. "I don't think we will ever see wolves running around without fences or without some kind of control. There is way too much livestock, there are way too many people's pets, and there is way too much fear."

But Alladale – even with its 23,000 acres – is not large enough to keep wolves in an enclosure. Undeterred, Lister plans to engage adjoining estates and in time possibly acquire enough land or work with his neighbours to bring the predator to Sutherland.

He says stopping some access and charging for people to explore with a guide is a price worth paying, not only for conservation but also the revenues from eco-tourism, which will benefit the local economy. As regards fences, he says reserves in Africa also have them.

"We need, sometimes, to let nature take first place. It is a great shame if the 300 or so people who currently walk over Alladale every year now aren't prepared to compromise and to allow possibly 20,000 or 30,000 people in a structured fashion to come into the area on an annual basis to see amazing wildlife and in the process support 100 jobs. Is that group of people going to stop progress being made in not only scientific but also economic opportunities?"

To some, such as Hebe Carus, the access and conservation officer at the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, the fences are unacceptable.

She says: "Our concerns are twofold – they are about access in terms of the Land Reform Scotland Act which came out in 2003 was about increasing opportunities and making it easy for people to enjoy the Scottish countryside … putting huge fences up with electric wires all over them doesn't really help us in that long-term objective of getting more people out taking exercise in the outdoors. But equally on the other side there is the conservation issue about things like fences. They damage the landscape and the visual amenity of the area, and this is a very wild area that we are talking about."

But what of the locals? Do they like this transformation of the glens they have been born and bred in? After collecting his paper from the Spar shop in Bonar Bridge one tells me: "The only people who don't like it are incomers. If he's bringing in jobs and tourists, it's a good thing. You can't live off a view."

MIXED REACTION OVER CALLS TO REINTRODUCE ANIMALS HUNTED TO EXTINCTION

THE howl of wolves could be heard in Scotland until the mid-18th century, when they were wiped out by hunters. However, returning them would spark huge concern among the farming community and the public – fearful for their own safety.

Similarly, the occasional aggressiveness of brown bears means their growls are unlikely ever to resound in the wild in Scotland again. It is thought they were wiped out in Britain by the tenth century. Brown bears have been reintroduced to the Pyrenees and still live in some parts of eastern Europe.

Beavers, pictured right, are roaming free in Scotland for the first time since they were hunted to extinction 400 years ago – and some conservationists believe that other species should follow suit.

There have been strong calls for the return of the lynx to the top of the food chain. It is thought the cats, which last stalked through Britain's woods more than 1,000 years ago, would mainly hunt small deer, and could boost tourism.

Wild boar are less controversial. The National Farmers' Union has said in the past that it might be open to the idea of a reintroduction, if a trial showed that they did not have a damaging environmental, ecological or social impact.

The animal was hunted out of Scotland in the 17th century. Some argue its rooting could help clear unwanted undergrowth.

Under European legislation, member states are obliged to consider reintroducing species where they have been made extinct by human activity.

This article was first published in The Scotsman on 15 May.