Tha dùsgadh nas motha a dhìth air cuspair mòr an fhearainn, le Murray MacLeòid

Mu dheireadh thall, tha e coltach gu bheil beagan de dhùsgadh a’ tighinn air na tha a’ tachairt ann am mòran sgìrean dùthchail na h-Alba, agus oighreachdan gan reic aig prìsean gun chiall agus gu leòr airson an làmhan fhaighinn air sgeamaichean na h-àrainneachd.

Tha airgead mor ri fhaighinn airson obair mar a’ mhòinteach ath-nuadhachadh.

[English-language version below]

Tha taic mhòr ri fhaighinn airson a leithid craobhan a chur agus boglaichean mòinteach ath-nuadhachadh, agus a-nis tha companaidhean mòra eadar-nàiseanta a’ coimhead a' chothroim mhìorbhailich a tha ri fhaighinn ann an Alba. ‘S a rèir choltais chan eil stad orra.

Tha sin fòrtanach dha cuid agus a’ ciallachadh, aon uair eile, gu bheil na beartaich a’ fàs nas beartaiche. Chan e càil ùr a tha sin.

Tha e duilich a thuigsinn leis mar a tha am Pàrtaidh Uaine air a bhith an aghaidh calapachais eadar-nàiseanta is companaidhean mòra, carson a tha iad cho balbh air an seo, rud a bheir buaidh air tòrr mòr de dh’Alba.

‘S dòcha gur e sin a’ phrìs a tha a’ tighinn le bhith ann an Riaghaltas, ach chan eil e idir na chuideachadh dha na daoine air an iomall.

Mo bheannachd a-rèisd air Fearann Coimhearsnachd na h-Alba, a’ chiad bhuidheann oifigeil a tha air dragh is ceist a thogail mun seo agus a chuir rannsachadh air dòigh le eòlaichean.

Tha e soilleir gu leòr carson a bhiodh ùidh aca ann mar bhuidheann agus oighreachdan gan reic gu dìomhair gun fhacal innse dhan choimhearsnachd a tha a’ fuireach faisg air làimh.

Chaidh a’ bhuidheann a chruthachadh, chan ann a-mhàin airson coimhearsnachdan a chuideachadh gus oighreachdan a cheannach, ach airson dèanamh cinnteach gum biodh buaidh a bharrachd aig coimhearsnachdan ann an cùisean fearainn anns na sgìrean aca fhèin.

Ged tha fhios nach e seo a bha san amharc, tha an taic a tha ri fhaighinn airson obair na h-àrainneachd air coimhearsnachdan a chur barrachd san dorchadas agus air dheireadh. Cò chanas gur e adhartas a tha sin?

Chaidh an rannsachadh a tha seo a dheànamh le Laurie MacPhàrlain is Miriam Brett agus tha an aithisg aca smaoineachail agus i a’ sealltainn, mura tig atharrachadh air cùisean, gun tig prìsean fearann às an ciall buileach glan.

“Leis mar a tha an roinn seo a’ dol a leasachadh, tha ceist bhunaiteach ann mu cò a tha a' dol a dh’fhaighinn luach agus buannachdan bhon obair,” thuirt iad.

“Fo shiostam lagh na h-Alba mar a tha e, tha na còirichean mu chreideas carbon agus cothroman calpachais bho nàdarra – agus an t-airgead a thig bhon sin – aig an fheadhainn leis a bheil an fhearann

“Le sin, tha a’ cheist mu chò leis a tha Alba gu bhith riatanach ann a bhith a’ dearbhadh cò gheibh buannachd bho chalapachais nàdarra agus mar a thig an t-airgead sin a roinn.”

Agus le na prisean a’ sior dol am meud ciamar as urrainn barrachd coimhearsnachdan seilbh fhaighinn air an fhearann?

Tha Fearann Coimhearsnachd na h-Alba ag iarraidh air Riaghaltas na h-Alba atharrachadh a thoirt air an lagh ach am bi, aig a’ char is lugha, deuchainn phoblach mu choinneimh oighreachdan mas fhaigh iad an taic a tha seo.

‘S e an duilgheadas nach eil càil dhen seo ùr – ach a-mhàin an sporan uaine a tha nis ri fhaighinn – agus ma tha na thachair gu seo na chomharra, ‘s e èisteachd suarach a thoirt dhan chùis a-rithist, agus an cumhachd fhathast ann an làmhan luchd an airgid.

English-language version:

Ultimately it may not make much of a difference, but finally there seems to be some sort of realisation dawning as to what’s happening across large swathes of Scotland’s countryside, with a latter-day gold rush being pursued on the back of the Green agenda.

With major financial incentives available for tree plantations and peatland restoration, international companies and their investment arms are eyeing up Scottish estates and moorland at a rate that would make the most rapacious city trader of London blush – a fine state of affairs for some, but one that once again means the wealthy getting wealthier.

A golden handshake and a doff of the tweed cap to the environmental agenda.

Given the Green Party’s almost ideological suspicion of wealth creation and capitalism, it seems strange that this unfettered trade in land, which will have serious impacts across large parts of Scotland, goes by without so much as a murmur of dissent. Maybe that’s the price of ministerial office, but it comes at a severe cost to rural communities.

So, thank goodness for Community Land Scotland who were the first official body to recognise the problem and went on to commission a study by two academics on where this green trade in land could all lead.

As an organisation, they, of course, have a vested interest. Estates and their carbon-offset potential are changing hands without so much as a nod of appreciation to those that live in the vicinity, far less consultation.

Community Land Scotland was formed not just for the headline-grabbing big community buyouts – so far restricted to one or two in the crofting regions – but to give communities and their representatives a bigger say in decisions that affect land use.

It may be the result of the law of unintended consequences, but the Green incentives have seen people in rural Scotland further sidelined and marginalised.

The report, by Laurie Macfarlane, senior economist at the New Economics Foundation, and Miriam Brett, director of advocacy and research at Common Wealth, makes for sobering reading. It includes a graph which shows that without policy intervention, the price of land in Scotland is going to rocket.

“Given the expected growth of carbon offsetting and other natural capital markets in Scotland, a key question relates to how the value generated from these activities will be captured and distributed,” they said.

“Under Scotland’s existing legal framework, ownership of land confers the right to generate carbon credits and exploit natural capital opportunities – and to reap the associated financial rewards. As a result, the question of who owns land in Scotland will play a vital role in determining how the value associated with Scotland’s natural capital potential will be captured and distributed.”

Community Land Scotland has now called on MSPs and the Scottish Government to introduce legislative change to ensure that landowners are at least required to pass a public interest test before cashing in on their assets.

The trouble is that hardly any of this is actually in the least bit new – only the Green cash pot – and, if past experiences are anything to go by, the concerns of rural Scotland will fall by the wayside, pushed aside by vested interests and a political class that cares little for anything outside urban boundaries. It doesn’t look like a Green minister or two at the heart of government is going to change that one iota.