The Management and Role of Highland Sporting Estates in the Early Twenty-First Century: The Owner's View of a Unique but Contested Form of Land Use

Abstract

The role of Highland sporting estates in contemporary society is contested over issues as diverse as local economic development, deer management, illegal persecution of raptors and restrictions on public access to the hills. Drawing upon findings from a questionnaire survey and detailed in depth interviews this paper attempts to present a contemporary overview of the management and role of sporting estates as perceived by the owners themselves. For most the purchase of a sporting estate is a lifestyle choice and management centres on the non-financial benefits that flow from ownership and unfettered commercialism is widely regarded as undesirable. Owners are sympathetic to nature conservation but some ‘conservation activities’ would appear to have only tenuous links with mainstream interests of conservation organisations. Attitudes to public access are shaped by their potential to conflict with sporting activities and personal privacy but owners were largely tolerant of most activities except mountain biking, camping and canoeing. The uniformity of views and practices about estate management among owners was striking, with most rigidly adhering to traditional aims, practices and values: innovations were largely frowned upon and there appeared to be little enthusiasm for change of any kind.

Key Words:

• rural geography
• ecology
• historical geography
• sporting estates
• Highlands and Islands
• landowners

Notes

Often these are separate jobs but can be combined on smaller estates. Specific terms used are ‘ghillie’ for salmon, ‘gamekeeper’ for grouse and other game birds and ‘stalker’ for red deer.

The 1745 Jacobite rebellion was the last in a series of rebellions led by the exiled Stuart monarchy which drew much of its military strength from the Highland clans which, like the Stuarts, retained allegiance to the Roman Catholic faith.

In a few cases the owner was either unwilling or unable to participate, in which case the manager was asked to respond to the survey. Questionnaire responses from managers were not included in this analysis.

Formerly the Scottish Landowners Federation (SLF).

A ‘good head’ refers to impressive antlers in terms of size, shape and number of points.

High stock quality is also important for maintaining the estates saleable value (MacMillan & Leitch, 2007).