King Charles: Monarch s estate near Balmoral to be restored in carbon plan with help of £650,000 in public funds scotsman.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scotsman.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
An oil giant, Scotland’s richest man, and private firms are developing carbon offsetting projects that critics say are pushing up land prices and allowing companies to “greenwash” their image.
LAST weekend my wife and I went for a walk in the hills in the area near Corgarff Castle, on Donside. Starting near the castle, we were immediately impressed by the variety of bird life in the glen, on the flat ground by the river, where many lapwings, curlews and oystercatchers called. Sand martins were in evidence darting over the meanders of the River Don. Heartened by the calls of the waders, we set off past the castle, up towards Brown Cow Hill. Sadly, however, the picture quickly changed. As we climbed to higher ground we found ourselves walking over a monotonous monoculture of heather interspersed by areas of burnt ground. Barring the occasional red grouse, silence reigned. There was no other wildlife to be seen or heard. The smell of recent muirburning hung in the air. We were walking over a man-made desert. From the top of the hill it was clear that many surrounding hills were in the same state, with the ugly patchwork of heather and muirburned areas extending for miles