Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands Conservative MSP, told last night’s Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Group on Rural Policy that farming, forestry, and fisheries must continue to employ people in the Highlands.
The Group received presentations from Mike Mackenzie (Directorate-General for Agriculture & Rural Development, European Commission), Billy McKenzie (Programme Manager, Scottish Rural Development Programme, Scottish Government), Ian Davidson (Head of Agricultural Development, Scottish Government) and Syd House (Forestry Commission Conservator for Perth & Argyll).
After the presentations, Jamie asked why it was that, despite delivery of EU subsidies and rural development programmes, stock numbers in the Highlands & Islands, both cattle and sheep, continued to drop.
Jamie pointed out that sheep and cattle sales in places such as Dalmally and Oban were greatly down in numbers, and that hill farming in general was struggling to remain part of the Scottish agricultural scene. In terms of forestry, and referring to his own locality, Jamie also pointed out that previously there had been three forestry villages surrounding Loch Awe, housing between them a hundred families connected with the Forestry Commission, and that now there were virtually no forestry employees left in these houses.
Jamie, who tomorrow will take part in the debate in the Scottish Parliament on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), said:
“As a Highlands & Islands MSP, I made the point that European money is coming down from the hills and not going up (them), and that regeneration of the hill farming sector is a crucial part of providing employment in rural areas.
“Whilst local Scottish food and drink is an up-and-coming attraction and successful, and whilst tourism continues to be of great importance, the primary sectors of farming, forestry, and fisheries were resources which employed people in the Highlands and must do so again if we are to stop the depopulation that we are seeing at the moment, especially in Argyll & Bute”.