Andy Wightman

DURING the early 1980s, I worked as a stalker’s ghillie on a hunting estate in Angus. At the time, I considered such places and practices perfectly normal but, as a result of the myriad rich experiences gained over those years, I now see why, in the words of Glasgow geographer Hayden Lorimer, “racial, patriarchal, colonial and class structures were crucial determinants in the bounding and politicising of Highland nature” ...

I RECENTLY enjoyed a few days exploring Glen Affric in blustery but sunny conditions and is a place I have always loved visiting. It contains some of the most significant remnants of Caledonian pinewood and over the past 60 years the native forests in the glen have been regenerating and expanding thanks to the enlightened leadership the late FC forester Finlay Macrae and, since the 1990’s, the efforts of the Trees for Life charity. In 2002, the glen was designated as a National Nature Reserve.

A NUMBER of readers have been in touch with queries about the ownership of plots of land and, in particular, of vacant and derelict land. According to the latest statistics, there are around 3500 sites totalling almost 11,000 hectares of such land across Scotland. Around one-third of this land has been vacant or derelict for decades and they are concentrated in some of Scotland’s most deprived areas where 55% of residents live within 500m of a derelict site.

IN the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, we are asking what property is owned by Russians in Scotland. This raises wider questions of transparency and availability of information.

IT’S a familiar sight to travellers through Glen Coe – a small white house tucked into the hillside where the A82 sweeps left to face the full majesty of the Three Sisters

THE Highlands and Islands in the springtime is a glorious place. As the snows linger on the high tops, the birch trees are turning into bright green blankets over the hills and the weather is dramatically shifting between hail and bright sunshine.

WHEN it comes to its local government, is Scotland a European nation – or a British one?

THE First Minister will set out her programme for government next week. I hope it has something to say for private renters across Scotland, who have been badly let down so far.

LIKE many other people, I am adjusting to the strange world of Covid-19 lockdown. By nature, politicians tend to be sociable creatures with a predisposition to meeting, talking and debating. The current crisis is disrupting all of that and leading to re-adjusting work arrangement to comply with lockdown regulations, physical distancing and the challenges of working from home.

MY proposal to return important fiscal powers to councils – removed by Margaret Thatcher before the Scottish Parliament existed – has proved contentious among the big businesses that lobby government.