Scottish mountain paths in 'desperate' need of funding post-Brexit

Mountaineering Scotland and the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland (OATS) launched the It’s Up to Us initiative last year to raise £300,000 for a path restoration project on the privately-owned Munro An Teallach – renowned as one of the most beautiful mountains on the UK mainland, south west of the village of Dundonnell in the north-west Highlands.

Around £230,000 has been raised so far and while volunteers have mucked in with Cairngorm Wilderness Contracts to work on path maintenance on the mountain, the campaign is also looking to raise awareness of the need for Scottish and UK government funding in the absence of cash from Europe.

Privately-owned upland paths in Scotland previously enjoyed access to significant funding from Europe – around £7 million in recent years – before the UK left the EU, but this is no longer available and has not been replaced.

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Currently, there is no public investment from the UK and Scottish Governments to support mountain path and habitat restoration work outside of Scotland's national parks and NGO estates, and private landowners do not tend to put money into path restoration when they don’t get much income from their use.

All the while, these fragile paths are coming under increased pressure due to growing numbers of people going hillwalking post-Covid and climate change, with warmer and wetter weather causing more erosion.

Stuart Younie, CEO of Mountaineering Scotland, said mountain paths make a huge contribution to the economy and keep people safe in the outdoors, and funding is desperately needed to ensure they are cared for.

He told The National: “The campaign is about raising the profile of the need to invest in the care and upkeep of our hill and mountain paths because they are so fundamental to the way we access the outdoors.

“They are under so much pressure now by the level of usage that we see and the increase of people in the hills post-lockdown. Also one of the really important factors is climate change, we’re getting a lot more rainfall and warmer and wetter winters, and that contributes to erosion, so a lot of paths that are well frequented are really in a poor situation.

Volunteers working on paths on An Teallach (Image: Brodie Hood) “For hills that are outwith National Parks or owned by the National Trust for Scotland or the John Muir Trust, there’s no money there to look after these paths. Most of Scotland is privately owned and there’s no money now post-Brexit – no government money, no European money to lean into which is what would’ve funded a lot of path projects in the past.

“Everyone is benefiting from this wonderful access legislation we have in Scotland but it does come at a cost. Somewhere along the line we have to find the funds to sort these paths out because they badly need it.”

The three-year campaign has received donations from the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, European Outdoor Conservation Association, and other charitable trusts (£154,858), a major private donor (£25,000), the public (£24,996), commercial donations (£7550) and mountaineering and hillwalking clubs (£5900).

But it is hoped that beyond the An Teallach project there can be long-term funding solution found given walking tourism is estimated to be worth around £1.6 billion per year to the Scottish economy.

While there has been huge focus on developing cycle paths for active travel, Younie says mountain paths are often taken for granted and their “bespoke” requirements mean they miss out on being prioritised.

“They don’t fit the way the bureaucracy of government and the allocation of funding works well because of the nature of the work that’s needed,” he said.

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“I just don’t think it’s been recognised as a priority. I think it something a lot of us take for granted. We know we can go out and enjoy the countryside, but it comes at a cost, there is wear and tear and that’s been exacerbated by the environmental conditions of climate change.

“We need to look at this as a much more important issue than we have in the past and start putting some proper money into it.”

Duncan Bryden is the chair of OATS which has previously received European funding for path restoration projects, and he suggested there is a perhaps a greater awareness on the continent of what paths mean for the economy.

“There’s a much greater awareness perhaps of the connection between the landscape and recreation, the economy and the cultural lives of rural settlements in these areas,” he sad.

“In the UK, perhaps that awareness has been lost, and there’s no statutory requirement so when times are tight politicians retreat back to what they are legally obliged to provide.

“This is why toilets are being closed around the countryside because there’s no legal requirement for local authorities to provide basic things like that.

“All of these things have pushed the priority for spending on our rural path infrastructure and supporting facilities down the pecking order.”

To find out more about the It’s Up to Us campaign click here.