The Highlands

The Great Polish Map of Scotland

My understanding of the Highlands of Scotland has changed over the last 20 years: where once I saw wilderness now I see land wrecked by over grazing; moors drained to encourage the breeding of game birds, predators exterminated and every year new tracks forge deeper into the hills to enable a failing model of land management. Forestry plantations support only a fraction of the biodiversity of a natural forest. Wind turbines and hydro schemes encroach on designated wild land. All the while the popularity of Scotland as a tourist destination grows, yet the wilderness people flock to see is a shadow of what it once was and, every year, is a little less wild.

My photography in an exploration of these issues.

Richard Cross, January ’19