4. jun, 2014

Ny rapport mars 2014: «Wind farms and changing mountaineering behaviour in Scotland».

www.mcofs.org.uk

Ny rapport mars 2014: «Wind farms and changing mountaineering behaviour in Scotland».

Hva mener «mountain-goers» om at stadig flere vindkraftverk inntar høydedragene i det skotske naturlandskapet? Påvirker de turistene/vandrernes bruk av området? Det var blant spørsmålene «The Mountaineering Council of Scotland» ønsket svar på, og bestemte seg for å gjennomføre en spørreundersøkelse innenfor tidsrommet november 2013 og januar 2014. Ca. 1000 vandrere var involvert i undersøkelsen, og ble stilt følgende spørsmål:

Q1 Are there places in Scotland’s mountains less appealing?
Q2 Are there places less likely to (re-)visit?
Q3 Preference for accommodation with wind farm view?
Q4 Is Scotland becoming less appealing for walking and climbing?
Q5 How are wind farms affecting future plans for walking and climbing?

Mars 2014 ble resultatene presentert i rapporten «Wind farms and changing mountaineering behaviour in Scotland».

Konklusjonen er klar:

«Generalising across the mountain-going market segment as awhole, people do not want to pursue their activity, and spend their money, in areas they regard as spoiled by industrial-scale wind farms.

It is clear from the survey responses that the Scottish mountain «brand» has already experienced reputational damage amongst mountain-goers from Scotland and elsewhere in Britain. The most recent surveys amongst the general public suggest that a significant and rising proportion of people share this view even though their experience of mountain landscapes might be more passive.

The more wind farms that are built and the more they intrude into what is perceived to be unspoilt mountainous and wild land, the greater will be the damage and the more sustained will be the adverse economic impact upon those areas hosting wind farms.

A reputation lost on such a national scale is not easily or quickly recovered.»

David Gibson, MCofS Chief Officer, said:

- The survey results are a stark warning to the Scottish Government – badly sited wind farms are a serious threat to Scotland’s reputation as a tourism destination. The more that are built in our mountains, the more visitors are put off.

- Many of the wind farms planned for Scotland’s most remote and beautiful areas have yet been built and the evidence from this, and other surveys, suggests that visitors dislike them more and more as they cease to be a novelty.