Wild Scotland Versus Tame Scotland

Living in Scotland it is hard to avoid the controversy over a new golf course planned by Donald Trump in Aberdeenshire. It is both very real and symbolic of one of the largest conflicts of our time: big business versus the environment. The aggressive money man himself is here to build the “the world’s greatest golf course” which happens to be on rare and protected dunes. Here our greed battles our love of our land; the elite world of the rich, combat the rare elite of the plant and wildlife kingdom. It is a battle of values and also of economics.

Contemporary economists, acknowledging that global warming and the degradation of natural resources are no longer fringe issues but are confirmed by science and make front cover news, must take into account the idea of natural capital. Lester R. Brown writes in Plan B 3.0, “the market has some fundamental weaknesses, however. It does not incorporate into prices the indirect costs of producing goods. It does not value nature’s services properly. And it does not respect the sustainable yield thresholds of natural systems. It also favors the near term over the long term, showing little concern for future generations” (Brown 7). We must take into account these indirect costs and the value of wild nature. What is the natural capital of rare and endangered wildlife? Can we put a price on the endangered dune bryophytes warne’s thread-moss and blunt bryum?

It is symbolically appropriate that the conflict is one of golf vs. wilderness. Nothing could be more iconic than fake nature vs. the real thing. In her book Wild Jay Griffiths writes about golf courses,

“Golf epitomizes the tame world. On a golf course nature is neutered. The grass is clean, a lawn laundry that wipes away mud, the insect, the bramble, nettle and thistle, an Eezy-wipe lawn where nothing of life, dirty and glorious, remains. Golf turns outdoors into indoors, a prefab mat of stultified grass, processed, pesticided, herbicided, the pseudo-green of formica sterility…Worldwide, golf is an arch act of enclosure, a commons fenced and subdued for the wealthy, trampling serf and seedling. The enemy of wildness, it is a demonstration of the absolute dominion of man over wild nature” (Griffiths 5).

If golf symbolizes our control over nature, wild species symbolize our wild spirit and creativity. We are all interconnected and the wild and the tame are a part of each of us. In this debate I find myself drawn to the characters. What are the plants and wildlife that are at risk? what are their qualities? their uses in the cycle of life? Other than golf what are the threats they face? I am interested to research the rare and threatened plant species in Scotland and to paint them. By painting their unique colors and shapes, seeds and roots I hope to bring them more into the spotlight and increase understanding and interest in these fragile neighbors. In Scottish Wild Plants Lusby and Wright explain, “The conservation of individual species demands an understanding of their biology, ecology and habitat. For long-term survival it is often not enough to maintain the appropriate habitat type, but to keep it in a condition which allows particular species to regenerate and compete successfully with associated vegetation” (19).
If we are to turn down the big business offers from the likes of Donald Trump I believe it will be because we understand and appreciate the natural capital at our doorsteps.

"The world may be caged by a defect of the entire economic profession-namely, the idea that we can assess value in banknotes, or that we can understand our relationship to the material world using an abstract metric rather than a biological one. The extraordinary advances made by Western societies will, in the end, be subservient to the land and what it can provide and teach" (Hawkins, Blessed Unrest).