from Sunday Herald, 22 June 2014
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has come under fire for being a “toothless watchdog” in the wake of a fierce row over the activities of boatloads of divers in a national nature reserve.
NTS owns and manages St Abb’s Head on the Berwickshire coast, home to one of the largest mainland breeding seabird colonies in the UK. But the steep rocky inlets that characterise the headland have also become increasingly popular for visiting sub-aqua enthusiasts because they have some of Britain’s finest underwater scenery.
Charter boats bring many thousands of people close in to the cliffs every year so they can dive to see the sights. But conservationists say that this is disturbing the birds, including nesting kittiwakes and guillemots.
The alarm has been raised by Graham White, an environmental author who lives nearby in Coldstream. He visited St Abb’s Head to watch the birds earlier this month and was horrified by what he saw.
“What I witnessed was a dive boat derby of 40-foot, 900-horsepower vessels making high speed runs across the mouths of the nesting fiords and dropping off divers deep within the fiords,” he said.
“Over a dozen boats of various sizes were roaring about, ploughing through rafts of guillemots. The sound of 40,000 seabirds was eclipsed by the roar of twin-turbo diesels, and the stench of diesel exhaust filled the air.”
White raised his concerns with NTS, as well as the government wildlife agency, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). As a result, NTS convened a meeting on 13 June with dive boat operators, and there are now plans to draw up a voluntary code of practice.
This has been welcomed by White, but he questions whether it will be enough. “The only powers which NTS holds at St Abb’s are powers of persuasion and education,” he told the Sunday Herald.
“When it comes to being an effective environmental watchdog, a guardian of wildlife, it seems this dog is toothless. It hasn’t barked in a long while, and may have been castrated.”
As well as being a national nature reserve, St Abb’s has three other official designations meant to ensure its wildlife is protected under law. It’s a special protection area for birds, a special area of conservation and a site of special scientific interest.
“The many layers of protection seem to be illusion rather than reality,” argued White. “All of these designations place conservation of wildlife and landscape as their primary objective, but these values seem to have been surrendered to tourism, diving and economic development at St Abb’s.”
NTS said it was aware that the number of dive boats had increased in recent years. “We share concerns as to the potential impact that this increased traffic could have on the nesting seabird colonies,” said the trust’s conservation director, Terry Levinthal.
“We recently convened a meeting of local skippers to highlight our concerns. This was positive and it was agreed that we would work with them and SNH to put together and promote a voluntary code of practice for boats operating in the area.”
SNH said that the “vast majority” of dive boat operators were sensitive to the need to avoid disturbing seabirds. It confirmed that it was in discussion with NTS about the management of the reserve and its conservation objectives.
Dive boat operators pointed out that they had to make a living. “Yes, we do dive close to the rocks – it’s where the best scenic diving is. But we do it carefully, and do not disturb any wildlife in the process,” said Paul Crowe from Dive St Abb’s.
“I have been a dive boat operator for the last 10 years and in my opinion there has never been a decrease or increase in the amount of birds. These birds are very hardy - imagine being up there when it’s blowing a northerly gale.”
According to Kara Brydson from RSPB Scotland, seabird populations across Scotland were in steep decline. “It's vital that any human activity, whether it's diving or dog walking, does not interfere with breeding birds successfully hatching the next generation of chicks,” she said.
“If it is the case that birds at this internationally important and protected site are being kept away from their nests then we will ensure that all action is taken to stop illegal or unacceptable behaviour.”
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