Tourism at Grey Mare’s

Why would hiking be an environmental concern?

Ecotourism - tourism focused on seeing and experiencing nature - has both benefits and drawbacks. For humans, it’s an enjoyable leisure activity. For the environment, it’s a mixed bag: looking at the big picture, nature can be supported by having more people who care about it and want to see it healthy. On the local level, though, tourism can inflict serious damage on ecosystems through things like resource use, land degradation, pollution, and infrastructure construction. The Grey Mare’s Tail Nature Reserve in Scotland balances human access and the nation’s right to roam with minimal impact through careful management.

As discussed in Unit 2, Scotland’s devolved powers include environmental management. One of the most obvious differences between Scottish and English land manage centres around Scotland’s “right to roam”. The Land Reform Act 2003, which has deep roots in ideas of nature as a shared heritage, guarantees everyone responsible recreational access to land and water bodies. This means that you can hike around virtually any pasture, forest, or mountain in Scotland - even if it’s privately owned. 

Can this be a problem? Tourist impacts on local environments aren’t always minimal. Watch the video below to learn more about the benefits of Scotland’s right to roam culture, then read the articles to consider some of the potential drawbacks.

Grey Mare’s Tail is the name of the UK’s fifth highest waterfall. The National Trust for Scotland manages a nature reserve around the waterfall, which flows from Loch Skeen. The area owes its shape to glacial action, and is a well-known tourist attraction. Locals come for regular Sunday walks, while many of Scotland’s international tourists stop by to enjoy the stunning views. More adventurous hikers head up the 2700-foot-high White Coomb.

Hiking around Grey Mare’s Tail, visitors might notice a few intentional decisions from the National Trust for Scotland: (1) there are no toilets on site, minimising the built infrastructure and resource use around the area, and (2) the climbing path includes carved rock stairs, with signs around asking hikers to stay to the main path. These signs include notes about problems associated with human traffic and erosion, and are one way the nation seeks to balance its right to roam heritage with its conservation values.

Read more about the geological history of the landscape and the management of the nature reserve. Then take in some of the views through video tours produced at different seasons.