Scottish gamekeepers and mountaineers oppose tree-planting plan

Two groups unite to oppose proposal to plant thousands of trees saying it could threaten the country's 'dramatic open views and vistas'

Scotland's mountaineers and gamekeepers have rarely seen eye to eye. But now they have put their differences behind them to oppose an apparently innocuous plan that both say threatens the country's landscape: a proposal to plant thousands of new trees.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) and Mountaineering Scotland admit they are unlikely bedfellows, having historically disagreed over access to land for walkers and issues of wildlife preservation. But they are united in their concerns over proposals that are part of the government's Draft Climate Change Plan, which they say could threaten the country's "dramatic open views and vistas".