Prepared using evidence from the National Countryside Monitoring Scheme.
Considerable changes have taken place in Scotland’s towns and countryside between the late 1940s and the late 1980s. Urban expansion, road development and afforestation were among the more striking.
Changes in the structure of farmland or in the extent and condition of moorland may have been less obvious. Yet they have been no less relevant to the visual appearance of the countryside, to its wildlife and to the quality of experience for outdoor recreation and enjoyment.
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