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Hi Barracamper, This does not surprise me in the least. Beach areas that had previously sustained campers on Vatersay were already roped off when we were there in 2008.

Unfortunately, the only people we saw actually damaging the Machair were locals towing very large caravans and boat trailers along rutted tracks, tearing the grass and leaving behind bare sand.

Then again, I also live in a coastal village, on the Clyde and it is our locals that treat the beach area as their own personal garden rubbish tip which probably upsets the tourists to our area as much as I was upset when I witnessed the antics Western Isles locals.

The Machair, by its very nature, whilst looking inviting to campers and caravaners to use it, is not a suitable type of ground to site a caravan site on. The ground would not support a road system and wherever a caravan site is laid out, there will have to be a road system laid down.

The Machair took many thousands of years to form and it is unfair to expect it to survive now that folks have found such a destructive use for it. It must be protected.
But by the same rules, Barra, being a small island and suffering greatly from often misguided rulings from bodies in far away offices (!!!), has to depend more and more on its tourist industry and will have to find a way of satisfying the needs of those who want to enjoy the attractions that Barra has to offer.

As an update to this post, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Parks Authority are about to introduce a total ban on all "drinking outdoors and in public places along both the east and west banks of Loch Lomond".

Whether this will include existing official caravan sites or not has not been made clear yet, however it is expected to cover those camp sites that are to be set up by the authority to combat the wildcamping that has caused this problem.

Sorry, wee mistake on the above. Although the National Park Authority are supporting this ban, as are many other bodies that have interests in that area, the ban itself is being proposed by the Buchanan Community Council and backed by Stirling Council. However it will only become law by an act of the Scottish Parliament.

Buchanan Community Council covers several communities along the east side of Loch Lomond and this ban will in effect be added to a ban on public drinking already in place for the west side.
It will further outlaw all wildcamping around Loch Lomond.

As it is an addition to an existing law, you can be sure that it will be passed very soon indeed. Probably for the 2010 summer season.

Loch Lomond, beautiful as it is, is simply too accessable to the mindless morons that cannot socialise without an excessive amount of alcohol in their blood system.

I to am disgusted at the way these morons treat these areas,they don't use.. they actually ABUSE..I tend to stay away from the popular tourist areas now and IMHO Loch Lomond is a perfect example of where its all went wrong.

It is very hard to police given the sheer number of visitors to this area. It used to be quieter on the East side but now so many people have cars making it easier for the yobs and undesirables to get there.

I have wild camped in most areas of Scotland over the years and always leave as I find, as most genuine lovers of the countryside do.

I have to say its not just the young yob culture who treat the area like their personal dumping ground,I have seen people of all ages leave all the their rubbish after a picnic, camping etc...and if you say anything they look at you as if you are an alien with two heads and generally say "what the **** has it got to do with you"....

I wild camp very little now but when I do its really remote.."the yobs don't do middle of nowhere" generally speaking..but give it time...

Thanks VangoMan02, and I agree with everything you say.

My motto when I wildcamp is leave nothing but footprints (or in my case now, tyre tracks) and take nothing but memories.

The only place I have felt truly safe and at ease when wildcamping recently was on the Western Isles and with the cost of the ferry fares to get there, it may be some time yet before the idiots would choose to spend that kind of dosh on fares rather than more booze.

Indeed any island off the coast of Scotland that is not connected by a bridge, could well be the last bastions for the wildcamper. A fact that attracts many yachtsmen to our west coast.