ABSTRACT
Most policy is produced for relatively large areas which may result in undesired or ineffective action at the micro level. In this example, the policy of a national level charitable organisation, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) specifically developed for a specific small island (Fair Isle) is examined and evaluated over a fifty-year period. Fair Isle is the most remote of the inhabited British Isles with a population of 60, and an economy based on small scale agriculture, craft production, and tourism. The chapter begins by briefly describing the characteristics of the island and then reviews the involvement of the NTS in the island’s development and management. The policy of the NTS has two major strands, the major one, population stabilisation, has been relatively successful, and the second, sustainability, is harder to assess over the long term. During the study period the NTS has had to adapt its policy to major disturbances at the national level (e.g. Scottish Devolution), and at the local level (e.g. the impacts of off-shore oil and gas developments on the Shetland Islands). The chapter concludes by assessing the effectiveness of the policy of NTS and the likely challenges it faces in the future.
