Further research by the University of Aberdeen is about to take place into the high levels of soil pollution discovered in the soils of the St Kilda archipelago, following a grant of £168,000 from the Leverhulme Trust.
Researchers from the Plant and Soil Science at the University of Aberdeen have discovered that the arable farming practices on the remote islands of St Kilda, combined with the local custom of eating and composting seabird waste, has led to the build up significant levels of contaminants such as lead, zinc and arsenic in the soils of Hirta, the main island of the archipelago.
This latest award will allow Professor Andy Meharg of the University's Plant and Soil Science Department to lead a multidisciplinary project team to further investigate the particular nature and detail of the soils on St Kilda and other remote Scottish islands.
Professor Meharg said: "The island community on the remote St Kilda archipelago has often been viewed as a utopian society, given their closeness to the environment and local self government, polluted the farmland of St Kilda with a range of potentially toxic elements, such as lead, zinc, cadmium and arsenic. This contamination will change the perception of the St Kildan's living in harmony with their environment."
Robin Turner, Senior Archaeologist for the islands' owners The National Trust for Scotland, is amazed at the results of the survey: "Up to now we thought of St Kilda as an idyllic society living in blissful harmony with nature. The demise of the community is always blamed on external pressures, firstly from the landlord, then from visitors and latterly from the increased expectations of the population. Now we can see that the islanders were unwittingly poisoning the soil on which they relied, and perhaps themselves too. This makes the story even more interesting for us today. The message is: not only do we need to live in harmony with our environment, but we need to be very sure that any apparently sensible changes we make don't have unexpected side-effects."