Land

Crown Estate Scotland, which manages 37,000 hectares of rural land on behalf of Scottish Ministers, is investing £4.5 million over two years in a range of activity on its four rural estates, including new buildings and infrastructure.

The investment will support tenants in their day-to-day operations and will also benefit the wider rural economy in those areas. Some of the works will support tenants in developing and diversifying their businesses, many of whom are situated in remote rural locations.

Following a flood of entries at the Royal Highland show and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Game Fair, Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) has extended the entry deadline for its Helping it Happen awards until 20th July.

Community Land Scotland (CLS) was established in 2010 as a response to the need for a collective voice for community landowners in Scotland - There are currently  90 members, of which 55 are community landowners owning and managing approximately 500,000 acres between them and 35 are working towards owning land.

A new service has launched today, Friday 9 February 2018, to provide farmers, foresters and crofters in Scotland with a collaborative way to explore their business ideas.

The Rural Innovation Support Service is part of the Scottish Rural Network and is being led by Soil Association Scotland.

EUROPARC Conference 2018 - Registration now open

The theme for this event will be ‘European Parks: Inspired by the Next Generation’ will focus on what Parks can learn from young people and what changes need to be made to manage protected areas for future generations. Matching the ‘Year of Young People’ designated in Scotland for 2018, the conference will call for young people to be more involved in decision making, volunteering, working and living in Parks.

Improving Public Access - Sharing Good Practice to Improve our Paths

Join Paths for All for a half-day to learn about the SRDP 'Improving Public Access' (IPA) grant scheme and to visit an IPA funded project.

Cost: £40 per person. Tea and coffee will be provided on arrival and a buffet lunch is included at approx1.30pm

The 2018 application window for the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) is now open.

The scheme supports environmentally-friendly land management practices that aim to safeguard and improve Scotland’s natural heritage and help businesses adapt to climate change.

The AECS 2018 application window opened today (17 January) and will run for 12 weeks until 13 April 2018. The deadline for applications for collaborative projects which involve five or more businesses is 31 May 2018.

A Changing Landscape - Making the Most of Our Natural Assets

A key reason for reason for much of South West Scotland having been designated as the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere is its long history of agriculture and forestry which has shaped our landscapes, our biodiversity, our local economy and our local communities.

With changes on the horizon leading to increased pressures for afforestation, particularly of commercial monoculture, the intensification of livestock farming in our lowlands and the threat to the sustainability of hill and upland farming from Brexit, the makeup of the region is going to change.

The EIP-AGRI Service Point is looking for coordinating experts for a number of workshops, seminars and Focus Groups on a range of topics.

The agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI) works to foster competitive and sustainable farming and forestry that 'achieves more and better from less'. 

Over 800 projects in Scotland are to benefit from funding from the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme to encourage environmentally-friendly land management practices.

AECS 2017 has awarded £47.7 million to 801 projects over the next five years to protect and enhance Scotland’s natural heritage, improve water quality, manage flood risk, and help agricultural businesses adapt to climate change.

Announcing the award, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:

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