Asulam: The loss of effective bracken control?

For a view on the debate surrounding the re-registration of Asulam, and the potential threat to effective bracken control in the uplands, see the post on The Heather Trust's Blog.

Getting the best from our land: a land use strategy for Scotland

From the Land Use Strategy Team:

Scottish Ministers today laid Scotland’s first Land Use Strategy and an accompanying consultation report before the Scottish Parliament.  The Strategy signals a change in the ways that we approach land use across the country, and will influence a wide range of land-use decisions.   To find out more or to view the Strategy, please visit our web page at the above address.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the Strategy’s development.  The response to our consultation in the autumn was excellent, and helped build on the views received at our public workshops last spring.

The full suite of documents, including the Strategy itself, is available as follows:

Getting the best from our land: a land use strategy for Scotland

Getting the best from our land: a guide to Scotland’s first land use strategy

Getting the best from our land: a report on the consultation process undertaken to produce a land use strategy for Scotland

Applying an ecosystems approach to land use: Information Note

Analysis of Responses to the Consultation on “Getting the best from our land: a draft land use strategy for Scotland”

Analysis of responses to the consultation on “Getting the best from our land: a draft land use strategy for Scotland”  [summary findings]

Getting the best from our land: A draft land use strategy for Scotland: Strategic Environmental Assessment Environmental Report: Consultation Analysis Report

Wildlife Management - SNH's role and priorities

SNH has published feedback to those who responded to the consultation on Wildlife Management in December 2010.  The Board paper can be downloaded here.  Is there a role for the Moorland Forum here?

The covering e-mail message is repeated below:

Our role in wildlife management: discussion on our future priorities 
Our Board met on the 22 February and discussed the attached paper which outlined our proposed future wildlife management priorities.  This was prepared following our recent consultation looking at this new programme of wildlife management work.

The Board were very supportive of the general approach laid out in the paper and the priority areas identified for early work.  They recognised that this was an important area for SNH and complemented our existing activities very well.  It was recognised that there is a desire for greater co-ordination and leadership in wildlife management work, but that clarity was needed on where SNH's influence would be most beneficial.

It was noted that animal welfare was an important aspect of this work and that a more objective approach to animal welfare issues would enable more transparent decisions to be made by SNH and other public bodies on wildlife management work.  It was also felt that more could be done by SNH and others to promote a more informed and balanced public debate on the welfare matters.

Our Board also recognised that this work needed to be underpinned by sound science and this should build on existing work and data collection by other bodies.  It was recognised that SNH Board and Committees had limited expertise in areas of social science and this expertise may need to be supplemented to enable effective support of this programme of work.

Finally, the Board noted that staff and financial resources were limited and asked staff to develop the identified priorities into a realistic programme of work that would enable tangible progress to be delivered within the next 2 years.

We will be developing our wildlife management programme along these lines and look forward to working with you as this work is progressed.

If you have any queries about any of the details within the paper please contact one of us: eileen.stuart@snh.gov.uk, roger.burton@snh.gov.uk orrobbie.kernahan@snh.gov.uk.

SG's Report - 'Our Rural Future'

This report is the Government's response to the Speak Up for Rural Scotland consultation carried out, last year.  It contains many themes that are similar to the recommendations contained in the report from the Forum's Upland Solutions project.  A thought for the Moorland Forum is that we could offer a task force approach, building on our experience with Upland Solutions, for the development of plans for communities where there are upland or moorland interests. This would allow the Forum to work in partnership with other organisations to produce plans for the future of the community area that connected with upland interests.

The report can be downloaded from the SG Website and is well worth a look.  For the Forum, the sections on Land Use Priorities and Community Participation Priorities are of particular relevance.