Forum Meeting 23rd March - Highlights

The Forum met on 23rd March in Perth and the meeting was well attended. Full minutes of the meeting will be circulated to members of the Forum, but these are the highlights.

Guest presentations

Jo O’Hara, Head of Forestry Commission Scotland provided an outline of the changes that are taking place in the Forestry Commission to set up ‘Forestry & Land Scotland’ (management of the forestry estate) and ‘Scottish Forestry’ (regulation), which will both be independent agencies of the Scottish Government. An open consultation will be held regarding the development of a Forest Strategy.

Emma Goodyer from the IUCN UK Peatland Programme had been due to speak about the Commission of Inquiry Update that is in progress, but sadly she was unwell and unable to attend the meeting.

Briefings

Briefings were provided before the meeting and they are available on the website, but the authors spoke to their briefings during the meeting:

• Andrew Coupar – Peatland Update.
• Hamish Trench - The Land Commission. As a result of his attendance it was agreed that the Land Commission would apply for membership of the Forum.
• Will Boyd-Wallis - Cairngorms NPA forestry strategy review.
• Duncan Orr-Ewing - Carbon-Neutral Farming.

Strategic Issues

Discussion centred on how the Forum could identify long-term objectives for moorland in Scotland with links to other strategies and as part of the development of a UK, post-Brexit framework. Engagement with the consultation over the Forest Strategy could be part of this, as well as input to the work strands identified by the Land Commission, principally Land Ownership and Land Use Decision-Making.

A short summary of the breadth of issues covered by the Moorland Forum could be prepared, as a way to highlight why the uplands are in need of careful consideration. Volunteers to refine this approach and assist with the production of a summary are being sought.

Summer meeting

It was agreed that the summer meeting on 1st June 2018 will take place at Carsphairn and it will be hosted by the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere.

Principles of Moorland Management (PoMM)

Agreement was reached to publish the guidance on: Heather Cutting, Mountain Hare and Worm Control in Grouse. Much debate has taken place during the development of this guidance and although the topics have covered some contentious issues, it is to members’ credit that the Forum has been able to agree a common position on this guidance. Some final tweaks will be made, to reflect the discussion during the meeting, ahead of publication at the end of this week.

With the publication of this guidance, the focus can now shift to the production of other guidance. Suggestions for topics to cover will be welcome (see the Blog post).

Muirburn Code

A Development Plan to address the refinement and expansion of the Code’s supplementary information (See the Muirburn blog Post) is being considered by a small group. This will be circulated for input to the Muirburn Group, and more widely, before being finalised.

Working for Waders

Chris Wernham (BTO) provided an update from the meeting of the Facilitation Team that had taken place earlier in the week. Three Action Groups have met twice and a plan for further work during 2018-19 is being developed.

Chairman’s Succession

The Succession Task Group met after the meeting and a separate note will be circulated to Forum members.

Summer Meeting - Sleat Peninsula, Skye

I would like to thank all those who made the Forum's summer visit to Skye such a success.  Lady Noble of Fearann Eilean Iarmain (The Isle Ornsay Estate) hosted the visit and Malcolm Younger (Islesman Ltd) made the local arrangements on her behalf.  We stayed at Sabhal Mor Ostaig (The Gaelic College), which was established by Sir Ian Noble.  We met there on Thursday afternoon, 26th May, and completed a short meeting to discuss Forum business, before being joined by several local guests.

After an introduction by Lady Noble, we heard presentations from:

• Professor Frank Rennie from UHI about Common Grazings;
• Isabel Moore, ‎Biologist at Skye Fisheries Trust, about Salmon and Sea Trout; and
• Jan Wallwork-Clarke, the CEO of Clan Donald Land Trust (the neighbouring landowner), about the estate and deer management.

Photo: Stewart Dawber

Over drinks before supper, the local photographer, Stewart Dawber, gave us a show of his photographs.  This served to whet our appetite for the field visit the following day; we were not to be disappointed.  This photo is an example of his work.

After dinner, we were treated to a cultural presentation about the history of the Sleat Peninsula by Professor Hugh Cheape from the College.  After this, the weather was so perfect, with wind to keep the local midges at bay, that we were able to put the world to rights while standing outside enjoying the view across the Sound of Sleat, in the last of the light.

On Friday morning, we drove the loop road to the west coast of the peninsula and had many interesting discussions in the sunshine, while soaking in the stunning view of the Cuillins.  Among many other topics, we discussed: deer management; the interaction between moorland and woodland management; the economics of farming in the area; fishery management, which included coming face to face with Fresh Water Pearl Mussels and an Adder; and common grazings.

This visit has served to provide the Forum with some very useful contacts in the north and west of the country.  This is of particular importance as we roll out the review of the Muirburn Code and the developing guidance under the banner of the Principles of Moorland Management.  Also, if the Forum is to play a role with the development of a Moorland Vision, in whatever form this takes, good contacts in this area will be essential. The area to the north and west of the Great Glen does not get enough focus and I hope that the Forum can use this visit as the catalyst to start to correct this.

Moorland Forum meeting - 30 October

We had a good turnout for the meeting yesterday; thank you to all those who attended.  Here is a snap shot of the discussion.

Rural Skills and Careers was the lead topic and, with the very valuable input from the Scottish Countryside Alliance, Scottish Land & Estates, Lantra Scotland and the Cairngorms National Park, we had a very good discussions of the issues.  The key question was, "Can the Forum add value to the initiatives that are already in place?" This is a big topic and not surprisingly we did not reach any conclusions, but we agreed that the Forum would organise a meeting to discuss the options in more depth and we will invite other key players, for example the colleges, to attend.

BTO provided an update on the progress of the Understanding Predation project.  The first of three review seminars was held on Tuesday, 27 October, and this had gone very well (see the report on the UP blog).  A striking issue from the seminar had been the diversity of the people who had attended and their willingness to engage in discussion.  The briefing that has been produced for delegates attending the seminar is recommended reading.

We considered the other ongoing and planned work.  I received the invitation to tender for the review of the Muirburn Code on Thursday morning, 29 October, and I will be asking for support with providing the response to the tender.

We discussed the Sustainable Moorland Management Review that had recommended the involvement of the Forum.  Lord Lindsay will write to the Minister for Environment to express the Forum's willingness to support this work, covering: the production of a Moorland Vision and a strategy to deliver it; and the design and delivery of large-scale and long-term experiments to support the  understanding of moorland ecosystem health.

The Forum supported the suggestion that the summer meeting should take us north and west of the Great Glen.  A proposal to visit the Sleat peninsula on Skye was put forward, but other suggestions will be welcome.

A draft of the Annual Progress Report had been circulated and I am keen to get any comments on the text.  I will be working on the presentation of this to provide a bit more impact and move on from the rather predictable presentation.

A landmark day for the Forum

It feels like today has been a bit of a landmark day for the Moorland Forum. Some of the buses we have been waiting for have come round the bend on the same day, and we have held two important meetings.

Review of Sustainable Moorland Management

The long-awaited report to the Science Advisory Committee of SNH from the Review of Sustainable Moorland Management was published today, and this is of great interest to the Forum. The Report, and supporting documents, can be downloaded from the SNH website.

There is a lot of detail in the Report that will need to be sifted through, but the ten recommendations are summarised on p5 of the Report and more details of the key issues (and supporting recommendations) are provided on pp30-37. As a taster the recommendations contain:

• Scotland’s Moorland Forum, working with its members and wider stakeholders, is asked to produce a shared vision for Scotland’s moorlands founded on environmental sustainability and critical ecological thinking and to devise a strategy for delivering this. 
• SNH is asked to work with Scotland’s Moorland Forum to design and deliver large-scale, long-term experiments to support our understanding of moorland ecosystem health.

However, this is not yet a call for action. Discussions are taking place between SNH and the Scottish Government about how this work is to be resourced, and I will provide an update about any action that we can get on with at the Forum meeting, on 30 October.

Understanding Predation - Steering Group Meeting

The Project's Steering Group met and received a presentation from the Research Group about the working draft report that has been circulated to them. Discussion took place about the management and presentation of the data that have been collected from the review of the science, the questionnaire and the workshops. There was complete agreement about how the Report could be refined. 

We also discussed the Project Review Seminars, which will take place on 27 Oct, 3 Nov and 12 Nov, and how these will be structured. See the Understanding Predation blog for more details.

I will provide more detail about this meeting, next week, on the Understanding Predation blog and there will be a progress update at the Forum meeting on 30 October.

Chairman's Working Group Meeting

This meeting was held after the Steering Group meeting, and we discussed the agenda for the Forum meeting on 30 October. An important part of the meeting will be a discussion on Rural Skilling. I will circulate an Agenda for the meeting, next week, and this will include a briefing about the Rural Skilling part of the meeting.  

I will ask that members come to the meeting with a clear understanding of what their organisations do already towards providing skills for people in rural areas and what training is provided for the next generation. 

Muirburn Code Review

On the way back from the meetings, I was in discussion with the Scottish Government about the Invitation to Tender for the next phase of the review of the Muirburn Code. I expect to receive the Invitation next week, and I will be aiming to provide a response no later than the end of November, with a view to work starting on the agreed process, early in 2016. Again, more about this on 30 October.

I look forward to working with Members to take forward all these initiatives. It has indeed been a bit of a landmark day, and in preparation for tackling all this, I am heading for three days on the west coast for quiet contemplation and an injection of reality!

Summer Meeting at Invermark - 5 June 2015

With thanks to Lord Dalhouse and Richard Cooke for their offer of hospitality, I had a great visit to Invermark today to set up for the Forum's Summer meeting at Invermark. The programme for the meeting will be discussed at the Chairman's Working Group meeting on 22 May, but it is likely to include a business meeting for Forum members, followed by a discussion meeting to address issues that are relevant to the management of Invermark. Some guests will be invited to the discussion meeting and we will visit an area of the estate in the afternoon. It promises to be a fascinating and informative meeting.

I took the photo today and it provides an indication of what we will see in June, weather permitting.

Highlights from the Moorland Forum Meeting - 28 February 2014

Thank you to those who were able to be with us for the Forum meeting at Oatridge College, on Friday.

The meeting covered a lot of ground and in advance of the Minutes, I am circulating some highlights as a reminder to those who were there and to give a quick overview of the key points to those who could not attend.  (Meeting Papers)

Opportunities to support the Forum’s work are highlighted in green, and places where action is required in red.

Briefings 

• SCA Routes 2 Rural Employment – Jamie Stewart
• This appears to be a good fit with the Forum’s aspiration to have some input in this area.
• We agreed that the Forum will support this initiative. 
• LUS Borders Pilot update
• The current 6-month stakeholder engagement phase finishes at the end of May 2014.
• The report from the Pilot will be completed by the end of March 2015.
• We will keep in touch with this work.

Briefings added to the website

• National Bird Survey Guidance Update.
• Wildlife Estates Scotland update.

‘Understanding Predation’ (formerly 'Species Interactions')

• It was agreed that the development of this project would continue.
• A Planning Group would be established and this would meet on 17 March.
• A questionnaire would be circulated to all members and other interested parties to capture views about the work.

Principles of Moorland Management 2

• Volunteers were requested to develop a skeleton plan for this work from the concept document that had been circulated.
• The aim would be to develop an outline project during 2014 so that it could be included in the budget round for funding in 2015-16.
• Work would not start until April 2015.

Update on Work in Progress

• The Peatland Action project 
• An event is being organised on Flanders Moss in March to provide an opportunity to see peatland restoration in action.
• Details and a booking form are on the News page of the Forum’s website  
• The event is being repeated on three consecutive days 25-27 March.  Forum members are encouraged to attend on 25 March. 
• Forest Enterprise Open Land Project
• Members are asked to review the report from the workshop held last year.
• Please could any comments be sent to me by the end of March 2014. 
• Comments will be passed to FES.

Governance Issues

• Programme for Delivery
• See the latest version on the website..
• The Programme for 2014 has been updated.
• A review of the Priority Issues, Other Work, and the Issues pages is required and volunteers would be welcomed to help with this.
• Summer Meeting - 6 June 2014
• Mar Lodge was agreed as the venue.
• Guest invitations
• Ian Ross, the new chairman of SNH
• Richard Cooke
• Other suggestions will be welcome.

Chairman's Working Group - 7 February

The meeting was held at the RSPB Scottish HQ, Edinburgh

Attendance:				Apologies:
Jamie	Lindsay	Chairman		Andrew	Coupar	SNH
Simon	Thorp	Director		Malcolm	Younger	RICS
Anne	Stoddart	Administrator		Davy	McCracken	SRUC
Tim	Baynes	SL&E		Ronnie	Kippen	SGA
Roger	Burton	SNH		Adam	Smith	GWCT
Will	Boyd-Wallis	CNPA
Hugh	Dignon	SG
Alex	Hogg	SGA
Duncan	Orr-Ewing	RSPB
Chris	Wernham	BTO

Summary of the Discussion

1               Agenda for the Forum meeting on 28 February  

• Modified and agreed.

2               Species Interactions

• New title agreed: Understanding Predation
• Paper discussed at the meeting would be revised to incorporate the issues considered, and the revised version would be circulated to Forum members for review at the Forum meeting.
• Scope to be: "Avian and mammalian predators of wild birds".  Piscivorous birds would be excluded, but it was agreed that the scope could include mammal on mammal predation where it was relevant.

3               Forum Summer Meeting

• Mar Lodge at Braemar was the preferred option and details will be presented at the Forum meeting.  Members will be asked to consider the proposal.

4               Development of best practice Moorland Management Guidance          

• This would be a development of the Principles of Moorland Management, published by the Forum in 2003.  The proposal that was discussed would also be presented at the Forum meeting.

5               Governance

• Four members had yet to pay their annual subscriptions.

6               SNH Chairman

• An early opportunity would be sought for the Chairman and Director to meet Andrew Thin’s successor as Chairman of SNH.