Muirburn Code Review - Critique Phase ending

People with an interest in muirburn have been contacted and invited to contribute to the critique phase of the review.  They are reminded that their feedback has been requested by 8 March.

The Scottish Government has commissioned Scotland's Moorland Forum to start work on a review of the Muirburn Code. The first phase of this is a critique phase that includes the existing Code but also provides and opportunity to contribute to the development of the format of the revised Code and topics to be covered by it.

The feedback received in response to the invitation will be collated into a report that will be discussed and then forwarded to the Scottish Government. When the review process has been agreed, instructions will be issued to the Forum. 

The intention is that the new Code will be in place for the 2014-2015 muirburn season.

Asulam available for Bracken Control in 2013

At a meeting of the Bracken Control Group yesterday (26 February), in York, it was announced that the application for the emergency Authorisation for the use of asulam to control bracken has been approved.  This will allow the marketing and distribution of asulam products to start on 20 May 2013 for a 120-day period that will end on 16 September.  It will be possible to apply asulam products from 1 July 2013 until the end of a use-up period on 31 October.

See the Bracken Control website for more information and the Newsletter that was published, yesterday.

Users should note:

• It is illegal to store asulam products (anywhere in the EU) until the start of the EA Period on 20 May 2013.
• It will be illegal to store the products after the end of the use-up period.  Any product purchased this year must be applied, returned or otherwise disposed of by 31 October 2013. 
• Anyone wishing to apply asulam products this year are advised to contact their distributors, or aerial / ground-based contractors, as soon as possible. 

Launch of the year of Natural Scotland

I attended the launch of this initiative at the Scottish Parliament, last night.  It was good to see the Moorland Forum so well represented - 14 Chief Executives from the Forum's 30 organisations were present.

The Minister for Environment & Climate Change addressed the reception and there was an opportunity to vote for the selection of the favourite species to be promoted through the year.  The Red squirrel's charms were proving to be a big attraction, but I would like to think that a species more representative of our moorland and upland areas topped the bill.

Scottish Natural Heritage and Visit Scotland are promoting this initiative and there is much more information an the websites.

The Visit Scotland website quotes that, "Scotland is renowned for breathtaking scenery and our unique natural heritage.  The Year of Natural Scotland is a chance to highlight our great natural assets and celebrate our reputation as a land of outstanding beauty." In his address, Andrew Thin, the Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage, highlighted the value of the Scottish brand to Scotland and how we should be making the most of our natural assets to enhance this.

New Chief Executive for the Cairngorms National Park Authority

Congratulations to Grant Moir on his appointment as Chief Executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority; he will take up the post in March 2013.

I look forward to continuing to work with him as the Chief Executive of a member organisation but also to welcoming his successor as representative of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Authority on the Forum.

Additional coverage: The Scotsman

Changes to Snaring Legislation

Photo: Scottish Rural Network

See the Scottish Rural Network article that explains developments ahead of the implementation of legislation that will require unique identification tags to be be fitted to all snares from 1 April 2013.

Irish Peatland Conservation

Photo: IPCC

The scale of the Irish peatland challenge is revealed in The Irish Peatland Conservation Council's (IPCC) new action plan "Ireland’s Peatland Conservation Action Plan 2020".

The website has more detail but as a starter:

• 269,267ha of peatlands are of conservation interest in Ireland. This represents 23% of the original peatland area in the country.

• There are 736 peatland sites of conservation value in the Republic of Ireland and 138 peatland sites of conservation value in Northern Ireland.

• 129 actions are needed to conserve our peatlands and return degraded and threatened peatlands to favourable conservation status.

Does this information provide lessons for us in Scotland?

Catchment Management & Payment for Ecosystem Services

This post does not have the snappiest of titles, but do not let this fool you. Payment for Ecosystem Services is a developing concept and could have far reaching implications for land management. If a financial return can be generated for producing public benefits in the form of Ecosystem Services this could provide another income stream for land managers.

At present it is largely the domain of the scientists, but practical projects are developing to apply this concept in the wild. South West Water is running a scheme on Exmoor, other water companies are active in Northern England.

To keep up-to-date, it is worth a quickRead of the briefing note produced by the Valuing Nature Network. This is based on the discussion that took place at a meeting in Leeds in January 2013 where I gave a presentation on land management issues.