Muirburn Code Review

The Muirburn Group last met in July 2014. At this meeting the Group supported the proposals contained in the report from the Critique Phase. This had considered the existing Code and the report then outlined proposals for the review. There was support for a move towards training, the adoption of an intelligent approach to muirburn, and the awareness of the importance of communication.

I met with Scottish Government and SNH in December to discuss the situation. It was agreed that the proposals made in the report from the Critique Phase would be accepted and that it would now be possible to proceed to develop a review of the Code. The Critique Phase report proposed that this would be the start of a process, and that the review would not simply be the production of a revised booklet.

It was agreed that the first phase of the review process should be the production of a Practitioners’ Guide. Ideally, this would be in place for the start of the muirburn season in 2015, but this is looking unlikely.

The next action rests with the Scottish Government and this will be to produce tender documents for the first phase of the review.  If the Forum's tender is accepted, our input would be funded, under the terms agreed for commissioned work. Until this tender is approved, we cannot make further progress. 

As soon as I receive tender documents, I would like to convene a meeting of the Muirburn Group to discuss the response, and to form a Steering Group to help develop the tender documents and, if successful, to start work on the review process.

Scottish Land & Estates Newsletter

Follow this link to the latest newsletter from Scottish Land & Estates.

Moorland Forum members may be interested in the articles on:

• The SL&E response to the Land Reform consultation
• Wildlife Estates - 23 estates accredited, 5 pending.
• Rule changes for farm and forestry tracks
• The HT / GWCT Golden Plover Award 2015

International Year of Soils - Thematic Groups

Five Soil Thematic Groups – Soil Water, Soil and Climate, Soil and Biodiversity, Soil and Land Use, Soil and Society - have been created to provide information on potential International Year of Soils activities and identify what is achievable during the IYS which ends on World Soils Day, 5th December 2015. 

The Administrator represented The Director at the first meeting of the Soil and Land Use Group on 28th January.  Forum member organisations represented included: SEPA, NFUS, JHI, Scottish Government, The Heather Trust and SRUC.

The Groups have been tasked to:

• Raise awareness of the benefits that soils can bring to society, organisations and individuals;
• Support and provide integration between organisations in achieving higher impact from their activities; and
• Examine how resources (human and / or financial) can be pulled together.

The Royal Highland Show was identified as a key opportunity for collaboration and will be discussed further at the next meeting. An education focus group has been proposed to create resources and learning sessions for educational professionals.  Anyone interested in participating in this should contact Kirsten Leask.

The aim through the year is to achieve greater recognition of soils and their benefits and the group will be examining how to carry forward and maximise the use of combined staff and material resources.

Colleen McCulloch is the point of contact for more information.  Contact details are available from the Administrator – use the Moorland Forum contact form.

Scottish Borders Land Use Strategy Pilot - Public Meetings

                                                          

                                               

Scottish Borders Land Use Strategy pilot

‘Consultation on the draft Framework and

Map based information’

Please come along to one of the 4 public meetings being held across the Borders to discuss the draft Land Use Framework:

Wednesday January 14^th - Kirkhope hall, Ettrickbridge - 7.30pm.

Tuesday January 20^th - Reston village hall - 7.30pm.

Wednesday January 21^st - Eddleston village hall - 7.30pm.

 Tuesday January 27^th - Midlem village hall - 7.30pm.

An example map of the multiple benefits which can be achieved when implementing natural flood management measures

Evening Programme for the Consultation Events

After almost 18 months of widespread discussion, the draft Land Use Framework and Maps are available for public consultation and we are hosting a series of LUS pilot consultation events. At these events, a short presentation will be made on the draft Framework document. This will be followed by a discussion regarding the various maps generated. More information is available overleaf. It would be appreciated if you could let us know of your intention to attend, by e-mailing:

derek.robeson@tweedforum.org.                                       

Kind Regards

Derek Robeson, Tweed Forum

Scottish Borders pilot regional Land Use Framework: Consultation Questions

The consultation documents and maps are available to view for your interest and comment on the Council's website at:

www.scotborders.gov.uk/info/1225/countryside_farming_and_wildlife/964/biodiversity/6
www.scotborders.gov.uk/pilotLUSconsultation/maps

A set of consultation questions is also available on the Council's website for completion via an online web form, or via a download document if you prefer to submit your response by email or post to lus@scotborders.gov.uk or Land Use Strategy pilot consultation, Built & Natural Heritage, Regulatory Services, Newtown St Boswells TD6 0SA. The closing date for consultation responses is 16^th February 2015.

Ahead of the meeting, it would be beneficial to have looked at the on-line documents, and maps, so we can discuss them. The questions are listed below:

Question 1:

Does the Framework document provide enough background information to explain the pilot?

Question 2:

Are you satisfied with the process undertaken to produce the Framework?

Question 3:

Are you satisfied with the stakeholder consultation undertaken to produce the Framework?

Question 4:

Are you satisfied with the content and clarity of the maps shown?:

      i)   Do you have any comments on the stock maps of natural capital?

      ii)  Do you have any comments on the opportunity maps and key policy drivers?

      iii)  Do you have any comments on the interaction maps?

      iv)  Do you have any comments on the potential multiple benefit maps?

Question 5:

Are the mapped sets of interactions between different potential land uses (constraints on possible land use options) together with the maps of potential multiple benefits helpful in guiding decisions about possible land use change?

Question 6

i)               Can you give an indication of how you might use the mapped information?

ii)              What other elements might help make this easier for your use?

Question 7

Are you satisfied with the Interim action plan?

Question 8:

Are you satisfied with the set of potential national, regional and local actions as proposed in the Postscript?

Questions 9 &10: Refer to actions for organisations to consider

Question 11:

Do you feel that the proposals for Monitoring and Assessment of this pilot are adequate for the purpose?

Question 12: Do you have any further comments you would like to make?

Call for voluntary restraint on large scale hare culls

A joint initiative urging voluntary restraint on large scale culls of mountain hares was launched on 23 December.

The initiative is supported by: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Scottish Land & Estates (SLE), the James Hutton Institute (JHI) and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), with funding coming from SNH, JHI and GWCT.

The initiative seeks to establish effective but sustainable management of mountain hares. Mountain hare populations are under threat from habitat loss, fragmentation, and in some areas, from large, local culls on grouse moors. Although not a fully protected species, the UK is obliged to ensure that the status of hare populations is not threatened in any way.

For further details see the press release as reported on the GWCT Blog.

Scottish Natural Heritage - Review of Moorland Management

Professor Alan Werritty is the chairman of the SNH-led review of moorland management.  Here, at the end of a long two days, Alan provides an update on progress.

Our two-day hearing has come to a close.

Our final session ranged over policy issues. We had a lively hearing involving Bob McIntosh, Director of the Scottish Government’s Environment and Forestry Directorate, Duncan Orr-Ewing of the RSPB, Maggie Keegan of the SWT, and Andrew Midgley of Scottish Land Estates.

The Land Use Strategy and the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy featured prominently. We explored in detail the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainable moorland landscapes. A lot of our discussion centred on the role of a national vision for moorland and regional strategies supporting this.

Now we begin work on our report, which we shall draft by the end of February. 

Meanwhile, I must thank my colleagues for supporting the review, and the many people who attended the hearing for so enthusiastically participating in our conversations. We have also received some excellent written evidence which helps us greatly.

Professor Alan Werritty FRSE
Chair of the SNH SAC Sustainable Moorland Management Review Group

Scottish Natural Heritage - Review of Moorland Management

Professor Alan Werritty is chairing a SNH-led review of moorland management.  Here, in his second guest blog, Alan provides an update on progress.

We are now well into our hearing on sustainable moorland management.

Yesterday was fascinating. We heard evidence from SNH staff, which highlighted the huge breadth of issues they deal with under the umbrella of ‘moorlands’. We have some strong lines of evidence on wildlife and habitat changes derived from SNHs Site Condition Monitoring, and available on SEWeb.

We then heard from a trio of professors working on water management and geodiversity. We discussed the EMBER project, a number of issues relating to flood management, and heard about growing interest in the ‘roughness’ of upland landscapes in determining water run-off. 

We then moved into economic and amenity issues and heard from representatives of crofting and recreation interests as well as experienced economists and land-use experts. As we ranged over the many values of moorland we were challenged to tease apart views, perceptions and evidence (the term ‘co-production of evidence’ popped into conversation!). So many people, even experts, have hard views about what works well and badly across moorland Scotland, yet the evidence base underpinning this is incredibly patchy and disparate.

We worked late and tried to pull together the threads of much of what we heard, and have read.

This morning, we started with a session on biodiversity, with lively contributions from Professors Steve Redpath and Davy McCracken, both vastly experienced and steeped in the complexities of land use change, conservation and management. A lot of science came to the fore here, and we heard a strong case for more experimental work, and possibly a large experiment on land management practices and impacts. We also heard a lot about the value of a range of evidence types – not just from scientists, but from the wider range of stakeholders connected with the uplands.

We have just finished a session on moorland management practices, with experts from the Heather Trust, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, National Trust for Scotland, Association of Deer Management Groups, and the renewable energy sector. This was a wide ranging session, with a lot of discussion centring on grouse moor management, the land restoration measures and cooperative approaches to management. These are complex issues, and one issue emerging very clearly is the great range of management objectives, some of which operate at the local landholding level, whereas others cover vast landscapes. Indeed, several people have commented we don’t really have a clear or shared vision for moorlands. We recently saw a public consultation on a national plan for Scotland’s peatlands, and we have a good deal to learn from that.

Professor Alan Werritty FRSE
Chair of the SNH SAC Sustainable Moorland Management Review Group