Land Use Strategy - Pilots - Evaluation Report

In 2013, the Scottish Government initiated two regional land use pilot projects in Aberdeenshire and the Scottish Borders to test an innovative approach to land use decision-making. An independent evaluation was carried out in parallel with the pilot projects to consider the processes of developing and managing the projects, as well as the final outputs.

The Report on the Evaluation of the Regional Land Use Framework Pilots, and the Research Findings were published today.

Information on the pilot projects can be found on the Land Use Strategy webpages.

If you have any questions, you are invited to get in touch with the Land Use and Biodiversity Team at LandUseStrategy@gov.scot 

Muirburn Code Review - it's all go

I had a good meeting with the Scottish Government, on Friday, and we have agreed the approach to the review.  I will provide full details when I have agreed the contract with the Government on behalf of the Forum, but the key features are:

• The review process will start this month;
• A draft revised Code will be produced by the end of August;
• The draft revised Code will be road-tested in four workshops to be held in different parts of the country during the next muirburn season;
• Feedback from the workshops will be used to refine the Code; and  
• A revised Code will be presented to the Scottish Government for adoption when all feedback has been incorporated.

I am pleased that this next phase in the review process is following the recommendations from the Critique Phase Report that the Muirburn Group presented to the Scottish Government in June 2014.  No commitment can be given to moving beyond this phase of work.  However, there is plenty of work to be done in short term, and I hope that this will lead to further development in the longer term.

The Moorland Forum Website

A New Year and a a new website.  This is evolution not revolution but I hope that members will appreciate the improvements to the presentation of information.

Anne has been working hard behind the scenes to manage the transition, but work on a website never reflects the amount of effort that is required to achieve even simple changes.  Many of the improvements are behind the scenes and will improve our ability to keep the website up to date and add information.

We will add the Understanding Predation report to the website, when it is published on 1st February.

I would like to invite members to take this opportunity to review the website in its new form and let us know whether or not it is providing the right amount of information for your needs.

The Understanding Predation Project

This project is entering the final stages.  There is a short update on the project's blog.

Muirburn Code Review - update

I submitted the response to the Invitation to Tender to the Scottish Government in mid-December, following a discussion with a cross-sector Planning Group.  The recommendations from the Planning Group included extending the work to encompass workshops during the next muirburn season to promote a draft of the revised Code to practitioners.

I have been invited to meet the Scottish Government on 8 January and I expect that we will agree a way ahead for this review.

I will be setting up a Steering Group to run the project and a wider Muirburn Group to provide input to the review process and to communicate the output from the review amongst their own networks.

I will be pleased to hear from anyone who is interested in contributing to this review.

Consultation on a draft Land Use Strategy 2016 - 2021

The land use strategy consultation runs until 29 January 2016. See the Scottish Government website for full details.

The first Land Use Strategy was published in March 2011. It initiated a step change towards a more integrated and strategic approach to land use.

The draft Land Use Strategy 2016-2021 builds on the first Strategy and retains the strategic Vision, Objectives and Principles for Sustainable Land Use. These are considered fit for purpose in terms of continuing to provide the strategic direction for sustainable land use matters. 

The draft provides a focussed set of priority activities for the next five years and policies and proposals have been developed around the following themes:

• Policy Context;
• Informed Decision Making; and
• Applying the Principles.

The draft sets out a range of policies and proposals including:

• how we manage our natural resources, including continued use of an ecosystems approach to land use decisions;
• developing and implementing activities to promote climate friendly farming and crofting;
• an exploration of the relationship between ownership, use and management of land including consideration of the potential advantages of a single policy statement about land; and
• encouraging regional land use partnerships to bring a range of interests together to consider land use at a local level.

As with other consultations, it may be difficult for the Forum to respond on behalf of members, as it may not be possible for the Forum to achieve consensus on all the issues.  However, the possibility of providing a generic response from the Forum will be considered, and Forum members will be encouraged to to respond individually.

Understanding Predation Project - Review Seminars

See the report from the final two seminars that is on the Understanding Predation blog.