Peatland Carbon Code

The Valuing Nature Network has issued a short News Release to highlight that the production of a Peatland Carbon Code has been identified in the Opportunities for Business Report prepared for the Ecosystem Taskforce as one of the top opportunities for UK business to value and protect nature's services.

Land Use Strategy - Presentations

The Scottish Government held an event on 27 June 2012 looking at delivery of the Land Use Strategy during its first year and the mainstreaming of the Principles for Sustainable Land Use into land use decision making.  The presentations from the day are available from the SG website.

Thinking CAP: Upland Research & Management

The Thinking CAP: Upland Research & Management meeting took place at the Huntingtower Hotel outside Perth in March.  The meeting considered the state of upland research, with input from the Upland Research Team of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, and then provided answers to a series of questions that considered the options that landowners and managers would like to see introduced as part of the review of the Scottish Rural Development Programme.  The questions were introduced by a range of experts.

The responses to the questions given during the discussion of the questions, and provided as written answers, have now been summarised in a report that can be downloaded from the News page of the Forum's website.  Additional information about the meeting can also be found on the same page.

Thanks go to the sponsors of the meeting: Turcan Connell, PDG helicopters, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Government.

Job opportunity - Director, Scottish Countryside Alliance

See the post on the Heather Trust's Blog

Deer and Forestry

Moorland Forum member organisations were in action on BBC's Countryfile last night.

Peter Fraser for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association was interviewed about stalking (starting at 06:50) and later in the programme (starting at 18:45) David Frew, Property Manager, and Sir Kenneth Calman, Chairman, from the National Trust for Scotland were interviewed about woodland regeneration and deer management on the Mar Lodge Estate.

The deer vs woodland debate is very relevant to the Forum with the Woodland Expansion Advisory Group due to report to the Scottish Government in June, this year.  Can natural woodland regeneration and deer control take place without full fencing?  Is the strategic fencing, that is fencing that does not form an enclosure, being proposed at Mar Lodge a compromise solution?

Funding for Black Grouse in LL&T National Park

Photo: Forestry Commission

A funding package worth £720,000 has been announced to stabilise and increase Black grouse numbers in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.  Grant Moir, a member of the Forum, is quoted in the BBC News article.

Scotland: Black Grouse population increasing

Photo: Ian Rutherford

See the article in today's edition of The Scotsman that describes how the population increase has been as high as 70% in the Borders with the birds doing well in other parts of Scotland.  Excellent!

The article includes quotes from Forum members: Duncan Orr-Ewing and Adam Smith.