Forestry and woodlands

Presentations from a European Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation systems event are now available online.

The European Commission Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) organised the two-day seminar to promote understanding of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) and to highlight practical examples of the changes taking place in approaches to knowledge transfer, learning and innovation in the agricultural, forestry and rural development sectors.

Over 200 people recently attended events on the new Environmental Co-operation Action Fund in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.

The Environmental Co-operation Action Fund is a new £10 million scheme which is part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP).  The purpose of this new competitive fund is to encourage the development and delivery of landscape scale environmental projects by paying facilitators to initiate and enable co-ordinated environmental actions on multiple land holdings in a project area.

Expressions of Interest are currently being accepted for the Making Local Woods Work project.

Making Local Woods Work is being led by the Plunkett Foundation in partnership with other organisations to help support and grow woodland-based social enterprises across the UK.

Views are being sought on the future direction of the Cairngorm and Glenmore area of the Cairngorms National Park.

A 14-week public consultation has launched with the aim of developing a long-term strategy for the management of the publicly-owned land in this area.

Winter Talk: Walking the Pyrenees and The Forest Communities of Romania

Walking the Pyrenees and The Forest Communities of Romania - Talk by Chris Goodman

From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and sustainable management of Romanian forests by local communities.

Part of Greener Borders - A Network of Borders Environmental Groups - Winter Talks 2015.

Talk promoted by John Muir Trust Borders Group

Fruit Futures Festive Fun

An evening celebrating all things fruitful this Christmas. A great way to meet other orchard related projects in your area as well as an opportunity to treat yourself and volunteers to mulled apple juice, apple related Christmas crafts and festive fruity food.

It would be wonderful if everyone could please bring along some food to share and discuss Christmas recipes to make with your fruit. If you are unable to we would still love you to come of course!

To book please email emma@forthenvironmentlink.org.

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on the draft Land Use Strategy 2016-2021.

The ten-week consultation seeks views on the future of land use, with the aim of getting the most from Scotland's land in an integrated and sustainable way.

A range of policies and proposals are set out including:

The rural charity RSABI has launched its 2015/16 Help for Heating Fund.

Fixed grants of £300 are available to anyone with a background in farming, crofting, forestry, horticulture, fish-farming, game-keeping and rural estate work, who is in fuel poverty (when a household has to spend 10% or more of its income to maintain acceptable levels of warmth) and meets RSABI criteria for receiving financial help.

RSABI Welfare Manager, John Macfarlane, who oversees the Help for Heating Fund said:

The Scottish Government is hosting a series of workshops to discuss the Environmental Co-operation Action Fund and to answer questions about the scheme.

These free workshops will include general queries and, if you are thinking about applying, questions on eligibility, priorities, and project proposals with a view to encouraging high quality applications.

A new initiative offers crofters free advice and support for creating and managing woodland.

The Croft Woodlands Project aims to help create 500 hectares of new woodland on croft land by 2020 by overcoming the barriers identified in the 2014 review of crofter forestry, including difficulties with funding and cash flow.

Pages