Forestry and woodlands

A new service has launched today, Friday 9 February 2018, to provide farmers, foresters and crofters in Scotland with a collaborative way to explore their business ideas.

The Rural Innovation Support Service is part of the Scottish Rural Network and is being led by Soil Association Scotland.

EUROPARC Conference 2018 - Registration now open

The theme for this event will be ‘European Parks: Inspired by the Next Generation’ will focus on what Parks can learn from young people and what changes need to be made to manage protected areas for future generations. Matching the ‘Year of Young People’ designated in Scotland for 2018, the conference will call for young people to be more involved in decision making, volunteering, working and living in Parks.

Scotland's Finest Woods Awards 2018 are now open for entries.

This annual awards programme rewards and showcases the very best in Scotland's forests and woods. This year there is nearly £7,000 of prize money and trophies to be won,

The four award categories are:

The Farm Advisory Service (FAS) is offering funded support to help Scottish farmers manage and establish woodland, and access funding through the Forestry Grant Scheme.

The 2018 application window for the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) is now open.

The scheme supports environmentally-friendly land management practices that aim to safeguard and improve Scotland’s natural heritage and help businesses adapt to climate change.

The AECS 2018 application window opened today (17 January) and will run for 12 weeks until 13 April 2018. The deadline for applications for collaborative projects which involve five or more businesses is 31 May 2018.

Rural Affairs Secretary Fergus Ewing has announced an increase in funding for tree planting schemes in the Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN).

The Central Scotland Green Network area stretches from Ayrshire and Inverclyde in the west, to Fife and the Lothians in the east. Currently, around 2,500ha of woodland creation activity, about the same size as East Kilbride, is being planned for this year.

A Changing Landscape - Making the Most of Our Natural Assets

A key reason for reason for much of South West Scotland having been designated as the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere is its long history of agriculture and forestry which has shaped our landscapes, our biodiversity, our local economy and our local communities.

With changes on the horizon leading to increased pressures for afforestation, particularly of commercial monoculture, the intensification of livestock farming in our lowlands and the threat to the sustainability of hill and upland farming from Brexit, the makeup of the region is going to change.

The EIP-AGRI Service Point is looking for coordinating experts for a number of workshops, seminars and Focus Groups on a range of topics.

The agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI) works to foster competitive and sustainable farming and forestry that 'achieves more and better from less'. 

Over 800 projects in Scotland are to benefit from funding from the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme to encourage environmentally-friendly land management practices.

AECS 2017 has awarded £47.7 million to 801 projects over the next five years to protect and enhance Scotland’s natural heritage, improve water quality, manage flood risk, and help agricultural businesses adapt to climate change.

Announcing the award, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:

A new fund will support young people who have an idea to promote Scotland's amazing natural environment in 2018.

The Future Routes fund has been created by Scottish Natural Heritage, YoungScot and ReRoute as part of the Year of Young People 2018. The fund is open to individuals and groups of young people from across Scotland aged 11-26.

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