Forestry and woodlands

Scottish nature charity Trees for Life has won £376,800 of highly sought after funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) ‘Skills for the Future’ programme. The funding will enable Trees for Life to train 15 people over a three-year period in wild forest restoration skills.

If you'd like to train as a forestry volunteer, Forestry Commission Scotland's Voluntary Community Champion (VCC) Programme could be for you.

Delivered in partnership with CEMVO Scotland (Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations), this one-year initiative trains people from minority groups to lead events and activities in woodlands and forests.

A forestry apprentice from Dumfries took home the top prize at Lantra Scotland's fifteenth Land-based and Aquaculture Learner of the Year Awards.

Royal Scottish Forestry Society Conference

This late afternoon conference will explore the added profitability enjoyed by livestock enterprises using their woodland resource for shelter and timber production. The Conference will also highlightthe financial gain from planting new woodland.

The European Innovation Partnership 'Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability' (EIP-AGRI) are looking for livestock farmers and forest managers to take part in two new Focus Groups.

The topics to be covered by the Focus Groups are:

A plan to drive forward and speed up tree planting in Scotland has been announced by Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing.

The delivery plan covers a range of measures including:

AECS and Pains – Getting to Grips with Agri-Environment Schemes

Are you trying to get to grips with the Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme (AECS), or wondering how managing your land differently could impact production?

This practical event will look at ‘win-win’ situations, where agri-environmental management can benefit both wildlife and production, e.g. field margins increasing the number of insects, which pollinate plants or compete with pests, thereby boosting yield.

You will also spend time exploring some of the practicalities and challenges associated with applying for and managing land under an AECS scheme.

The Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme (AECS) has opened for applications today (30 January 2017).

AECS is part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP). The AECS scheme promotes land management practices which protect and enhance Scotland’s magnificent natural heritage, improve water quality, manage flood risk and mitigate and adapt to climate change. It will also help to improve public access and preserve historic sites.

Highland LEADER are encouraging potential applicants to come forward with their project ideas.

Funding of over £6.6 million is available for projects that will benefit communities through the area's LEADER programme, which covers the mainland Highlands, the Small Isles and Skye but excludes the city of Inverness and the Cairngorms National Park.

The 2017 Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards are an annual recognition of excellence among those who use, own or manage Scotland's woods and forests - and a celebration of their contribution to the wealth and well-being of communities.

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