Rural Community Gateway

Scottish Environment Week recently took place (4th - 11th February 2008) with a range of events held to celebrate. Scottish Environment Week is organised by Scottish Environment LINK, which is the network for Scotland’s voluntary sector environmental organisations.

Rural development funding event

On Thursday 7th February I attended the lunchtime event ‘Making the most of rural development funding’ at the Scottish Parliament building. Jim Hume MSP hosted the informal event and encouraged attendees to take the opportunity to network and meet new people.

Scottish Environment Link posters around the room illustrated various rural development projects taking place around the country - from a new path around Loch Leven to farm tourism businesses. Representatives from nine organisations, such as the Woodland Trust Scotland, RSPB and NFU Scotland were on hand to discuss the projects they are involved in.

The purpose of the event was to highlight the benefits that can be achieved for Scotland’s environment, farmers, crofters and wider rural economy, if rural development funds are adequate and well targeted. Scottish Environment LINK hope that by highlighting positive examples a commitment to bolster this type of funding for the future could be encouraged. The new Scottish Rural Development Programme means this is an important time for rural development funding.

Mandy Gloyer, Convenor of the Scottish Environmental LINK Agriculture Taskforce said, "We are at a crucial time for the farmed environment in Scotland, with the imminent launch of the new Scottish Rural Development Programme, set to provide £1.6bn of funding over the next six years. We know that huge gains can be made for Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage, and valuable income secured for Scotland’s farmers and crofters, if this money is spent in the right ways in the right places."

Jim Hume MSP said, "Agri environment or rural stewardship schemes are vital tools in allowing land managers to play an active part in looking after Scotland’s biodiversity. Many projects would simply not be possible without funding through the agri schemes. So the provision of grants is essential in creating incentives for environmental initiatives which protect and develop our landscapes, which otherwise might prove too costly. An additional bonus of these schemes is that they support the retention and development of rural skills such as for example dyking and hedge management."

The nine organisations taking part in the event were:

• Council for Scottish Archaeology
• Woodland Trust for Scotland
• Soil Association Scotland
• Ramblers’ Association Scotland
• National Farmers’ Union Scotland
• Scottish Rural Property and Business Association
• Scottish Crofting Foundation
• FWAG Scotland

If you are interested in the new SRDP take a look at our article Rural development funding: key facts for communities, download the SRDP Implementation Update newsletter from our library, and watch this space for more on the SRDP. You can also visit the Scottish Government's SRDP site.

MSPs choose their favourite landscapes

Earlier in the week, MSPs were asked to name their best-loved landscape and give a description of why it is so special to them. Willie Coffey MSP won the competition with his evocative description of Loudoun Valley in Ayrshire.

Don’t forget, we are looking for your photos of the places that are special to you, in our first theme of our 2008 photo competition. - My favourite place in rural Scotland. Find out more about our photo competition.

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