The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland
Formed in 1926, the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS) works to protect Scotland's world renowned landscape and the amenity of the countryside. As an independent charity, we welcome as members all who share what we care about - Scotland's varied scenery and rural environment which is a priceless asset for the health, prosperity and well being of present and future generations. We strive to be an authorative voice which makes good things happen in rural Scotland and combats threats to damage it.
APRS is a voluntary organisation which relies heavily upon volunteers, a full-time Director and part-time administrator to do its work. It is Scotland's longest established independent environmental organisation. With a small head office in Edinburgh it has members throughout Scotland and beyond. It is funded by membership subscriptions, donations and grants from other charitable foundations.
Scotland has some of the world's finest landscapes which is a natural and cultural inheritance to be passed on to future generations but that legacy is severely under threat. Agricultural practice is changing at a pace as seldom previously experienced. Housing developments place pressure on green belts. The timber industry verges on crisis affecting the management of woodlands. National energy policy has resulted in a clamour to build large scale wind farms that completely change the character of the countryside. Historic villages and communities are the subject of often badly designed and overwhelming expansions. Some of Scotland's wildest places are easily scarred by the bull-dozer hacking out a new track.
APRS sets out to address such threats and aims to ensure Scotland's landscape is protected for now and the future by:-
- Promoting a democratic and effective town & country planning system.
- Promoting effective means of landscape protection.
- Promoting better rural design.
- Responding to government proposals which affect rural Scotland, particularly where they affect the landscape.
- Responding to development plans and planning applications and taking part in Public Enquiries.
- Keeping our membership informed through regular newsletters and our web-site.
Scotland's scenery means so much to so many. People come from all over the world to marvel at its qualities. It is the foundation for Scotland's largest industry - tourism. Nearer home the landscapes that surround our upbringing have a profound effect upon our daily lives. They may be those landscapes that have repeatedly inspired poets and novelists or some of those degraded landscapes that have actually had severe impacts on the health and confidence of communities. APRS presses for the best of Scotland's scenery to be protected and the worst of it to be enhanced. It has a long history of doing so and welcomes like minded folk to join it.