• Scottish Land & Estates believes that CAP post 2014 must direct funding to the provision of both food and environmental security. It is essential that environmental challenges are addressed both now and in the future.

Ecosystem Approach to Conservation:

• Scottish Land & Estates believes that it is important to take a holistic approach to conserving biodiversity and we consider that it is inappropriate to follow single species management programmes without also considering the consequences for the ecosystem as a whole.

Current areas of work

Red Squirrel:

• Scottish Land & Estates sits on the steering group of Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) project. SSRS was launched in February 2009 and it is a three year partnership project which aims to halt the decline of red squirrel populations in key areas of north Scotland and improve habitat conditions to allow red squirrels to thrive and increase in number. The partners are Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Land & Estates.
• Scottish Land & Estates has also been involved in the development of guidance for red squirrel stronghold sites. Strongholds are a set of sites, spread across major parts of the red squirrel range in Scotland, which have the potential to sustain red squirrel populations over the long term. The production of this guidance is being lead by Forestry Commission Scotland and will be available soon.

Hen Harriers:

• A Conservation Framework for Hen Harriers in the United Kingdom was published in February 2011 by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). Scottish Land & Estates, together with four other organisations, branded the report as out of date and misleading. The report, coordinated by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), looks into the conservation status of Hen Harriers but only up to 2004. Contrary to the impression given in this outdated report of a Hen Harrier population still being constrained by persecution, there has only been one confirmed incident of Hen Harrier persecution between 2004 and 2009 indicating that efforts to tackle that problem are now being effective. SNH acknowledged that the report would have to be revised almost as soon as it was published to bring in new data.

Invasive Non-Native Species:

• Scottish Land & Estates has been actively involved in the development of the Code of Practice on Non-Native and Invasive Non-Native Species which accompanies the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011. Furthermore, Scottish Land & Estates is monitoring and feeding into the development of EU Invasive Alien Species Strategy. The European Commission will likely bring the strategy forward in 2012 and will probably legislate on the issue.

National Goose Management Review Group:

• Scottish Land & Estates sits on this group which is tasked with reviewing national goose policy to ensure that it is still relevant for dealing with the interactions between geese and agriculture. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) carried out a review of current policy in 2010 and this is being used by the group to help decide future policy options.  Further details about this group and local goose management schemes are available on the Scottish Government website.

Ecosystem Groups:

• Scottish Land & Estates is involved with the implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and is represented on a number of key stakeholder groups including the Scottish Biodiversity Committee, Upland Ecosystem Group, Woodland Ecosystem Group and Lowland and Farmland Ecosystem Group.

Special Protection Areas:

• Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) announced the creation of 6 new Golden Eagle Special Protection Areas (SPAs) in 2010. Scottish Land & Estates actively engaged with SNH during the consultation phase and encouraged members within the affected areas to carefully consider the maps and contact SNH directly with queries.

Links

EU Birds Directive
EU Habitats Directive
Natura 2000