Blog

Big or small, let's celebrate rural Scotland

Do you know a farm, rural business or estate who are doing things a little different, taking a new approach and helping their local community thrive? Has a local estate, farm or rural business near you made a positive contribution to your area, perhaps

Open your gates for Open Farm Sunday

On Sunday 9 June farms across Scotland will open their gates for LEAF Open Farm Sunday . In the last five years over 80,000 people have visited open farm Sunday events in Scotland with the number of farmers opening their gates increasing each year. Signing up

Reflections from our Spring Conference

At a time when little is certain for Scottish land management, it would be understandable if many are looking forward with a sense of trepidation as to what the future might hold. Whether it is the prospect of climate change and the weather conditions which

Chance to input to community engagement survey

This weeks blog post has been written by Helen Barton & Kirsty Tait, Community Engagement Advisors at the Scottish Land Commission. Genuine community engagement is good for land owners because it can reduce potential conflict, help make businesses more

All things invasive with the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative

As it’s national Invasive Species Week (13-17 May) this week’s blog has been written by Vicky Hilton, Volunteer & Communications Officer for the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI). The SISI is a four-year partnership project led by Scottish Natural

Unanticipated and delightful

Allargue Estate sits snugly nestled in the centre of the Cairngorms National Park in the lee of the Cairngorms massif. It covers an area of just over 2,300 hectares and comprises a multitude of different habitat types. Its high altitude allows for some wild

World Curlew Day

I took to myself as pleasure, the gannet’s noise and the voice of the curlew instead of the laughter of men, the screaming gull instead of the drinking of mead. The Seafarer, Anglo-Saxon poem dating back 1000 AD With World Curlew Day falling on Easter Sunday

Celebrating national parks at 70

Saturday 6 April marked the start of #DiscoverNationalParks - a two-week celebration across the UK with events and experiences to inspire all people of all ages and interests to get outdoors, explore and learn more about these very special places. Scotland’s

Planning in the balance?

We’ve all had a couple of weeks to consider the impact of the Planning (Scotland) Bill’s Revised Financial Memorandum which the Scottish Government published ahead of Stage 3. It was very much an anticipated part of the process, but it has become something of

Heather burning: A traditional tool backed by the latest science and best practice

Setting the heather alight is an idiom that most are familiar with – even if some might not be sure exactly where the phrase originated from. The benefits of controlled heather burning on moorland has long been known to land managers and scientists and the