Prestigious wildlife conservation accreditation awarded to five Scottish landholdings
Press ReleaseFive Scottish farms and estates – accounting for nearly 75,000 acres - have been awarded prestigious international accreditation to recognise their ongoing work in wildlife management and conservation.
The award of Wildlife Estates Scotland (WES) accreditation was made at the GWCT Scottish Game Fair, with three properties receiving accreditation for the first time and another two obtaining reaccreditation, a process that takes place every five years.
The new accreditations were awarded to:
- Forneth Estate, Perthshire
- Bunloit Estate, on the west shores of Loch Ness in Inverness-shire
- Beldorney Estate, Aberdeenshire
The two reaccreditations were presented to:
- Mar Estate, Upper Deeside
- Roxburghe Estates, Scottish Borders
Awards were presented by Francesca Osowska, Chief Executive of NatureScot and Jim Fairlie MSP, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire.
WES is a national version of the Wildlife Estates (WE) initiative and is endorsed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Environment, whose objective is to protect, preserve and improve the environment for present and future generations.
All types of landholdings, farms and estates can apply for accreditation and Scotland currently sits second in the league table of Wildlife Estates accredited land on 1.25 million acres, with only Spain ahead on approximately 1.6 million acres. Between them, WES accredited landholdings have stewardship of 97 nationally protected sites (SSSI, NNR) and 79 internationally designated sites (SAC, SPA, Ramsar etc).
Dee Ward, chair of Wildlife Estates Scotland, said: “These farms and estates play a crucial role in benefiting our environment and biodiversity, and it's important that their commendable work, which often comes at a significant cost to businesses, can be recognised publicly through Wildlife Estates Scotland.
“Despite varying in size and location, the accredited landholdings all share a commitment to best practice in management of animal and plant species, the condition of their habitats and the ecosystems that support them. Not only do land managers put that care into practice on a daily basis, they collect a wealth of information and data that provides valuable insights into where our collective conservation efforts should be focused.
“Obtaining WES accreditation is a meticulous process and sets the standards for others to achieve in wildlife and conservation management.”