Sunday 27 May 2012
Forestry
Forestry Commission Scotland has today announced changes to Rural Priorities grant funding that aims to boost more planting of productive forests. The move comes as overall planting rates continue to increase towards the target figure of 9,000ha per year through private planting. The majority of planting activity (currently 75%) has been und...
The Forestry Commission Scotland has released a new publication which aims to help address growing business and environmental challenges that may be posed to forests in the future. ’Achieving Diversity in Scotland’s Forest Lanscapes’ is aimed at owners and managers of conifer woodlands. The practice guide, which includes case s...
Britain’s forests contain an estimated 336 million cubic metres of coniferous timber, according to a report just published by the Forestry Commission. Coniferous timber is timber produced by conifer trees such as pine, spruce, larch and fir species, and is also known as ’softwood’. The ’Great Britain 2011 Standing Conifer...
During 2011, the Rainforest Alliance demonstrated significant growth globally in sustainable forestry, agriculture, tourism, climate change and environmental education. "Consumers and companies alike are increasingly embracing Rainforest Alliance certification," said Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance. "The combined commitments ...
Forest Research, a part of the Forestry Commission in the UK, is taking part in international research to identify alternative tree species that could be planted in the future climate. Funded by the European Union, Project REINFFORCE is to carry out research trials of 30 tree species at 37 locations on the west Atlantic that range from the Azores ...
The CLA and the Campaign to Protect Rural England have said that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a boost for planning in rural areas but the NFU believes it does not go far enough. CLA President Harry Cotterell said the new planning guidelines, slimmed down from more than 1,000 pages to around 50, mark a great improvement and c...
Responding to today’s Budget statement the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) condemned the Chancellor’s rhetoric on planning as misguided and dangerous. The group also expressed deep concerns about the Government’s transport strategy and the suggestion that it is going soft on airport expansion in the South East. Pla...
Efforts to boost British forests’ contribution to tackling climate change reached a key milestone this week. The amount of carbon dioxide predicted to be removed from the atmosphere by woodland planting projects registered under the new Woodland Carbon Code has passed 1 million tonnes. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most common of the greenho...
New report warns drought could spread to more areas of the country if dry weather continues Water companies and farmers, as well as businesses and consumers, must take action now to protect water supplies from a prolonged drought, says a new report from the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency’s Drought Prospects report, publis...
DEFRA have announced the new Rural Economy Grant (REG) which provides funding to enable significant "game changing" transformational performance in farm, forestry, tourism, agri-food businesses and micro-businesses in rural areas in England. The total amount of grant money available is £60 million and they are looking at individual grant sizes o...
Land owners and managers across the Northern Isles are urged to take advantage of a new Scottish Government grant that aims to boost efforts to expand native woodland cover. Supporting the Shetland and Orkney woodland strategies, the new grant is available through the Rural Development Contracts element of SRDP. It has been developed with the su...
The CLA has welcomed the 12 Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) announced today by Defra, while stressing the plans to create new havens for wildlife and restore habitats must not stifle development. CLA President Harry Cotterell said: "It is good that the Government has committed itself to encouraging farmers and land managers to work collaborativ...
New entrants to farming appear eager to take up Forestry Commission Scotland’s opportunity to lease part-time ’starter farm’ units on the National Forest Estate. The Commission launched its pilot ’starter farm’ initiative at the end of January (2012). The scheme provides new entrants with an opportunity to lease pa...
The Prince’s Countryside Fund awards ’422,000 to 15 new rural projects Initiatives to save village shops and support the UK’s next generation of farmers are among projects to receive grants from The Prince’s Countryside Fund, which aims to safeguard British farming and rural communities in the UK. The Plunkett Foundation...
The UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), has teamed up with the Environment Agency Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and Flintshire County Council to protect areas of ancient woodland on land managed for shooting on two farms in North Wales. The project, run under BA...
With its proven track record, international conservation organisation, the Rainforest Alliance was chosen by the Sustainable Spices Initiative (SSI) to adapt the existing Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standards to incorporate spice production. This was announced by the Rainforest Alliance during the 11th World Spice Congress in Pune, India ...
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) today launches a report with detailed new maps showing that 55 per cent of England’s countryside could be at increased risk from development as a consequence of the Government’s reforms of the planning system. This equates to an area almost three-and-a-half times the size of Wales. Excludi...
New entrants to farming are being offered the chance to lease part-time ’starter farm’ units on the National Forest Estate as part of a new pilot initiative launched by Forestry Commission Scotland. The new ’starter farm’ initiative has been developed to complement the Commission’s woodland creation activity and is ...
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Jim Paice, will meet with the NFU’s Next Generation Policy Forum today to support the crucial role that young farmers will play in the future of the farming industry. This second meeting of the forum will also focus on the lobbying work of the NFU in Westminster, and critically the work done ...
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