GWCT News Blog

It’s been a busy start to the new year for the Scottish Lowlands research team. We’ve spent the last few weeks setting up gamebird feeders to carry out research into supplementary winter feeding for farmland birds.

Although farmer clusters have been going in England since 2012 and have been immensely successful (with over 100 connected to GWCT now established) unfortunately in Scotland we have not seen this same level realised. So why is this, and what can we do to kick-start their uptake in Scotland?

Many parts of the English rolling landscape are criss-crossed by hedgerows, which if one stops and looks provide an interesting perspective on the history of the landscape being observed.

On Wednesday 24 January, Teresa Dent CBE was on a panel of experts giving their witness statements about the role of natural capital in the green economy. Teresa joined Minette Batters, President of the NFU, and Judicaelle Hammond, Director of Policy and Advice at the CLA.

The GWCT-managed FAB project, with generous support from Pepsico and key input from NatureScot and Scottish Agronomy, aims to demonstrate how productive agriculture does not need to suffer whilst accommodating biodiversity.  

The latest changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive, launched at the Oxford Farming Conference, are a huge step in the right direction. For many years, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has argued for those farmers with good existing habitat to be rewarded for their work. Finally, we have this at a fair rate within government policy.

A few weeks ago, 13 hardy souls defrosted their vehicles and headed to Gilston Farm for the latest PepsiCo FAB (Farming Arable Biodiversity) project farm walk. 

Find out what they got up to...

The Government, through the Farming Innovation Programme, is set to launch another round of the Large R&D Partnerships competition on 15th January. This initiative aims to allocate a share of £7.8 million to farmers, growers, and foresters in England. The focus is on advancing ideas that enhance productivity, sustainability, and resilience, while steering the sector towards net-zero emissions.

In line with the agricultural transition post-Brexit, the government want to establish a more equitable and transparent regulatory system for farmers. They have published this guidance on the conclusion of cross compliance and its implications for farmers and land managers.

The GWCT is delighted that the headline of the EFRA report following its soil health inquiry is that government should take soil health as seriously as it does our other critical assets of water and air.