The Board of the Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, decided at its meeting on 12 September that it could no longer justify the current net cost of its Research Stations.

The management of the Institute is currently in discussions with its staff at Sourhope Research Station near Kelso in the Scottish Borders and the Roxburghe Estate, from whom the Macaulay leases the facility, regarding decreasing costs or withdrawing from the lease, which would take effect from November 2006.

This move follows a review of all three research stations managed by the Macaulay Institute.

Maggie Gill, Macaulay Chief Executive, said: “This review by the Institute’s Board took into account the resources required to undertake the proposed future research programme of the Institute, developed in response to the revised SEERAD (Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department) research strategy and the financial consequences of the implementation of CAP reform”.

“The financial resources released by these cost savings will allow the Institute to continue to evolve its research programme in line with SEERAD’s requirements, which includes continuing to conduct research on a wide range of experimental and monitoring sites throughout Scotland”.

The Institute accepts its responsibility to the scientific community to continue to undertake some elements of the research conducted on the land at Sourhope, including the NERC soil biodiversity site, one of the sites of the UK-wide Environmental Change Network and the site of a long-term grazing extensification trial. Should it be necessary to terminate the current lease it is understood that the Institute would continue to have access to these sites.

The Macaulay Institute is the premier land use research institute in the UK. Two hundred and seventy staff are based at the Macaulay Institute at Craigiebuckler in Aberdeen. The Macaulay Institute aims to be an international leader in research on the use of rural land resources for the benefit of people and the environment and is involved in research across the globe; from Scotland to Chile and China. More about the Macaulay Institute can be found at www.macaulay.ac.uk.

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Sourhope Research Station

Sourhope Research Station is situated 15 miles south of Kelso near the head of the Bowmont Valley, on the western slopes of the Cheviot. It covers about 1100 ha, over a range of altitudes from 213 to 605 m.

Much of the work carried out at Sourhope is concerned with the utilisation of vegetation and the development of sustainable management systems to meet both agricultural and environmental objectives. Projects undertaken include the effect of extensification of sheep grazing on floristic diversity in Agrostis-Festuca and Nardus plant communities, and on the foraging behaviour of sheep. Research is conducted on fibre production from cashmere goats and fine wool sheep and on the biology of growth and shedding of fibres. A flock of Cheviot sheep which carries the Thoka gene for prolificacy has been established.