Scientists from the Aberdeen-based Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (Macaulay), are presenting key findings to over 150 delegates and stakeholders, including Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Richard Lochhead, at Scotland’s first ever Land Use Summit being held in Inverness today [Monday, 9 November]. The links between different types of land use and their competing demands will discussed at the summit, highlighting the wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits which Scotland’s rural land delivers.

In partnership with several other research organizations, the Macaulay led two of the three research projects* which comprised the Rural Land Use Study, originally launched at the Macaulay Institute on 26 September 2008. These projects focused on the drivers and decision-making about land use and change in Scotland, and the potential contributions of rural land to the Scottish Government’s overarching purpose of delivering sustainable economic growth.

Professor David Miller from the Macaulay, who led the project on drivers of land use change, says, “Our research revealed the increasing role that local communities have in decisions relating to land use. This is through their direct management of land, and the increased consideration given to local communities by both public and private land managers.

“Of particular importance is the increased professionalism required by land managers to inform their choices about financial support mechanisms, technological developments, or diversification into renewable energy. Inequality of the availability of information is a potential concern, and constraint on the uptake of new opportunities, and pressures on land use.”

Commenting on his findings, Professor Bill Slee, leader of the project on sustainable economic growth, says “Rural land has a pivotal role in generating well-being for people in Scotland and more widely. This is because land has many values: as a provider of food, fibre and energy and its vital role in important supporting, regulating and cultural ecosystem services.

Because so many of the values of rural land are not captured effectively by markets, getting the right balance in land use is a challenging task. By better understanding the causes of land use conflict and by learning from good examples of complementarities in practice, the Rural Land Use Study provides the evidence-based foundations on which a stronger Scottish land use strategy can be built.

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Richard Lochhead says, “Our land and environment sustains businesses and jobs, supports families and communities, puts food on our plates.”

“Yet, until now, we did not have evidence in the one place on the various, often conflicting pressures on this resource to help us determine how this most valuable asset can be managed to ensure that we not only gain from it but preserve it for future generations.”

Findings from the Study will help inform a wide range of policies, in particular the Land Use Strategy, where Scotland is leading the way.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The full titles of the two research projects led by the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute were:

Project 1. Changing land use in rural Scotland – drivers and decision- making (led by Prof. David Miller)

Project 2. Realising the potential contributions of Scotland’s rural land to delivering sustainable economic growth. (led by Prof. Bill Slee)

The research organisations involved in these two studies were:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
Forest Research
Scottish Crop Research Institute
Scottish Agricultural College
Humboldt University of Berlin
University of Aberdeen

Key findings being released today in a comprehensive programme of research into rural land use in Scotland include:

• Scotland’s rural land delivers a huge range of benefits including income and employment, strong and resilient communities, food, fuel and energy, and carbon sequestration
• the specific pressures likely to face Scotland in the short and longer-term, including the key importance of climate change
• the parts of Scotland in which those pressures are most likely to occur, with intermediate quality land under most pressure from competing demands
• examples of how land managers are successfully dealing with these competing demands
• the increasing involvement of communities in rural land use decisions
• information, training and skills development is crucial to ensuring that rural Scotland is equipped to meet fresh challenges

For further information or to arrange interviews with scientists from the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute please contact:

Kate Davidson
Tricker PR
9 Victoria Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1XB

Office Telephone: 01224 646491
Fax: 01224 646492
Email: kdavidson@trickerpr.com