Podcasts about naturescot

Join us as we travel to the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway to meet staff from NatureScot's wildlife management team - Jenny Park, Rae McKenzie and Alastair MacGugan.The team talk us through their vital research into the highly pathogenic avian influenza – or avian flu as it's more commonly known – and the impact it's having on the thousands of barnacle geese that migrate to the Solway Firth each winter from their Arctic breeding grounds.In this episode, you'll learn about the collaborative research efforts underway and how cutting-edge science is helping us better understand bird responses to avian flu. You'll also discover the importance of this work for wildlife conservation and how it contributes to our wider understanding of disease management in wild bird populations.More Information:Scottish Government avian influenza updatesNatureScot avian influenza (bird flu) guidance Bird flu (avian influenza): how to spot and report it in poultry or other captive birds

In this episode, we chat with Kath Allen about eco-anxiety and how to manage it. We also discuss an update to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the current Land Use Framework and finally, the first use of NatureScot's compulsory deer control power.In our positive news segment, we share that a family of beavers are thriving in their new woodland home in Worcestershire, and Orkney curlew numbers are bouncing back.Visit our website: https://cieem.net/Show notes:Kath Allen's websiteKath Allen's 'Sustainable Hope' resourceCIEEM members have access to our Member Assistance ProgrammeCIEEM encourages members to engage MPs on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill CommitteeCIEEM publishes briefing on Planning and Infrastructure Bill amendmentsAgency could intervene to cull estate's red deerCall for members' input: responding to proposals for powers to change environmental assessment legislation in ScotlandBeavers thriving in new woodland homeOrkney curlew numbers bouncing back Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take a deep dive on the various sources of biodiversity funding opportunities that are available to farmers in 2025 and beyond. Covering Agri-Environmental Climate Schemes, Nature Restoration Funds, and biodiversity audits. In this episode we are joined by agricultural consultant Alex Pirie, to share updates on environmental funding opportunities for farmers in 2025 - including going over what the Agri-Environmental Climate Scheme (AECS) is, Nature Restoration Fund opportunities and biodiversity audits as part of the Whole Farm Plan. We discuss changes and example projects farmers are undertaking, and links with future tiers of agricultural support. Host Harry Fisher, Producer Iain Boyd, Editor Kieron Sim, Executive Producer Kirstyn Blackwood Timestamps: 2:39 – 16:52 AECS, what support is available and changes to previous years. 16:53 – 27:01 NRF, what it supports and updates for the year ahead. 27:02 – 33:11 Whole Farm Plan, biodiversity audits and how this links with funding. 34:51 – 40:01 Collaboration and landscape approaches, future opportunities and next steps. AECS Deadlines Agri-Environment Management: Applications are open from February 3, 2025, to June 12, 2025. Organic Conversion and Maintenance (Standalone Applications): The application window is from February 3, 2025, to July 31, 2025. Pre-Application Consultations: Deer Management: If you're considering applying for deer management support, you must contact a NatureScot Wildlife Management Officer before applying. The deadline for requesting pre-application advice is April 30, 2025. Peatland Management: Applicants are strongly advised to consult with NatureScot at least one month before the application deadline to discuss proposals. Related FAS Material Specialist Advice | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceThrill of the Hill | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceOther Related Resources:Scottish Government Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) | NatureScot Agri-Environment Climate SchemeWhole Farm Plan full guidance

We take a deep dive on the various sources of biodiversity funding opportunities that are available to farmers in 2025 and beyond. Covering Agri-Environmental Climate Schemes, Nature Restoration Funds, and biodiversity audits. In this episode we are joined by agricultural consultant Alex Pirie, to share updates on environmental funding opportunities for farmers in 2025 - including going over what the Agri-Environmental Climate Scheme (AECS) is, Nature Restoration Fund opportunities and biodiversity audits as part of the Whole Farm Plan. We discuss changes and example projects farmers are undertaking, and links with future tiers of agricultural support. Host Harry Fisher, Producer Iain Boyd, Editor Kieron Sim, Executive Producer Kirstyn Blackwood Timestamps: 2:39 – 16:52 AECS, what support is available and changes to previous years. 16:53 – 27:01 NRF, what it supports and updates for the year ahead. 27:02 – 33:11 Whole Farm Plan, biodiversity audits and how this links with funding. 34:51 – 40:01 Collaboration and landscape approaches, future opportunities and next steps. AECS Deadlines Agri-Environment Management: Applications are open from February 3, 2025, to June 12, 2025. Organic Conversion and Maintenance (Standalone Applications): The application window is from February 3, 2025, to July 31, 2025. Pre-Application Consultations: Deer Management: If you're considering applying for deer management support, you must contact a NatureScot Wildlife Management Officer before applying. The deadline for requesting pre-application advice is April 30, 2025. Peatland Management: Applicants are strongly advised to consult with NatureScot at least one month before the application deadline to discuss proposals. Related FAS Material Specialist Advice | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceThrill of the Hill | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceOther Related Resources:Scottish Government Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) | NatureScot Agri-Environment Climate SchemeWhole Farm Plan full guidance

After a chilly January in the UK, the days are starting to lengthen and there's signs of life as bulbs are pushing through the soil. DIG IT's Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss news, events and gardening tasks for the gardening month ahead.What's onSaturday 1st February Buckingham Garden Centre's Grow & Grow Day, 10am-4pm. Saturday 1st February to Sunday 2nd March: Peruvian Orchid Spectacular at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London. The Plant Fair Roadshows are back in full swing with the first event of the year on Sunday 2nd February at Hole Park, Rolvenden, Kent, on Sunday 2nd February.Running until 13th April: Soil - The World at Our Feet Exhibition at the Embankment Galleries, South Wing, Somerset House in London.Saturday 15th February – Sunday 23rd February: Exhibited during Eco-Week at Hever Castle & Gardens, Earth Photo will be featuring work by some of the best photographers from around the world.Thursday 20th February: Monty Don in conversation with Sophie Raworth online or in person at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London, SW7 2AR. 7pm. 20th - 22nd February: Shepton Snowdrop Festival, Somerset. Free event.Discover snowdrops across the UK. NewsBritain's oldest RHS Garden is calling for compensation from the Government as it faces a ‘catastrophic' £11m loss - thanks to roadworks.Home to 100-year-old specimens, the 60-acre Coton Orchard, the largest traditional orchard in Cambridgeshire and 8th largest in the country is at risk of becoming a new bus lane. Two plant collections - Amelanchier and Witch hazel National collections have been accredited at National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.Monty Don's new British Gardens series airs on the BBC.Sarah Dyke MP's Horticultural Peat (Prohibition of Sale) Bill has been pushed back to a later date. Kew Gardens and partner scientists have identified more than 170 new species in 2024New Year's Honours for garden industry figures including Gill Hodgson founder of Flowers From the Farm and Alan Titchmarsh, CBEScotland consults on its peat-free future.Latest Thompson & Morgan survey suggests garden expenditure is set to increase in 2025.More crystal ball gazing from the RHS with its gardening predictions.Eden Project appoints 'horticultural showman' Peter Jones.Kew build two advanced glasshouses to help in major restoration projects.David Domoney becomes new brand ambassador for Keder Greenhouses.Guiness World Records searches for world's oldest glasshouse.Forest England biodiversity study reveals DNA secrets.Butterflies heading north says NatureScot.RSPB suspends sale of flat bird feeders.Suttons given the Royal Warrant of Approval.Plants mentioned: Broad bean The Sutton, New Fothergill's Oh Sow Simple range, Seed Potatoes, Pea Meteor, Sweet Peas, Carnivorous plants (Venus flytraps), Carrot Amsterdam Forcing, Asparagus crowns, root-wrapped roses, celebration roses, strawberry runners and raspberry canes can be established now, Lilies, Dahlias, Begonia corms and Hosta. Hardwood cuttings Buddleja, Dogwoods, Forsythia, Philadelphus (Mock Orange), Roses and Salix (Willows).Products mentioned: Westland New Horizon Compost, Melcourt SylvaGrow Composts, horticultural fleece, Haxnicks jackets, raised beds and water butts. Dig It Top 5: Our Top selling Fothergills flower seeds of last year. No5 ‘RHS Flowers for Insects Mix', No4 Sunflower ‘Giant Single', No3 Sweet Pea ‘Old Spice Mixed', 2nd place Poppy ‘Victoria Cross' and at No1 ‘RHS Flowers for Wildlife Bright Mix'.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supply the music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Climate change is altering the number, variety and distribution of plants and animals around the coast of Scotland according to a new report from NatureScot. It's good news for some sea-snails and barnacles, but not so good for blue mussels and the wildlife that feeds on them. Scientists have been surveying changes in 50 species at 167 locations around the Scottish coast to assess the impact of minute increases in sea temperature. This week we're looking at the jobs that fill up farmers' days in January when there's not much to harvest and there's not much growing. Today it's muck spreading. We visit a beef farm in the Scottish Highlands where the farmer's been cleaning out the cattle sheds, and using the muck to fertilise the fields. However farmers can't just spread as much muck as they want, anywhere, at any time and because agriculture is a devolved power there are different regulations across different parts of the UK. Nitrate Vulnerable Zones or NVZs are designated in England and Scotland to add additional protection to water courses, and there are broader controls in place across both Wales and Northern Ireland. We talk to a senior lecturer in soil and environmental science about who can spread what, where and when.Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has applied to NatureScot for a licence to release beavers into Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin, in Glen Affric. The move follows two years of consultation with local communities and land managers, carried out by FLS and project partners, Trees for Life. Will Glen Affric be home to new beavers? If the application is successful, it is anticipated that beavers, translocated from parts of Scotland, will be released in Spring of 2025. FLS' North Region Planning Manager, Euan Wiseman, said: "Over the years we have built up good working relationships with the local Affric communities so it was important that we took the time to fully engage with everyone on this issue. "The thorough and exhaustive consultation process, carried out in partnership with Trees for Life, allowed everyone in the community to have their say, which helped us to identify where the majority opinion lay. "However, more importantly the consultation process - along with other representations made to us helped us to develop appropriate and adequate mitigations to address the concerns raised by those who were not in favour of beaver reintroductions. "We have now put appropriate measures in place that have enabled us to make a formal application to NatureScot for a release licence." FLS has undertaken to establish a Beaver Monitoring and Mitigation Group that serves as a community and visitor liaison focal point where, should the licence application be granted and beavers introduced to the area, any emerging issues or concerns can be aired and addressed. The Group will also look at developing educational opportunities with local schools, the wider community and visiting members of the public. Alan McDonnell, Trees for Life's Head of Nature Restoration, said; "FLS's application for a licence for the historic return of beavers to its land in Glen Affric, in line with majority support in the community, is a hugely positive step. Beavers create wetlands that benefit biodiversity, soak up carbon dioxide, and reduce flooding. This remarkable species can also bring social and economic benefits for communities. "We've worked hard for a long time with FLS to ensure everyone here could have their say on this proposal. The detailed, inclusive engagement process encompassed a wide range of views and was guided by Scottish Government best practice guidelines. "Should the application be approved, we will be ready to offer practical support to ensure the local community can enjoy and benefit from beavers being brought back to the glen, with any localised issues well-managed." FLS and Trees for Life have been working in partnership since 2022 to engage with the local community regarding a potential proposal to return beavers to Glen Affric, above the Beinn A' Mheadhoin Dam. FLS indicated to the community and stakeholders, in summer 2024, that it intends to apply for a licence to release beavers in Glen Affric. See more breaking stories here.

Join Dr Helen Taylor, Conservation Programme Manager from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, and Sally Morris, Conservation Officer from Buglife Scotland, as they reveal the fascinating world of medicinal leech conservation. Learn about their groundbreaking success in breeding these remarkable and often misunderstood creatures, and why protecting Scotland's invertebrates is crucial for our ecosystem.This episode explores 'Species on the Edge', an innovative partnership programme of NatureScot and seven nature conservation charities, all dedicated to safeguarding 37 threatened species along Scotland's coast and islands. As we navigate the historical roles of leeches, from medicine to their modern ecological contributions, this episode reinforces the importance of public involvement in protecting Scotland's unique wildlife and how everyone can help through tools like the iRecord app.More information:Species on the EdgeNatureScot - Species on the EdgeRoyal Zoological Society of ScotlandBuglife ScotlandHow to Make Space For Nature - Autumn Tips and Winter TipsiRecord

Thrill of the Hill returns for season 5, with an exciting line-up on new and returning guest speakers and specialists in their fields and on their hills.Love them or hate them, geese are a recurring feature on farms across Scotland. Views differ on the benefits of having them, some see them as a pest species, others as a necessary component of a larger biodiversity network. In this episode we sit down with Rae Mackenzie for a broad discussion on geese and goose management in Scotland. We cover their ecology and nature value, look at the international efforts being made to promote the species and the ins and outs of Scotland's own goose management support scheme. Got questions on goose management, contact your local NatureScot office for advice and signposting in the first instance.Related FAS ResourcesNatural Capital - Islay Geese | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceGoose Management in Scotland | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceUnderstanding Goose Control Law in Scotland | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceOther Related ResourcesManaging geese | NatureScot

We first heard about the work of Reid the biosecurity dog five months back.  Conservationist and handler Rachel Cripps talks to presenter Kate Fairweather about Reid's work, visiting Scotland's islands during the course of the year, in all weathers, searching for evidence of rat incursions.  Rachel explains the plans for winter, when weather stops all island visits, and how she keeps Reid ticking over and his skills developing.  What is biosecurity? Biosecurity is the practice of protecting places from the threats to wildlife posed by the introduction of new diseases or types of plants or animals that do not naturally occur there. The work of Biosecurity for Scotland focuses on protecting 38 seabird islands around Scotland from invasive non-native mammalian predators, such as rats, mice, mink and stoat. These Scottish islands are remote, home to many globally important colonies of seabirds. Native seabirds, which have not evolved alongside predators and are vulnerable to invasive predators, which eat the eggs, chicks and sometimes adult birds. Thanks to Sophie at RSPB for introducing Reid and Rachel to the show.  NTS and NatureScot.Biosecurity for Scotland  is a partnership of RSPB Scotland, National Trust for Scotland and NatureScot. This project is supported by the Scottish Government's Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot. Other dogs working in conservation Reid the bio security dog - the original interview from May 2024; Skye, the stoat detection dog working to keep Orkney free from predators; A team of five detection dogs survey the Isle of May for ground nesting storm petrels; Barley the conservation dog and his international projects; Nica, Nettle and Phoenix, the Japanese knotweed detection dogs. Do you work your dog or dogs?  Get in touch with Kate at team@shineradio.uk with suggestions or introductions to working dogs to feature on the show - she's always interested to hear about dogs with interesting jobs. © & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thrill of the Hill returns for season 5, with an exciting line-up on new and returning guest speakers and specialists in their fields and on their hills.Love them or hate them, geese are a recurring feature on farms across Scotland. Views differ on the benefits of having them, some see them as a pest species, others as a necessary component of a larger biodiversity network. In this episode we sit down with Rae Mackenzie for a broad discussion on geese and goose management in Scotland. We cover their ecology and nature value, look at the international efforts being made to promote the species and the ins and outs of Scotland's own goose management support scheme. Got questions on goose management, contact your local NatureScot office for advice and signposting in the first instance.Related FAS ResourcesNatural Capital - Islay Geese | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceGoose Management in Scotland | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceUnderstanding Goose Control Law in Scotland | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory ServiceOther Related ResourcesManaging geese | NatureScot

We first heard about the work of Reid the biosecurity dog five months back.  Conservationist and handler Rachel Cripps talks to presenter Kate Fairweather about Reid's work, visiting Scotland's islands during the course of the year, in all weathers, searching for evidence of rat incursions.  Rachel explains the plans for winter, when weather stops all island visits, and how she keeps Reid ticking over and his skills developing.  What is biosecurity? Biosecurity is the practice of protecting places from the threats to wildlife posed by the introduction of new diseases or types of plants or animals that do not naturally occur there. The work of Biosecurity for Scotland focuses on protecting 38 seabird islands around Scotland from invasive non-native mammalian predators, such as rats, mice, mink and stoat. These Scottish islands are remote, home to many globally important colonies of seabirds. Native seabirds, which have not evolved alongside predators and are vulnerable to invasive predators, which eat the eggs, chicks and sometimes adult birds. Thanks to Sophie at RSPB for introducing Reid and Rachel to the show.  NTS and NatureScot.Biosecurity for Scotland  is a partnership of RSPB Scotland, National Trust for Scotland and NatureScot. This project is supported by the Scottish Government's Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot. Other dogs working in conservation Reid the bio security dog - the original interview from May 2024; Skye, the stoat detection dog working to keep Orkney free from predators; A team of five detection dogs survey the Isle of May for ground nesting storm petrels; Barley the conservation dog and his international projects; Nica, Nettle and Phoenix, the Japanese knotweed detection dogs. Do you work your dog or dogs?  Get in touch with Kate at team@shineradio.uk with suggestions or introductions to working dogs to feature on the show - she's always interested to hear about dogs with interesting jobs. © & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hear about the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) from Project Manager Callum Sinclair of NatureScot. Learn how non-native invasive species like Japanese knotweed and American mink are not just persistent nuisances but significant threats to Scotland's ecosystems and economy. Callum delves into the challenges these species cause and explains the crucial ways we can all prevent and manage their spread.He explains the effective and varied control strategies, from chemical treatments and manual removal, to community-driven efforts. We discuss the impact of these species on native wildlife such as ground-nesting birds, water voles and plants. Callum also emphasises the importance of public awareness and biosecurity measures, demonstrating how community engagement is vital in both reporting sightings and preventing the spread.We hear about the invaluable contributions of volunteers and partners who dedicate their time and resources to this cause, showcasing how teamwork and passion can lead to substantial environmental conservation achievements.More information:Scottish Invasive Species InitiativeNatureScot: Invasive non-native species information GB Non-native Species SecretariatReport a non-native species

They are giants of the sea in northern Europe, yet not many people have heard of them, let alone seen any...The flapper skate, considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, is faring relatively well within a Marine Protected Area off the west coast of Scotland, but the future for the wider population looks more bleak.In this episode, we speak to experts Dr Steven Benjamins of SAMS and Dr Jane Dodd of NatureScot to find out more about this secretive skate. Hear about their their world-first discovery about the species, and their assessments of what the future might hold for its survival.The Ocean Explorer podcast is produced by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), an ocean research institute and partner of UHI based in Oban.In each episode, we take a deep dive into marine science topics with SAMS scientists and special guests.Interested in working or studying with us, or helping with our work? Visit www.sams.ac.uk to find out more.

Discover the importance of Scotland's grasslands with our guest Jo Riggle, a Grassland Advocacy Officer from Plantlife. She highlights the fascinating range of grasslands and explains how these ecosystems are paramount for biodiversity, climate resilience, agriculture, and our mental and physical well-being. You'll also gain an insight into the unique machair habitat exclusive to parts of Scotland and Ireland, and understand the pressing need to preserve this natural wonder.With practical tips ranging from participating in No Mow May to creating wildlife-friendly gardens, you'll find plenty of ways to support local biodiversity. Tune in, get inspired, and take action to preserve Scotland's precious grasslands!More information:Plantlife ScotlandPlantlife's #NoMowMay movementVolunteer with Plantlife and sign up for their newsletterPlantlife's #WaxcapWatch appPlantlife - Incredible grasslandsNatureScot - machair

In this episode we speak to Celine Delabre from NatureScot to inform listeners on the upcoming requirement to complete biodiversity audits as part of the Whole Farm Plan and how NatureScot's farm biodiversity app can help to deliver these in the future. We discuss the important details that farmers requiring the audit need to know to help them complete it and find out more about the NatureScot app. From 2025 a Whole Farm Plan will be a mandatory condition for accessing future funding. This will involve all farmers and crofters undertaking a number of audits and plans relevant to their agricultural activities. By 15 May 2025 farmers are being asked to prepare for the Whole Farm Plan by undertaking at least two baseline plans or audits including a carbon audit, soil analysis, an animal health and welfare plan, an integrated pest management plan and a biodiversity audit. Host Harry Fisher, Producer Iain Boyd, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, Editor Kieron Sim.Timestamps: 0:50 – 5:23 Intro to Whole Farm Plan and biodiversity audits 5:23 – 10:00 NatureScot biodiversity audit and ways to complete them 10:00 – 24:55 Story of the app being developed, data it uses and how it works 24:55 – end What NatureScot is learning from the audit, future plans and adviceRelated FAS ResourcesNatural Capital | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)Preparing For The Future Whole Farm Plan | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)Preparing For The Future Biodiversity Audits | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)Other Related Resources Biodiversity Audit | NatureScotWhole Farm Plan (ruralpayments.org)

In this episode we speak to Celine Delabre from NatureScot to inform listeners on the upcoming requirement to complete biodiversity audits as part of the Whole Farm Plan and how NatureScot's farm biodiversity app can help to deliver these in the future. We discuss the important details that farmers requiring the audit need to know to help them complete it and find out more about the NatureScot app. From 2025 a Whole Farm Plan will be a mandatory condition for accessing future funding. This will involve all farmers and crofters undertaking a number of audits and plans relevant to their agricultural activities. By 15 May 2025 farmers are being asked to prepare for the Whole Farm Plan by undertaking at least two baseline plans or audits including a carbon audit, soil analysis, an animal health and welfare plan, an integrated pest management plan and a biodiversity audit. Host Harry Fisher, Producer Iain Boyd, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, Editor Kieron Sim.Timestamps: 0:50 – 5:23 Intro to Whole Farm Plan and biodiversity audits 5:23 – 10:00 NatureScot biodiversity audit and ways to complete them 10:00 – 24:55 Story of the app being developed, data it uses and how it works 24:55 – end What NatureScot is learning from the audit, future plans and adviceRelated FAS ResourcesNatural Capital | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)Preparing For The Future Whole Farm Plan | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)Preparing For The Future Biodiversity Audits | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)Other Related Resources Biodiversity Audit | NatureScotWhole Farm Plan (ruralpayments.org)

Curious about how volunteering can change lives and communities? This episode reveals the incredible work of Volunteering Matters, as we celebrate 40 years of Volunteers' Week. Robert Henderson joins us to spotlight the Volunteering Matters Action Earthproject, which has empowered over 100,000 volunteers through more than 3,100 environmental initiatives across Scotland. From the Shettleston Community Growing Project in Glasgow to Bridgend Farmhouse in Edinburgh, discover how volunteer efforts have transformed these into vibrant community hubs.Hear about innovative initiatives, such as the Cassiltoun Housing Association's 'feel good verandas', and learn why it's vital to step outside your comfort zone. We'll also discuss the importance of recognising volunteer contributions and the inspirational achievements that managed to gain international media attention.Robert shares powerful insights into the unexpected benefits of nature volunteering, including improved physical health, mental well-being, and the formation of cross-generational friendships. Joe Knowles, a dedicated Action Earth volunteer, recounts his journey from retirement to becoming an active community member through creative projects like building a Noah garden and bug hotels. Let Joe's passion and commitment inspire you to contribute to the preservation of Scotland's natural beauty and discover how you can make a difference in your own community.Volunteering Matters - Action EarthAction Earth Ideas and LinksVolunteering Matters ScotlandVolunteer in the outdoorsVolunteering with NatureScot

Meet Skye, an English springer spaniel who is one of a ten strong stoat detection dog team working on the Orkney Native Wildlife Project. That may sound like a lot of dogs, but since 2010, when the first stoat was spotted on Orkney, this INCREDIBLY successful predator has bred in its thousands, posing a huge problem to the island's wildlife:   Its super high metabolism means it eats 25% of its own body weight every day; It's not fussy - eggs, chicks, voles, mice, rabbits, hedgehogs, fish, insects and even roadkill are all acceptable; It tends to kill more than it needs to eat and stores the rest to eat later; It's an amazing hunter -  fast, agile, can climb well and has great eyesight, hearing and sense of smell; It's a great swimmer too, and can swim 3 km or more (eg to another island); When the baby stoats, called kits, leave home, they can travel over 40 miles in search of their own territory. Handler and conservationist Chantel Carr explains to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather that just two years ago, stoats were running around all over Orkney. Since then, over 6,000 stoats have been trapped. Now the numbers are coming down, the dogs' work is even more important, as they actively find stoat scat (poo) and can alert the team to “stoat hot spots”.   The Orkney team swaps information and best practice with counterparts in New Zealand, where stoats were introduced to keep rabbits down, but have caused the extinction of a number of native birds.   Find out more information on the Orkney Native Wildlife Project; Find out more about the work of the RSPB in Scotland and NatureScot, which support the Orkney Native Wildlife Project.  Other dogs working in conservation Reid, the bio-security dog, who patrols the Scottish isles  Five detection dogs survey the Isle of May for storm petrels Barley the conservation dog and his international projects Nica, Nettle and Phoenix, the Japanese knotweed detection dogs Do you work your dog or dogs?  Kate would love to hear from you.  Get in touch via team@shineradio.uk or katefairweather5@gmail.com, and follow Dogs with Jobs on your podcast app. © & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THRILL OF THE HILL | A Damming Conclusion: Part II with Davy McCrackenThrill of the Hill returns for season 5, with an exciting line-up on new and returning guest speakers and specialists in their fields and on their hills. Beavers and their presence in Scotland continues to divide the agricultural community, for some they generate hope for a more nature-rich Scotland and more dynamic landscape, for others they cause damage and threaten the viability of various farm enterprises. Last year we heard a passionate take on the issue from Euan Walker-Munro who articulated the frustration felt by many in the industry. In this episode we hear from Professor Davy McCracken and cover the positives around beaver reintroduction, the ecology of the species and the opportunities brought by them. We also discuss what to do if the challenges caused by beavers are too much, what his experience was with getting a license and the need for collaboration and knowledge transfer on the issues faced.Want to get in touch with Davy, he can be contacted at SRUC on 01292 525 299 or via email at Davy.McCracken@sruc.ac.uk. Those with questions for NatureScot can make contact via beaver@nature.scot.Related FAS Resourceshttps://www.fas.scot/publication/thrill-of-the-hill-a-damming-conclusion/https://www.fas.scot/publication/beavers-translocation-ecology-and-mitigation/ https://www.fas.scot/publication/living-alongside-beavers/https://www.fas.scot/publication/accommodating-beaver-impacts-on-a-farm/https://www.fas.scot/publication/mitigating-beavers-impacts-on-a-farm/ Related External Resourceshttps://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/protected-areas-and-species/protected-species/protected-species-z-guide/beaver/beaver-mitigation-scheme

THRILL OF THE HILL | A Damming Conclusion: Part II with Davy McCrackenThrill of the Hill returns for season 5, with an exciting line-up on new and returning guest speakers and specialists in their fields and on their hills. Beavers and their presence in Scotland continues to divide the agricultural community, for some they generate hope for a more nature-rich Scotland and more dynamic landscape, for others they cause damage and threaten the viability of various farm enterprises. Last year we heard a passionate take on the issue from Euan Walker-Munro who articulated the frustration felt by many in the industry. In this episode we hear from Professor Davy McCracken and cover the positives around beaver reintroduction, the ecology of the species and the opportunities brought by them. We also discuss what to do if the challenges caused by beavers are too much, what his experience was with getting a license and the need for collaboration and knowledge transfer on the issues faced.Want to get in touch with Davy, he can be contacted at SRUC on 01292 525 299 or via email at Davy.McCracken@sruc.ac.uk. Those with questions for NatureScot can make contact via beaver@nature.scot.Related FAS Resourceshttps://www.fas.scot/publication/thrill-of-the-hill-a-damming-conclusion/https://www.fas.scot/publication/beavers-translocation-ecology-and-mitigation/ https://www.fas.scot/publication/living-alongside-beavers/https://www.fas.scot/publication/accommodating-beaver-impacts-on-a-farm/https://www.fas.scot/publication/mitigating-beavers-impacts-on-a-farm/ Related External Resourceshttps://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/protected-areas-and-species/protected-species/protected-species-z-guide/beaver/beaver-mitigation-scheme

Join us as we chat to Caitlyn Johnstone, a Nature Based Solutions Scientist from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), to explore how plants and ecosystems can transform our cities.Discover how integrating nature-based solutions can make monumental differences in tackling urban issues like flooding and heat. We hear about RBGE's Plants with Purpose research programme investigating the functional traits of plants such as temperature regulation and biodiversity restoration.  Caitlyn's stories and insights bring to life the adaptability of green infrastructure compared to traditional grey infrastructure. Her passion is contagious as she demonstrates how small, actionable changes in urban planning can lead to significant ecological benefits. We also discuss simple adaptations you can make in your own garden or greenspace to offer nature a helping hand, such as supporting pollinators throughout their lifecycle and managing rainwater efficiently, resulting in a more resilient environment.More InformationRoyal Garden Botanic EdinburghNature Based Solutions at RGBENature-based solutions, NatureScot

Hear about the important work of Reid, an English springer spaniel who works as a rodent detection dog in the Scottish islands. Conservationist and handler Rachel Cripps talks to presenter Kate Fairweather about Reid's work, visiting nearly 40 islands during the course of the year, in all weathers, searching for evidence of rat incursions.  Thanks to Sophie at RSPB for introducing Reid and Rachel to the show.  Biosecurity for Scotland is funded by NRF, and is a partnership of RSPB Scotland, NTS and NatureScot. Biosecurity is the practice of protecting places from the threats to wildlife posed byintroducing new diseases or types of plants or animals that do not naturally occur there. The work of Biosecurity for Scotland focuses on protecting 38 seabird islands around Scotland from invasive non-native mammalian predators, such as rats, mice, mink and stoat. These Scottish islands are remote, home to many globally important colonies of seabirds. Native seabirds, which have not evolved alongside predators and are vulnerable to invasive predators, which eat the eggs, chicks and sometimes adult birds: Do you work your dog or dogs?  Get in touch with Kate at team@shineradio.uk with suggestions or introductions to working dogs to feature on the show - she's always interested to hear about dogs with interesting jobs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today trees: from Welsh Government plans to get them planted on farms, to the ever missed English planting targets and the recent cuts to the budget for planting in Scotland, trees are the subject of much debate in rural areas. Despite our fondness for them and need for timber, we still don't like commercial forestry. Foresters warn the public's perception is hampering efforts to grow more timber. We get an overview of the state of British woodlands.The Scottish Government wildlife agency NatureScot has been holding advice sessions on wild boar and providing help for farmers and crofters dealing with them. Concerns are growing about the damage they do to grazing areas. It's claimed they kill and eat sheep and lambs, and farmers believe the Government should have taken action years ago. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Buglife's citizen science project, the Scottish Oil Beetle Hunt, needs your help. As part of the partnership programme, Species on the Edge, members of the public are asked to look out for these amazing beetles and record any sightings. Looking for the Scottish Oil Beetle Scottish records of oil beetles on iRecord more than doubled last year due to the combined effort of the Scottish Oil Beetle Hunt and surveying carried out by the Species on the Edge team. Survey work for Short-necked Oil Beetle in particular yielded over 100 records of individual beetles, with many new sites discovered for the species. The Black Oil Beetle was also confirmed from Scotland, following doubt about previous records due to issues with misidentification. In 2023, Short-necked Oil Beetle were found on Tiree for the first time by Ranger Hayley Douglas. Long thought to be present, this discovery is the latest new island site for the species, following on from populations found in North Uist in 2022, and Barra and Islay in 2021. Species on the Edge is an ambitious four-year programme for species recovery in Scotland that aims to take action for 37 declining and threatened species across Scotland's coasts and islands. It is a partnership programme of eight organisations, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The partnership consists of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bat Conservation Trust, Buglife, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, NatureScot, Plantlife and RSPB Scotland. One of these threatened species is the Short-necked Oil Beetle, which has only been found in a handful of locations within Scotland - the Isles of Coll, Islay and Tiree (Inner Hebrides), as well as Uist and Barra (Outer Hebrides). Classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species is at high risk of extinction and therefore it's imperative that we learn more about this amazing beetle to help improve its fortunes. Oil beetles are eye-catching, charismatic beetles that are so-called because they exude a yellowish oily substance from their leg joints when threatened. They have been described as looking like they're wearing an ill-fitting waistcoat; the 'waistcoat' being the short wing cases that do not fully cover the beetle's abdomen. Oil beetles are under threat. Populations have declined due to the loss of flower-rich habitats owing to changes in countryside management. As oil beetles are nest parasites of solitary bees, declines in populations of wild bees has worsened their fortunes further as they depend on them for survival. Scotland has fewer oil beetle records than both England and Wales, so it's possible that oil beetles are under recorded in Scotland. To get a better understanding of their current distribution in Scotland, it's important we keep a look at and hear about all sightings of oil beetles. Sally Morris, Buglife Conservation Officer, explains: "Last year was great for oil beetles in Scotland, but we're still far behind England and Wales for records - it's time we catch up! Have you ever seen a shiny black beetle that may be an oil beetle? Please send us a photo and help us to learn more about these amazing beetles within Scotland." Oil beetles have an amazing life cycle, intricately linked to that of solitary bees. After hatching, oil beetle larvae (known as triungulins) make their way onto a flower head where they lie in wait for a solitary bee. Using specialised hooks on their feet, they attach themselves to the back of a visiting female bee and when the bee returns to its underground nest, the triungulin disembarks and continues its development underground, eating through the bee's stores of pollen and nectar. Depending on species, they then emerge in the same or following year, as an adult oil beetle ready to start the life cycle all over again. There are five species of oil beetle in the UK, only three are found in Scotland, these are the Black Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus), Violet Oil Beetle (Meloe violaceus) and Shor...

THRILL OF THE HILL | An iconic Scottish species and of high conservation interest, the mountain hare has a lot going for it. Years of hard work to create the managed uplands we know have also contributed to the betterment of the species and a combination of predator control and careful heather management means that it has found a home in our hill expanses. In this episode of the podcast we are joined by Robert Raynor from NatureScot and Scott Newey from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust for a discussion on the species, its place in the uplands, conservation initiatives and the outlook for the uplands in general.Related ResourcesProtected species: hares | NatureScotMountain hares - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (gwct.org.uk)

THRILL OF THE HILL | An iconic Scottish species and of high conservation interest, the mountain hare has a lot going for it. Years of hard work to create the managed uplands we know have also contributed to the betterment of the species and a combination of predator control and careful heather management means that it has found a home in our hill expanses. In this episode of the podcast we are joined by Robert Raynor from NatureScot and Scott Newey from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust for a discussion on the species, its place in the uplands, conservation initiatives and the outlook for the uplands in general.Related ResourcesProtected species: hares | NatureScotMountain hares - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (gwct.org.uk)

In this episode we chat to Professor Greg Mannion from Stirling University and Dr Claire Ramjan, Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education at University of Glasgow, about the importance of outdoor learning.Recently revealed in a report commissioned by NatureScot and other partners - provision of outdoor learning in Scotland's schools and nurseries has increased for some, yet decreased for others – but why is this?We discuss the potential reasons why, the recommendations made in the report to improve provision, as well as ways we can all encourage children in Scotland to learn more outdoors.More InformationNatureScot Research Report 1313 - Teaching, learning and play in the outdoors: a survey of provision in Scotland in 2022 Report highlights need for school children to be more connected to natureYoung People - Learning Outdoors and Developing Skills - facts, activities and inspiration to help you bring Scotland's nature and landscapes to life for learners.​Outdoor Learning Directory - a portal to services provided by Scottish organisations supporting outdoor learning.

Rachel heads to Fort Augustus for a chat with Cieran Watson from Forestry Land Scotland and Morag Milne from NatureScot about how they can manage the growing number of feral pigs living wild in the Scottish countryside.Mark meets Niall MacLeod who is part of the Loch Awe National Park committee to chat about their bid for Loch Awe to be a contender for Scotland's next National Park.Over the winter, the Cairngorm Reindeers have been busy shedding their antlers. Rachel chats to one of the herders, Hen Robinson, to find out more about what they do with these antlers.The Findhorn Watershed Initiative and the Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Rivers Trust are working in collaboration to achieve healthier rivers in the Findhorn area. Mark meets Bob Lawton and Elle Adams to find out more.Until a few years ago, there was only one bird of prey resident in Shetland – the peerie hawk, or merlin. But in twenty eighteen, the sparrowhawk made an appearance, and since then, they have been said to be rapidly colonising the islands. Huw Williams from BBC Radio Scotland hears from Logan Johnson from The Zetland Raptor Study Group about how they are keeping track of these birds.Returning to National Parks, Mark meets with Nikki Sinclair from the Scottish National Parks Strategy Project to chat about the next steps in the project following the closing date for all submissions on Thursday 7th March.Work is well underway to restore the Art Deco pavilion building at the outdoor Tarlair swimming pool in the north east. Later this year, the pavilion will open to the public as a café and community space. Pat Wain from Friends of Tarlair and Vincent Willox from the construction company carrying out the restoration show Rachel around the pavilion.The fungal disease ash dieback is having a devastating effect on ash trees in Scotland and across Europe. As a result, thousands of mature trees have had to be felled for safety reasons. A project called Ash Rise have started using wood from felled ash to make new items for a touring exhibition. Mark meets various furniture makers who are responsible for choosing the wood at the Scottish Wood sawmill near Dunfermline.

In this episode we chat with Rob Drummond, NatureScot's Farming with Nature Project Officer, who is also a farmer, and Robert Dale, who manages Lochhouses Farm in East Lothian. We discuss the importance of increasing biodiversity, nature habitats, and species on farms and crofts.Rob also takes us through seven straightforward ways to increase nature on farms and crofts, and Robert shares the tangible benefits he's witnessed first-hand from ‘farming with nature' for 30 years.More InformationBiodiversity Audit for crofters and farmersFarming with Nature - supporting sustainable food production, climate and natureScotland's Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme

The first seabird conservation project to use detection dogs in the UK. A team of five detection dogs are deployed to an island off the east coast of Scotland, UK. "Sprocker" spaniels Molly and Nelson, Storm the Belgian Shepherd and Piper the Springer spaniel are experienced detection dogs, but this was their very first conservation project. With a short time window in which to work on the project, a pet dog, Esme, a Belgian Malinois, was been trained as a backup.   It was a first for NatureScot, which looks after Scotland's natural heritage and, at the time, was the first time detection dogs had been used in the UK in seabird  conservation work with seabirds. Their job was to start the process of surveying the Isle of May, which is a nature reserve, to establish the size of a new colony of storm petrels. The storm petrel is a shy, nocturnal, ground nesting bird hitherto not seen on in the east of Scotland. How did they know the storm petrels were there? As part of conservation efforts in the UK and elsewhere, fine mist nets are used as a safe way to capture wild birds for ringing. Licensed ringers place a lightweight ring with a unique number around a bird's leg. Once ringed, an individual bird's activity can be noted. Such information allows conservation organisations to understand bird population movement, changes and trends, and provides information vital for bird conservation. It was through this practice that the presence of storm petrels on the east coast of Scotland was first noted. Simon Chapman of K9 Manhunt Scotland explains to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather how the project came about, what the challenges were and how the dogs - most of whom usually work as drugs dogs - stepped up to the challenge of a new type of project and distraction-heavy environment. Other conservation detection dogs episodes: Barley the conservation detection dog and his international projects Nica, Nettle and Phoenix, the Japanese Knotweed detection dogs Do you work your dog or dogs? Contact me, Kate Fairweather if you would be interested in coming on the show, at team@shineradio.uk. © & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2024  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first seabird conservation project to use detection dogs in the UK. A team of five detection dogs are deployed to an island off the east coast of Scotland, UK. "Sprocker" spaniels Molly and Nelson, Storm the Belgian Shepherd and Piper the Springer spaniel are experienced detection dogs, but this was their very first conservation project. With a short time window in which to work on the project, a pet dog, Esme, a Belgian Malinois, was been trained as a backup.   It was a first for NatureScot, which looks after Scotland's natural heritage and, at the time, was the first time detection dogs had been used in the UK in seabird  conservation work with seabirds. Their job was to start the process of surveying the Isle of May, which is a nature reserve, to establish the size of a new colony of storm petrels. The storm petrel is a shy, nocturnal, ground nesting bird hitherto not seen on in the east of Scotland. How did they know the storm petrels were there? As part of conservation efforts in the UK and elsewhere, fine mist nets are used as a safe way to capture wild birds for ringing. Licensed ringers place a lightweight ring with a unique number around a bird's leg. Once ringed, an individual bird's activity can be noted. Such information allows conservation organisations to understand bird population movement, changes and trends, and provides information vital for bird conservation. It was through this practice that the presence of storm petrels on the east coast of Scotland was first noted. Simon Chapman of K9 Manhunt Scotland explains to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather how the project came about, what the challenges were and how the dogs - most of whom usually work as drugs dogs - stepped up to the challenge of a new type of project and distraction-heavy environment. Other conservation detection dogs episodes: Barley the conservation detection dog and his international projects Nica, Nettle and Phoenix, the Japanese Knotweed detection dogs Do you work your dog or dogs? Contact me, Kate Fairweather if you would be interested in coming on the show, at team@shineradio.uk. © & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2024  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An independent review has told Natural England it needs to completely change the way it engages with farmers on Dartmoor. It also says more cattle are needed for "conservation grazing" to help tackle the spread of purple moor grass and sheep farmers have been warned they'll need to demonstrate they can control their flocks and not let them overgraze areas of heather and dwarf shrubs. A Scottish nature reserve is training members of the local community to stalk deer at Creag Meagaidh in the Highlands. NatureScot says community models of deer management are common in many European countries, but this is the first time it has been tried on publicly owned land in Scotland.Applications are now open for a new £4 million Smaller Abattoir Fund. The fund is to enable abattoirs in England to improve productivity, enhance animal health and welfare, and will allow farmers to add value to their meat and encourage innovation. Abattoirs will be able to apply for funding of up to £60,000. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust welcomed that announcement - they said the network of of small abattoirs had been in sustained serious decline, and the fund offered a lifeline. All this week we've been looking at the future for rare breeds, among them North Ronaldsay sheep from the Orkney Islands and the endangered Welsh Pig.The forestry industry is using drones to drop microscopic worms or nematodes onto trees, to control pests. Foresters say it helps them reach areas that machinery can't.A virtual world is being used to get children interested in conservation. The Crown Estate has teamed up with Microsoft to create a version of the very popular world-building game Minecraft, based on Windsor Great Park. Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

What if you could play a part in saving a species from the brink of extinction? Join us for a fascinating conversation with Dr Keri Langridge, Field Manager for the Saving Wildcats partnership, from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, and Dr Roo Campbell from NatureScot, about one of our rarest and most threatened mammals: the wildcat.  We'll explore their distinct physical features, their historical significance in Scotland, and the substantial threats they encounter, including the risk of hybridisation with domestic cats.The Saving Wildcats partnership is dedicated to establishing a thriving wildcat population in Scotland. We hear about the wildcats recently released into the wild, the diligent monitoring techniques used to safeguard their survival, potential future hurdles, and how we can all help this species not only survive but thrive in Scotland.More Information:https://savingwildcats.org.uk/ https://www.nature.scot/doc/scottish-wildcat-action-swa-final-summary-report-2023

NatureScot woodland champion Kate Holl and I head for an extraordinary lost world on an island, off an island, off the west coast of Scotland. A little extra for the faithful followers of the podcast... and great fun to make. Windy though!We took this trip a while back but Kate is still at it with NatureScot flying the flag for woodland restoration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard interviews Neil Middleton from BatAbility Courses and Tuition. Together they talk about bats, business and some life tips on how to deliver presentations and overcoming the fear of other people's opinions.   Bio Neil has substantial experience in business management, consultancy, people development, training & the associated skills associated with running SME businesses. As well as being the owner & managing director of BatAbility Courses & Tuition, Neil also owns Time For Bespoke Solutions Ltd. In the past Neil was the founder & Managing Director at Echoes Ecology Ltd. He has designed & delivered over 400 training courses across a wide range of customer types & industry sectors, including training workshops/courses covering a variety of subjects to the Bat Conservation Trust's National & Regional Conferences, as well as for NatureScot, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, The National Trust, The National Trust for Scotland, Wildlife Acoustics (USA) & >100 ecological consultancies operating in the UK, Ireland & further afield. Author/co-author of the following books: Social Calls of the Bats of Britain & Ireland The Effective Ecologist Is That A Bat? Sound Identification of Terrestrial Mammals of Britain & Ireland Most of his working days currently are filled with producing content for BatAbility Club members & the Talking Bat podcast channel, as well as providing technical support for BatAbility's online acoustics training course launched in 2021 (Certificate of Bat Acoustics Analysis).   https://batability.co.uk/  

Kathi Kamleitner reports on her summer visit to the Wild Seas Weekend in Argyll and the Seawilding project which is fast becoming a template for community-led marine regeneration efforts around Scotland's coastline. This story was funded through our mini-grant programme. Get in touch on stories@sccan.scot if you are considering applying for one. Kathi's publishing a sister Seawilding story on her own podcast Wild for Scotland this week - see the link in the Resource section to listen.   Credits  Interview and recording: Kathi Kamleitner Co-production, editing and sound design: Fran Turauskis   Resources Seawilding website: https://www.seawilding.org/ "Long Time Coming" episode on Kathi's Wild for Scotland podcast https://www.wildforscotland.com/seagrass-restoration-loch-craignish/ Coastal Communities Network website: https://www.communitiesforseas.scot/ Argyll Hope Spot website: https://argyllhopespot.scot/ CROMACH website: https://www.cromach.org/ What's a Marine Protected Area: https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/protected-areas-and-species/protected-areas/marine-protected-areas/scotlands-marine-protected-area-network Seawilding on the Rewild Podcast: https://pod.link/1668050136/episode/c4660a0178b228b228ffb1be3263127f Film about Seawilding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tid73gH2i Transcript The first time I snorkelled through a seagrass meadow was in a quiet corner of a sea loch near the village of Tayvallich. I was one of eleven people participating in the snorkelling artist residency hosted by the Argyll Hope Spot.   The seagrass meadow I saw that day was a bustling hub of biodiversity. Deep-black brittle stars wrapped their lanky arms around blades of seagrass or long strings of sea spaghetti.   Scallops shells littered the seafloor. Many were empty and long abandoned by the creatures that built them, but I also spotted living scallops as they sifted water through the narrow opening between their shells. On their outside, pink serpulid worms peeked out of their white tubes, spreading their fan-shaped crowns towards me. But as I moved closer and they noticed my presence. The worms closed the lids at the end of their tubes and the scallops sealed their shells shut. And in an instant, life was hidden from my sight.   A little further, I spot a green shore crab scuttling away and hiding beneath a tumble of seaweed. On the tips of the seagrass, I spot juvenile snakelock anemones, their green tentacles blending in with the fresh green of the meadow. But their purple tips give them away as they sway from side to side in the movement of the sea.   And I knew that everywhere around me, magnificent creatures are hiding in the thicket of the seagrass, whether I could see them or not.   Snorkelling in his vibrant habitat in Argyll, was the beginning of my learning journey about seagrass meadows and the benefits they bring to coastal ecosystems underwater and above the surface.   I learnt that they were once much more abundant in Scottish waters. Research estimates that we have lost about 90% of Scotland's seagrass meadows, but in places where they are given a chance they recover, they can inspire new hope in the face of the climate crisis.   Back in August, this journey took me to the village of Ardfern, some 20 miles north of where I first encountered seagrass meadows.   Here, on the shores of Loch Craignish, a local community-led marine restoration project, called Seawilding, is working to bring seagrass meadows and native oyster beds back to the rugged Argyll coastline.   I'm here to attend the Wild Seas Weekend, a two-day event that showcases some of the work being done in this region by Seawilding and other nature conservation charities and organisations. The village hall is bustling and across the two days, I meet many people who are passionate about the sea and the coast. I speak with students who research the effects of marine sound pollution and let a volunteer show me bits of seagrass under a microscope. I look at the rubber model of a flapper skate that covers an entire table, and drop my jaw as I find out it's actually life-size. I speak to folks who restore coastal oakwoods and watch as a handful of oysters clean the muddy seawater inside a tank over the course of the day.   I join guided snorkel and paddleboarding sessions to see the seagrass meadows up close, And follow Seawilding founder, Danny Renton, and several volunteers to the shoreline at low tide, to hear about survey strategies and their native oyster release programme.   At the end of the first day of the festival, I sit down with Philip Price, who is the Communications Manager for Seawilding. I ask him how Seawilding grew out of the local community and how their work in turn impacts the people who live and work in this area.   ___________________________________________________________________     [Interview with Philip Price]   Philip: So that's a very good question. So when we say it's a community led charity, it's because it's been built from the community and it employs the community. We're all, we all live here and we've all started working for Seawilding, but how that came about. So, um, about eight years ago, we started an organization called CROMACH. Which is the Craignish Restoration of Marine and Coastal Habitat, which I'm always quite impressed I can remember it. Um, and basically what that did is it gave the community a voice on how we manage our inshore waters. Because prior to that, prior to a lot of, a lot of like minded people doing this, is that the only people that were giving voice to the local community in terms of how we manage our inshore waters were the commercial operations, so your fish farmers, your, your, um, fishermen, your creelers. Now, they should have a voice, but they certainly shouldn't be the only voice. And for a long time, they were the only voice influencing political decisions. Uh, and that's led to a really badly designed management system for our inshore waters. And that has resulted to catastrophic declines in virtually all our commercial fish species. So we came up with CROMACH as an antidote to that. To say, listen, we live by the sea, we work in the sea, we're not a commercial operation in terms of exploiting the sea, but we should still have a say in how our sea, because I'm swimming in the sea every day, I take my kids in the sea every day, I would like to have a say in how my home is run. Um, the problem with that is, We ended up doing, and it's very important work, but we ended up doing lots of consultations. Um, lots of talking to people, lots of saying no, we don't think that's a good idea. We don't want another fish farm. We don't want dredgers to come into our loch. And that's fine, and it's important, and it gets the conversation going, and then somebody has to take a balanced decision, you know, balancing up the economic interest, the jobs, and the impact on the environment. The problem with you as a volunteer doing that is, it's very hard to see the light at the end of that tunnel. And there is light at the end of that tunnel, I'm sure of it, but we needed something more positive than that. We needed to kind of have something that we could really get our teeth into and go, we are making a difference. Um, and that's why we wanted to start Seawilding. So, one of our community decided to, uh, trial an oyster, uh, restoration project. Got a bit of funding, that was Danny, our CEO. Uh, when that was successful, he then came up with the branding Seawilding. Um, we separated from CROMACH, because CROMACH was just a, a group. Uh, and we, and he created a, a SCIO, a charity, which meant we'd get proper funding, employ people. We were all doing voluntary work for Seawilding when it started out and then gradually we got some part time work And we gave up our previous businesses and jobs and become full time now. Kathi: That's fantastic and I think with what you're saying about being part of that decision making process and even though you don't have an Immediate or direct commercial interest in it. You should still be part of that conversation because it's your home. Coastal communities are obviously Especially in Scotland, but also around the world, affected by climate change in a different way than, um, people who live in the cities that are maybe further away from the sea or higher up, um, in the mountains as well. Because of course we've, you notice the sea level, because of course you notice the sea level rising way before we will, um, a bit further away. And I think... That's probably one of the reasons why it's also so important for coastal communities to be actively engaged in that. Is there anything you would add? Like, why is it so important for coastal communities to be involved in that conversation? Philip: Well, what you said, I couldn't say any better, so I completely agree with that. But also, we have to pick up the pieces. You know, we're the one on the beach picking up all the rubbish from the fish farm and the, and the gloves that are thrown over the side from fishing vessels. Um, and I'm not saying we shouldn't have fishing. I'm not saying that at all. But, you know, often communities are left to, to, to mop up. Um, you know, if, if there's a toxic algae bloom in the loch, it's our pets that are going to suffer. Our dogs that go in the water. It's our kids that are splashing around in it. If there's, um, if, if, if, if, I run a tourism business, or I have a self catering accommodation, or I run a hotel, and there's nothing for anyone to see when they come up and visit, because all the dolphins have disappeared because they're using, uh, acoustic deterrents. Then, or there's no fish for them to eat. That has direct impacts on our, on our lives. Um, so we have to have a say, otherwise coastal communities will break down, because the fishermen and, and the commercial interests of the sea are in decline because they've overfished it. We don't have the fish stocks we used to because they didn't manage it correctly. So it has to be done in a different way and the only way you're going to get done in a different way is not by relying on the same voices to tell you how to do it. So you need new voices and that's why I think it's absolutely vital communities have a voice in how their home is being looked after. Kathi: That's a great way to put it and probably something that could be said about many things in the world in just the right way. Thinking about renewable energy conversations and things like that as well. Philip: Yes, most definitely. Kathi: Um, Why seagrass? What makes seagrass so important and what role does it play within Scotland? Philip: So seagrass is one of these incredible, sort of, keystone species they call it. Basically, it just means it's really important for a whole load of other animals to survive and thrive. And why is that? Well there's a couple of things going on there. So if you can imagine the seabed as this sandy bottom. It's very flat and it doesn't have very much structure. So... To enable animals to get shelter, or to get food, or for things to grow on things, Um, you need, you need structure. Particularly in the sea actually, that's why you always get loads of life around. Um, uh, pontoons or boats, whatever. Um, so by planting seagrass, you create this incredible 3D structure in an otherwise sandy based seabed. But the other thing seagrass does is it draws carbon in from the atmosphere and, and sequests it into the sediment. So you've got the bonus of more habitat for loads of different species, including... Lots of juvenile commercial fish species and you have this kind of carbon sucking ability as well. Kathi: And that's because it photosynthesizes, right? Like a tree up on land, that's what the seagrass does under water. Philip: Yeah, yeah. So unfortunately, um, I'm not, I'm not a scientist. I don't know the exact ins and outs of it, but the general gist as I understand it, is it, it, it's slightly different to a tree. So a tree pulls carbon out of the atmosphere and creates wood essentially, or grows leaves. Um... There's something goes on with the seagrass that it does that too, but it also feeds the carbon into the sediment through its rhizome structure, which is its root structure and That means the carbon is locked away. So even if the plant dies the carbon doesn't get released So so long as you don't go and dredge the seabed then that carbon stays locked away forever Well for for as good as ever in terms of a human lifetime and so it's really exciting from that perspective Kathi: and seagrass in Scotland then specifically Is there a lot of it around? Um, I assume that a lot of it has been lost as well, otherwise you wouldn't be doing the work that you're doing. Philip: Yeah, so, so we think, and the science has kind of, um, has led us to this, this thinking, that we think that around the coast of the UK, roughly 95% of the seagrass has been lost. Some people think it's between 60 and 95%, but certainly when we've surveyed the seabed here to identify how much seagrass we could have, In terms of suitable sediment and depth. And we've compared it to what seagrass we do have. We find we're about 5% of what we could have. And that is why we're really passionate about trying to improve that 5% to a lot more. Kathi: Yeah, and so you've mentioned dredging as one of the things that might damage seagrass meadows. Is there anything else that you think has happened? And why we now have so much less sea meadows, seagrass meadows? Philip: Yeah, so, so, um, so dredging, they used to specifically There's lots of different types of dredge, and you can dredge to clear rivers, dredge for scallops. The, the problem with dredging for scallops, it doesn't often clear the seagrass out, but it creates these plumes of sediment that smothers seagrass and makes it vulnerable to disease. So that's one problem, but then in some places they specifically dredge the seagrass to clean the beaches and make it nicer for people to go in the water. So that, those are the pressures that have resulted in seagrass disappearing. The other thing is, uh, anchorages, yacht centres, like, like we're sitting in front of here. Um, pollution events, these all weaken the seagrass and then they become vulnerable to disease which can wipe out big, large chunks of seagrass, uh, bed. So, it's probably a massive variety of different things. Kathi: And now let's move on to the other species you work with, the native oysters. Again, can you explain what they are and why they're so important? Philip: So it's a very similar story there. So, so the native oyster is a mollusc, essentially a snail with a, with a slightly different shell. Um, and it's very easy to dismiss that as a, as a snail, but actually And the same with people that study snails. When you get into these animals, they're so fascinating. The fact that this little blobby thing can create a shell that's totally bomb proof is pretty incredible. But they do the same thing as seagrass. They create structure in an environment that would be lacking structure otherwise. So... Oysters like to grow on oysters. So if you've got a really healthy reef, what happens is the baby oysters grow on the adult oysters. They become adults. So you've then got two levels. And then the next, like, generation growing that, you've got three levels. So you end up having multiple levels of oysters, which allows lots of nooks and crannies and surface area for all sorts of animals to, to live and exist in. So from that perspective, oysters are... incredible. Um, but then they do this other thing that the seagrass doesn't do is and they filter the water, they clean the water, they takes, they take nutrients out of the water and allow the water to be clearer. And actually we find that has a nice benefit for the seagrass because it lets more light in and hopefully will benefit our seagrass in the future too. Kathi: So it's really about restoring an ecosystem not just individual species. Philip: Yeah, so when you're a person from Homo sapien We're very good at trying to concentrate on one thing at a time and unfortunately ecosystems just don't work like that. Um, and we're only learning that now. So instead of conserving a beetle or conserving a tiger, you've got to think ecosystem level now. And that's why we're restoring the seagrass and the oysters because we believe that's the bedrock of an ecosystem. Rather than saying, right, we want to restore herring or juvenile cod. It's like, well, We're hoping they'll do that themselves once we've built the foundation for where they can have their young and rear their young. Kathi: Absolutely. Oh, that makes so much sense. And, um, we've seen today in the village hall an example of how efficient oysters are at cleaning water. You had a tank set up with... A handful of oysters chucked in basically and some seagrass as well and when I arrived in the morning you could barely see anything in it because the water was so mucky and silty I guess and now as we left it was completely clear and you could just see every detail and that's all the oysters, right? Philip: Yes, exactly what they're doing. And that, so you think, so you think, this is really interesting. So that's actually the first time I've seen that demonstration done, even though I've been working with Seawilding now for a couple of years. And, uh, I've read about it and I knew they did that, but to actually see it is mind blowing. And then you, then you think about the world that we live in now compared to the world we could live in. The world we live in now, we have maybe, I don't know, Half a million oysters around the whole country, maybe? I don't know. In little pockets of population. Compare that to two or three hundred years ago. We would have had billions of oysters. Literally covering our shorelines. Think about how much of that tank has been cleaned in just a couple of hours. They're doing that to our entire ocean. So the clarity of the water back then must have been phenomenal. And I think that's what drives us forward. Is like, imagining this pristine, almost utopian sea that we can have again if we just change a few things and fix a few things. Kathi: That's amazing and it's, it's so inspiring to think. It's, it is about that big picture thinking and that future vision but it is within reach. Philip: Oh yeah. Kathi: It's not just something that happens in 300 years. Philip: Yeah and I think that's, that's That's one of the nice things about the sea particularly so on land your time scales for regeneration can be quite long but we're finding in the sea that you can get a big difference I think a little bit quicker so our seagrass meadows we think five to ten years we can see some really big improvements. Even in a year, we've seen a doubling in our, in our biodiversity, in our, in our restored seagrass compared to the mud. Um, and the same with, same with the oysters. We're seeing sort of 40 to 50% increase in biodiversity where we've got oysters and yeah, these are tiny little areas at the moment, but uh, but the benefits happen very quickly in the sea 'cause it's an interconnected habitat. So. Kathi: Yeah. Philip: It's properly exciting. Kathi: And it's almost like running a little experiment in one small area, and then being able to think about, okay, how do you then scale that and make it. Philip: So that's exactly what, where Seawilding are at the moment. So, we all want to go landscape scale, but at the moment, We can't put our finger on the right methodology for doing that because some, because we'll have these questions in our mind. Well, is it better to put an oyster down at 10 grams or 20 grams or 30 grams? Is it better to plant seagrass by using rhizome transplanting, which is the roots, or is it better to do seeds and baggers? We just don't know the answers to that yet. So at the moment we're conducting huge experiments, um, which is also restoring habitat at the same time, but we're just trying to monitor which is the most successful of that habitat restoration. And then we can push the button and go, right, now we can go for some really big funds to make this happen on a landscape scale. Kathi: Incredible. And so do you want to walk me in basic, uh, simple to understand ways through the process of restoring a seagrass meadow? What's required and what steps do you have to take for that? Philip: So, the start off point is surveying. So you, you, you survey an area to see if you've got any existing seagrass and to see if the seabed is suitable for seagrass restoration. That's your first two steps.Then you're going to get permission from NatureScot because you might be interacting with an existing seagrass bed which is protected, and you've got to come up with a fairly robust plan on how you're going to do that restoration. Then it gets interesting. What is the best way of doing that restoration? We don't actually know yet, but we're trialling various methods. One method is to go out at exactly this time of year, and we're sort of mid August now, and collect seed from this plant before it's fallen off the plant. So you've got to get that timing pretty good. You then put those seeds into a tank, allow them to fall from the plant that you've harvested in the tank, and then you sweep them seeds up. You store them seeds till it's time to plant them, which we think is probably either October or the spring. We're not sure, we're experimenting with both. And then you either plant the seed directly into the seabed, or you put it in little bags that protects the seed from predation or from being washed away, and then put the bags on the seabed and they rot away, allowing the germinating plant to come through. Um, or, so that's using seed. The other way of doing it is going into the seagrass. You can do this at any time of year. You can harvest individual plants under license from NatureScot, and then you plant those individual plants out on the sediment, uh, and with the hope that what happens is the rhizomes have survived that process. They then... Because they kind of have been slightly stressed by it, they think, God, I need to grow now. This is, this is bad news. We need to grow. So it sort of sets off a super growth pattern that allows the rhizomes to interconnect and put shoots up in the gaps. So you then get an infill in the meadow and you get hopefully a proper seagrass meadow resulting from the individual plants that you put out. Kathi: So when you're in a seagrass meadow, does that mean... That one plant actually has multiple shoots, or is it individual plants that you're seeing? Philip: So, um, it can vary. Sometimes you've got one shoot, one rhizome, one root system that can have 10 or 15 plants coming off it. Sometimes you've got one plant and one root. It can really vary. But what you get when you put your hand into a seagrass meadow and you're trying to dig out a root is this massive interconnected root system. It's so wonderful. And then you start thinking, hold on a minute. What's one of the biggest problems we have with, uh, the ocean, the sort of coastal communities around here, and a lot of it, not so much here, but certainly down south, is coastal erosion. So if you put this huge network of roots into this very fine sediment, it locks it all into place, so it's going to be a massive boon for coastal erosion. So we think it's another huge advantage of restoring seagrass. Kathi: That's so interesting, that's the second time now that I thought about an episode earlier in the season that is about bogs. Philip: Oh right, yeah, yeah. Kathi: Peat doing similar things in terms of locking carbon away into the soil or into the ground. And now also seagrass, um, being one of the measures against coastal erosion in the same way that, that, peat and that is, is, is a, as a measure against soil washing away. So it's, that's really fascinating. Philip: Yeah, no, it's really interesting. And also it helps mitigate against storm surges because the root network is really strong. The plants take energy out of the waves, which means you're not blasted with the same energy in a wave that you would be otherwise. So, benefit after benefit, hopefully. Kathi: Um, can you tell me a bit or describe some of the challenges that you face in your work? And that could be practical challenges in the water or maybe more, um, challenges in, in the face of other people being part of that conversation and, and how decisions are being made. Philip: Yeah, it's a good, it's a really good question. The challenges sort of vary on a daily basis almost, but the main challenges we face, I think, from a practical point of view is, like we were discussing before, is figuring out the best way of doing stuff and having to work at seagrass time or oyster time. If we trial a seagrass thing, we have to wait 18 months to see if it works. It's just what we have to do. So, and then if we trial something one year and it's super hot, and we trial something the next year and it's super cold, then that skewers our learnings quite heavily. Um, so we're, we're trying to create that fine balance of doing and learning at the same time. Because we can't wait till the science is perfect, um, but we need to rely on the science to make sure we get the best methodology, so we have to both do and learn, and that's the approach we're taking, but, but, the, the main challenge is that, like I said, that time scale that you have to work at. In terms of external influences, um, I think still, it's changing now, but I think at a regulatory level, The concept of rewilding and rebuilding habitats rather than conserving habitats still hasn't fully sunk in to the point of where they're like, yeah, I get this, let's do this. We still have to play the convincing game on oyster restoration rather than just conserving a wee pocket of oysters there. And we still have to play a little bit of a game on the, well, we've got seagrass, why do we need to put any more in? Well, yeah, because there's not very much. And we think we need to help it. Um, that is changing. And within a lot of the kind of regulatory organisations, um, there's some really good people doing good work, uh, who are super supportive of what we do particularly. Um, but, but that has been a little bit of a challenge in the past. And then, going forward, at the moment, most of our work doesn't come in conflict with any commercial interest going on in the loch. However, at some point in the future that may happen. So we're going to have to maybe persuade, or... Or come up with compromises with people who have commercial interests to try and change either what we do or what they do, so we can both flourish in the loch. How that happens, we won't know yet, but that will happen at some point. Kathi: The future will tell, I guess. Um, how do you... Sorry, I'm gonna do that again. You already mentioned, you know, that there's a few different local groups and obviously Seawilding has grown out of another local group as well. How do you engage with different organisations and groups, community led or otherwise? Uh, in the local area and, um, I'm thinking for example, the, the Friends of the Sound of Jura, Philip: Yeah. Kathi: Or the Argyll Hope Spot, who are two organisations I personally have made experiences with. So how does that kind of network function? Philip: So, so the, so the Argyll Hope Spot's interesting because that's the kind of label that we all live under. So we are, we are Argyll Hope Spot, Friends of the Sound of Jura are Argyll Hope Spot. It, it governs our whole area and it's a label we all fully believe in and get behind because... We're living in an environment that isn't good as it could be, but it has hope that it could be a lot better. So that's kind of the basis of the Hope Spot. So in terms of communicating with other organizations like ourselves, then the, uh, The easiest way to do it is through this wonderful thing that's been set up, that help us set up actually, which is the Coastal Community Network and they are run to support and connect individual community groups around the country so we have a bigger voice and we have Uh, shared learnings. We have, um, you know, all the way down to practical phone calls where you can phone somebody from a different group and go, Well, you've done seagrass. How did you do that? Or, um, how do you set up a website? Where did you get that information? Or we've got a fish farm application. How do we, how do we, um, get through that and, and find out if it's a good or bad one or whatever? So the Coastal Community Network, the CCN, has been vital for that. Kathi: Mm. And beyond kind of the local area or beyond the maybe the grassroots level as well, how do you engage with, say, local councils or businesses with commercial interests? Um, or even, you know, government bodies, uh, I'm thinking of NatureScot and things like that - how does that function? Philip: So being part of CCN allows us access to these government bodies. So that's, that's our route into that. We're also part of the Scottish Rewarding Alliance. Um, so that's another way into lobbying politicians. We've also developed some personal relationships with particularly the green MSPs like Ariane Burgess who are super excited by what's happening here and want to help us and support us as best they can, which is very lovely. In terms of the commercial conversations, one of the routes we're going down at the moment as a community So this is not Seawilding, but this is more a CROMACH thing, is to, um, try and create a demonstration and research marine protected area in Loch Craignish. And that gives us a mechanism because we have to engage all the stakeholders, all the commercial interests in the loch, to get that through. Um, and we have to go to them and say, this is our plan to improve the health of the loch, are you on board? Um, and if they say yes, then we have to come up with some projects that we can work on together that will hopefully improve the health of the loch. So that's, that's probably the main mechanism for the local commercial and business interests that we're using to kind of build those relationships to try and improve the loch. A a, a very quick example is working with the Ardfern Yacht Center to help communicate where the seagrass beds are to, um, yacht, yacht, yacht people sailing in their yachts, so they don't anchoring the sea grass. Kathi: Mm-hmm. Philip: So it's a very simple example of working with the, a local business. Kathi: That's brilliant. And I, I like how you explain or, or describe, you know, on the one hand, it is about local community getting involved and not just having these decisions made top down. But on the other hand, you kind of still have to play by the rules, um, and play the game a little bit and then use the mechanisms that exist to your benefit and in new and different ways. And yeah, that's that's really inspiring. Um, can you talk a bit more about the networking aspect that you do with other community groups or other charities as well, and maybe some of the training you deliver or, um, yeah. Philip: So, one of the ways we'd like to see Seawilding expand as a, as a, um, either as a, as a charity, but, but mainly to see our, what the work we're doing, see oysters, seagrass, habitat restoration, expanding, is to motivate, to train, to help other communities to do this themselves. And as part of that, we run training weekends, um, every year, inviting other communities here so they can learn firsthand how we're doing what we're doing, the mistakes we've made, uh, the successes we've had, and then hopefully they can build similar projects in their own communities. Um, CCN are very good at facilitating a lot of this as well. So they do monthly calls and restoration that we can all attend and share best practice again, share mistakes. They run a big event every two years where we all go to, called Gartmore. Um, that allows us to network there to, to have presentations, either give presentations or receive presentations about particular successes or failures or whatever. So there is- that networking is, is working very, very well. The main problem we have as a, as a community force is capacity. So, um, the mistake we've probably made a little bit at the beginning is believing that the community can just do this voluntarily. You can't. The community can do it, and communities all around Scotland can do it, but they have to be supported with providing jobs to do that. Um, otherwise... You get burned out very, very quickly. And we found that with Seawilding. You know, I'm about the most passionate person in the world about rewilding. And I was holding down a job, got a family of three kids, trying to volunteer for Seawilding. It, it was, it got to the point where it wasn't fun. And I still kept doing it because it's important, but you need to get paid people in these roles that allow them to really drive this stuff forward. Kathi: Absolutely. And I think that's the same in so many different sectors as well. And, you know, I've personally gone through that process myself of constantly having the conversation about, Oh, but you're passionate about this. Don't you enjoy doing it? But like you say, at some point, it just gets too much in order to give it your all. You need to be able to fully focus on that and still be able not to worry about your livelihood. Philip: Definitely. And it's okay to enjoy something you get paid for. I think we've got this weird attitude in Britain where we need to work really hard and be really miserable working. It's like, well, surely if you're lucky enough, and I understand my privilege. I have huge privilege. Um, but. If you're lucky enough to have a job that's fun, that's a good thing. Kathi: Exactly. Philip: It's not a bad thing. Kathi: Yeah. And then being able to harness your passion and your expertise and your, you know, innovation as well into something that will change the world is amazing. And being paid for it. Philip: Yeah, we're very lucky. Kathi: How fantastic. Philip: Very lucky. I have to say, we are very lucky. Kathi: Um, There are obviously a lot of restoration projects, not just seagrass, but including seagrass as well in other places in Scotland, and it seems like they're all kind of doing it slightly in different ways. There's some that are led by national agencies, some like yourselves, led by grassroots community groups. Can you maybe comment on the advantages and disadvantages of your process or your, your approach and where you think you might be able to learn something from how it's done elsewhere. Philip: Yeah, so, I think the, the, the advantages of, of being this kind of community startup, if you like, is that, for instance, very, it can be a very simple thing. If I want to go down... Down to the water there, and I have to walk through that field. I know I speak to Sandy Ritchie. That's who owns that field. Like, I don't have to ask anybody. I don't have to get their permission. I can just give them a call or Whatsapp them and go, can I go down your field and, um, put a, you know, a wee cage out of oysters and do a trial there. And they'll be like, yeah, no worries. Um, Whereas if you're an agency coming in, you have to get permission, you have to figure out who owns that field, you have to ask around and they'll be like, Oh, who are you coming in and doing this? You haven't built up that relationship with everybody in the community that - you haven't built up that trust. Um, so that's a huge advantage. And then, you know, we've got a really huge mixed skillset. We're not employed to do a certain thing. We've come to this because we want to make something happen. So if we're, um, if we're having to fix up the boat shed, we don't have to get a builder in and we've got the skills within the team to do that. Our marine scientist happens to be a tree surgeon, so he can top some of the trees, you know. So, you know West Coast community You tend to find multi skilled people and which means you can just get stuff done quicker. Then we don't have a massive decision tree to go up and down. So if we want to change a poster, I do a lot of the communication stuff and, and the website stuff and I'll just check with one person. Do you think this is alright? Yeah, it's alright. Job done. Um, whereas if we're a part of a big organisation, then if I want to change the website, I have to go to the web designer that's been employed by the big organisation, and then I have to check with the manager of both the web design and of my manager, and then I have to get permission from all of those to change a couple of words. So that's like two weeks work to do something I can maybe do in five minutes. (Kathi: Yeah.) So we're really efficient, um, with money. And we're really quick to do stuff. The disadvantage, I would say, of our approach is that we have to create all our own resources. So that obviously takes a bit of time. Uh, and getting access to big funds to really push this forward. You need a track record to do that. You're not gonna be given multi-million pound projects. If you're just a wee start up with a few shnees in Ardfern that are looking to get a project up and running, chucked a few oysters in and thought, Whoa, what's this? So we've had to build up that kind of trust and track record with the wider funding community, which we're starting to do now. But if you're WWF, let's say, you have that track record, you know, you're a trusted, uh, funded organization. So if you're saying, well, give us a million pounds and we'll deliver this project, they'll probably go, well, you've done it before. Yeah, let's, let's see you do it. So, you know, there are advantages and disadvantages. Kathi: Absolutely. There's a question kind of in the back of my head that I would love to ask. And I'm hoping. Well, it actually matches up with another question I also want to ask. Yeah, yeah, thank you. That was shit anyways. Wait for that to leave. What even is that? It's like a little quad bike or something. It goes straight up the hill. Or a lawnmower. Um, there's a question on the back of my mind, and I kind of have two ways of asking you. One is, is there anything... And if yes, and I hope your answer is yes, what gives you hope? Philip: Uh, yes, actually, lots gives me hope. So bigger picture stuff, we have this climate crisis, and we have this biodiversity crisis. Uh, and on one hand you could think, oh no, you know, we're maybe looking at human extinction if we don't sort this out. But the other hand is if we do sort this out, what is it going to look like? It's going to look incredible. We're going to have very low cost energy. We're going to have beautiful air quality. We're going to have abundant wildlife. We're going to have farming systems that work with nature for people and for wildlife. This is a utopian vision, and it's not like we could have it. We have to have it to survive. And actually... For some reason that gives me huge amounts of hope because we're either not going to succeed and go extinct or we're going to succeed and have this incredible world that we're going to have forged for our generation possibly, definitely for the future generations. So in terms of are we going to be a good ancestor for them? Then we have to be and if we achieve that then we'll be a brilliant ancestor for future generations. So it's gonna be super exciting. So bigger picture stuff that gives me real hope. On the local level, I've got real hope too, because we did a survey recently, and it turned out the vast majority of the local population care about their loch, and wanted to see it better, wanted to see it healthier, and that's enabled us to go down this D and R MPA that we were talking about earlier, the [demonstration and] research marine protected area. So that's, that's a game changer. People didn't have that care - years ago. You know, they're either too hard at work just surviving, or it just wasn't in their sphere of knowledge or thinking or whatever it was. A nd then you go and swim in seagrass and you're like, imagine there being more of this stuff. It's so awesome. And then you watch those oysters clean that tank out and you're like - the sea could be like this, you know what I mean? So, if we can achieve even half of what we need to, the world's going to be a very wonderful place. So, yeah, definitely full of hope. Kathi: That's amazing, and you've almost answered my second way of asking this question, and that would be if you could paint me a picture of what the world would look like, the way you envision it, um, being able to do all these things, and I think that was, that was pretty much what you did there, so. Philip: So I'll give you a wee, another wee analogy you might find quite useful. There's a, there's a... Uh, we're doing these interviews with people about what the loch used to be like. And the amount of life in here is just, used to be phenomenal. And there's a wildlife boat trip that would go out of Craobh Haven, which is just over the other side of the peninsula. And he would go out of here, and he had to go at five knots, because there were so many seabirds around his boat, he would have killed them if he didn't go that slowly. Just hundreds, thousands, as far as the eye could see. They don't exist now, they've gone. There's no food for them. Um. So yeah, what does it look like in the future? Well, I go out on my boat, I can't go five knots because I'm going to crush these millions of seabirds. And then, there's pods of dolphins, there's huge populations of orcas, there's great whales back on our shoreline, and there's flapper skate the size of three meter wingspans flying around the loch. That's what the future looks like. Kathi: Amazing. So how can people get involved? Philip: Good question. We have various volunteer days throughout the year which are all on our website, so you can sign up to any of that. For people that live locally, we have Other things that are a bit more tide dependent or a bit more, um, need a bit more training. So like Monitoring our oysters you can get involved with that. You can always give us all your hard earned cash. That's always good. So you can do a bit of that. And actually just you know a lot of what's nice about what we do and what's really important is that if the message is shared. A) it gives us validation which helps us fundraise from big funders, like government funding, um, but also it just gets that message out there that the sea is an incredible place and we need to really love it. It needs our love. It really needs it now. So , if that's all you can do is just look at what we do and share it and, and, and come and learn a little bit about it and, and talk to your friends about, about the pressures and the, and the wonderfulness of it and, and what needs to change in it, then that's a good thing to do. Kathi: Brilliant. We'll put all the links in the show notes to the website, where to donate, where to find out about upcoming events and social media as well. Um, I do encourage people to follow because, yeah, like I said, the visual images and videos you share with Seawilding, it's, yeah, it makes it really approachable and, and relatable, even though I live quite a good distance from the sea, so it's quite nice to see that as a reminder and, and be immersed in it that way. Is there anything else you would like to give listeners on the way, whether it is about the future, or Seawilding, the work you do, or anything else? Philip: Um, I think it's, yeah, I think it's just to hold on to that hope. Somebody today actually mentioned to me that the best reason for hope is it gives us the drive to take action. And we need to take action, but if we do take action, it's going to be really good. So, let's just... Yeah, use that. Kathi: Brilliant. Thank you so much for taking the time. Philip: No problem, thank you. Kathi: Amazing. ___________________________________________________________________   In just two days I learnt so much about rewilding out seas. Why it's important, how it might be done, and why it is crucial that local communities are at the forefront of this movement.   We will be sharing lots of resources to learn more about seagrass in the show notes of this episode. First and foremost, you'll find the links to connect with Seawilding, how to join them as a volunteer and other ways to support their work.   You'll also find links to other community-led initiatives on the coast of Argyll, a few articles and videos you might find interesting, and other podcast episodes about seagrass.   One of them is the latest episode on my own podcast Wild for Scotland. It's called ‘A Long Time Coming' and takes you on an immersive journey on Loch Craignish. I'm taking you out on the paddleboard to learn about native oysters, we'll hear more from Philip about the creatures that live in the seagrass, and we'll go snorkelling to encounter some of them. You can find Wild for Scotland wherever you listen to this podcast right now. Seagrass meadows are not just something pretty to look at if you're fortunate enough to snorkel or paddle past one. They can do so much for our climate resilience and can help us take hopeful, solutions-led approaches to dealing with the biodiversity crisis and coastal erosion. In times where it is easy to feel disconnected from the people and powers that seem to be setting the agenda at the top, projects like Seawilding bring the conversation back to the ground level, and invite us to participate. And I hope that listening to this episode has inspired you to do just that.

In this episode we take you on a boat trip down the River Endrick at Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve,  where we chat with NatureScot area staff Amee Hood, Stephen Longster and Robyn Hennessey.  They guide us through the unique flora and fauna of not only Loch Lomond, but also Flanders Moss and Blawhorn Moss National Nature Reserves, the three reserves they help look after.We hear about these special habitats, discuss the invasive non-native species that threaten them and reveal the conservation efforts led by NatureScot staff and volunteers.As we delve deeper, the team explain the type of work that goes on at a nature reserve, from monitoring birds and managing invasive species, to unearthing rare plants. They also share their own seasonal highlights and passion for the natural world. So, join us in discovering the natural beauty of Scotland's nature reserves and the crucial conservation efforts underway.More Information:Loch Lomond National Nature ReserveBlawhorn Moss National Nature ReserveFlanders Moss National Nature ReserveFollow the NNR Facebook page for up-to-date information on reserves across Scotland.Find out more about our partners: Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park  and the RSPB, which manages RSPB Loch Lomond. 

In this episode of Natural Capital Ross Mackenzie and Janette Sutherland visit Sam Thorburn's croft on the Isle of Skye. They discuss the natural capital on the islands, Gaelic culture, biodiversity, and crofting life. Gaelic language provides a unique insight and understanding of Scotland's nature, helping us to understand it better. Central to all Natural Capital is people; our heritage, language, and communities are all important considerations. They provide valuable lessons and traditional ways of doing things, helping to develop successful natural capital projects and effective policy. Guest hosts Ross Mackenzie and Janette Sutherland. Host Rachel Smillie, producer Iain Boyd, executive producer Kerry Hammond, editor Ross Mackenzie. Related FAS resources: FAS Sounds:  https://www.fas.scot/sounds/   FAS Biodiversity Pages: https://www.fas.scot/environment/biodiversity/    FAS Crofts & Small Farms: https://www.fas.scot/rural-business/crofts-small-farms/ Other Related Resources: Bòrd na Gàidhlig: https://www.gaidhlig.scot/en/ Crofting Commission: https://www.crofting.scotland.gov.uk/ Gaelic within NatureScot: https://www.nature.scot/gaelic John Muir Trust Wild Words - Reading the Land: https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/whats-new/news/39-wild-words-reading-the-land#:~:text=Meall%2C%20ubiquitous%20on%20the%20map,is%20a%20high%2C%20rocky%20hill Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority - Our Gaelic Culture: https://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/discover-the-park/our-heritage-culture/our-gaelic-culture/

In this episode of Natural Capital Ross Mackenzie and Janette Sutherland visit Sam Thorburn's croft on the Isle of Skye. They discuss the natural capital on the islands, Gaelic culture, biodiversity, and crofting life. Gaelic language provides a unique insight and understanding of Scotland's nature, helping us to understand it better. Central to all Natural Capital is people; our heritage, language, and communities are all important considerations. They provide valuable lessons and traditional ways of doing things, helping to develop successful natural capital projects and effective policy. Guest hosts Ross Mackenzie and Janette Sutherland. Host Rachel Smillie, producer Iain Boyd, executive producer Kerry Hammond, editor Ross Mackenzie. Related FAS resources: FAS Sounds:  https://www.fas.scot/sounds/   FAS Biodiversity Pages: https://www.fas.scot/environment/biodiversity/    FAS Crofts & Small Farms: https://www.fas.scot/rural-business/crofts-small-farms/ Other Related Resources: Bòrd na Gàidhlig: https://www.gaidhlig.scot/en/ Crofting Commission: https://www.crofting.scotland.gov.uk/ Gaelic within NatureScot: https://www.nature.scot/gaelic John Muir Trust Wild Words - Reading the Land: https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/whats-new/news/39-wild-words-reading-the-land#:~:text=Meall%2C%20ubiquitous%20on%20the%20map,is%20a%20high%2C%20rocky%20hill Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority - Our Gaelic Culture: https://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/discover-the-park/our-heritage-culture/our-gaelic-culture/

THRILL OF THE HILL | Farmland covers the Scottish landscape, between 70% and 80% of it, but farmers are not the only stakeholders in the countryside. Increasing, the general public are interacting with farming and land management, encouraged by the prospects of adventure, points of interest, leisure, health and well-being. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) makes provisions for responsible access to land and by and large that is achieved. In this episode, Bridget Jones, NatureScot, joins the podcast to discuss promoting sustainable, responsible access to the countryside, we discuss hidden gems, where people go and what they do when they get there and mediating conflicts where they arise. Hosted by Alexander Pirie, Edited by Malcolm MacDonald, Produced by Beth Errington, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, in association with The Scottish Government.Related FAS Resourceshttps://www.fas.scot/publication/stock-talk-livestock-worrying-keeping-yourself-right-with-the-sheep-game/

THRILL OF THE HILL | Farmland covers the Scottish landscape, between 70% and 80% of it, but farmers are not the only stakeholders in the countryside. Increasingly, the general public is interacting with farming and land management, encouraged by the prospects of adventure, points of interest, leisure, health, and well-being. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) makes provisions for responsible access to land and by and large that is achieved. In this episode, Bridget Jones, NatureScot, joins the podcast to discuss promoting sustainable, responsible access to the countryside, we discuss hidden gems, where people go and what they do when they get there, and mediating conflicts where they arise. Hosted by Alexander Pirie, Edited by Malcolm MacDonald, Produced by Beth Errington, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, in association with The Scottish Government.Related FAS Materialshttps://www.fas.scot/publication/stock-talk-livestock-worrying-keeping-yourself-right-with-the-sheep-game/

Wild beavers are to be returned to the Scottish Highlands in what will be a series of firsts for the Cairngorms National Park Authority. A licence application to NatureScot is to be made shortly for the release. It'll be the first time they've been reintroduced to the Highlands, and the first re-introduction completely outside the animals' existing range, in the Spey valley, confirming the Scottish Government policy of getting wild beavers to spread across all of Scotland. However, will those farm along the Spey going to be happy? The nights are drawing in, there is a nip of autumn in the air so what better time to devote a week to talking about root veg - the carrots, parsnips, swedes and onions that warming stews are made of. But with many UK veg growers warning that the cost of growing is increasing way faster than the prices they're paid, what's the future for these staple crops? Farmers in North Yorkshire are running new trials on a traditional but under used type of grass that could last longer and save costs while capturing more carbon and improving river quality.  It's called Cocksfoot, because the splayed-out seed heads look the bird's foot, and it's been thought of as a coarse grass, so not popular commercially. Now new varieties are more palatable for grazing animals and the grass is thought to be better for the environment than traditional grazing swards like rye grass.    Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

In this episode we chat to Katie Berry from Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels, a project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, in partnership with NatureScot and others, working to ensure red squirrels continue to be a part of Scotland's native wildlife.Katie explains more about the work involved, the threat from the invasive non-native grey squirrel, the importance of volunteering, and how we can all be part of this work.We also meet with NatureScot's recently appointed Chair, Professor Colin Galbraith, who digs deeper into why invasive non-native species are a major threat to our native wildlife and what else is being done to tackle them.More information:Saving Scotland's Red SquirrelsInvasive non-native speciesNon-native species of concern in ScotlandReport a non-native species on iRecord

In this special edition of the podcast Stephen is in Orkney to hear about work to protect its special, native wildlife.Orkney  has its own native Vole species and also hosts globally important populations of seabirds, waders and other species. But that wildlife is under threat from an invasive predator, the Stoat. RSPB Scotland is part of a groundbreaking project that has set out to eradicate Stoats and protect native wildlife. Stephen hears from those involved in trapping, monitoring and biosecurity as part of this enormous undertaking.The Orkney Native Wildlife Project is a partnership between RSPB Scotland, NatureScot and Orkney Islands Council with generous support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and EU LIFE (LIFE17 UK/NAT/000557) as well as in kind and financial contributions from partners. The mop-up methodology trial was supported by the Scottish Government's Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.

In this episode we chat to Robin Pakeman from the James Hutton Institute about the underlying causes of nature loss in Scotland. Recently revealed in a new report commissioned by NatureScot and co-authored by Robin and colleagues at the James Hutton and from the University of Glasgow, these seemingly unrelated factors can have a significant impact on both nature and climate.We also meet with Clive Mitchell, NatureScot's Strategic Resource Manager (Nature & Climate Change) who takes us through some of the changes that need to happen for Scotland to become a sustainable, nature-rich, net-zero nation, and he gives us an insight into some of the actions we can all take to get closer to living in harmony with nature.More information:James Hutton Institute partnership news release: Considerable change needed to stop nature loss in ScotlandUnderstanding the Indirect Drivers of Biodiversity Loss in Scotland - A SummaryNatureScot Research Report 1309 - Understanding the Indirect Drivers of Biodiversity Loss in ScotlandScottish Government news release: New legal targets proposed for nature recovery

In this episode we head to the banks of the River Tay in Perthshire to meet with NatureScot's beaver team and hear about the work they're doing to help everyone in Scotland live alongside beavers again.Recorded at a recent demonstration event held by the team to teach volunteers and land managers the skills to be self-sufficient and carry out effective tree protection in Tayside, we spoke to staff from NatureScot and The Beaver Trust as well as volunteers who were keen to learn more. We find out about the history of beavers and how they came to be in Scotland after such a long absence, what impacts beavers can have on our waterside woodlands and what can be done to mitigate some of those impacts. A really interesting listen.More information:Protecting trees from beavers using wire meshBeaver Mitigation Scheme

In this episode we meet some of the recipients of The Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund - a European Regional Development Challenge Fund, managed by NatureScot.The fund has supported projects that encourage visitors to experience a wider range of the unique nature and culture of the Highlands and Islands. The fund also aimed to benefit communities, with the projects it supports helping to retain local jobs and services.We attended an event celebrating the fund and its projects where we met with representatives from five of the projects, as well as NatureScot staff involved with the fund. More information:The Natural and Cultural Heritage FundFull list of projects receiving funding through The Natural and Cultural Heritage FundProjects featured in the episode: The Real Wild West - Archaeology Scotland and the West Ardnamurchan CommunityCorrieshalloch Gorge Gateway to Nature - National Trust for ScotlandScotland's Wildlife Discovery Centre - Royal Zoological Society of ScotlandWildlife Watch Abernethy - RSPB Scotland Dundreggan Rewilding Centre - Trees for Life

Farmers on Dartmoor say they've been told they must radically reduce the number of livestock on common land if they want to remain in government schemes. Natural England has written to commons associations, which cover much of Dartmoor, offering rollovers of existing Higher Level Stewardship Schemes, but only if they stop winter grazing, and drastically reduce the number of animals on the land in the summer - on some commons by an average of 75 percent. We speak to a farmer who's got to reduce his livestock by 91 per cent and the area manager for Natural England. Who should pay to restore biodiversity in the UK? Governments are keen to encourage private money to work alongside their schemes and Scotland's government nature agency, NatureScot, has announced a £2 billion private finance pilot designed to secure landscape scale restoration of native woodlands. Critics are concerned that carbon credit markets are unregulated and don't incentivise companies to reduce emissions. Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

In this episode we chat to Mark Williamson, a Modern Apprentice with NatureScot, focused on Rural Environmental Conservation. He tells us about the wide variety of work he's involved with across three National Nature Reserves, his work experience so far, his career aspirations and how he Makes Space For Nature everyday. Skills Development Scotland - apprenticeship informationScottish Apprenticeship Week 6 - 10 March 2023Seasonal ways to Make Space For Nature

The latest outbreak of avian flu is affecting birds from Europe to South America to Canada — and it's not only impacting poultry supply, but it's also killing seabirds. For more on why things are so bad this year, Matt Galloways speaks with Amanda Brittain, chief information officer for the BC Poultry Association; Alastair MacGrugan, who works with the Scottish nature agency NatureScot; and Shayan Sharif, a professor of immunology at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

> Find galleries, blog posts and many more episodes at www.mountainairpodcast.uk“You've got to acknowledge that you're just a fragment in time.”Episode 2#9 settles down with Doug Bartholomew, a man who has the dream job of managing one of Scotland's great landscapes. Seek him on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday and you'll find him and his team of fellow NatureScot employees on Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree Islands National Nature Reserve in Wester Ross. This 48 square kilometres of magnificent highland wilderness requires hard work to keep it running sustainably, and constant attention is required to replenish the native Caledonia pinewoods that still grow in these soils. As a consequence, Doug finds himself stalking deer, nurturing and planting up to 20,000 pine seedlings, and enduring vicious swarms of midges throughout his working year. Told you it was a dream job.Doug reveals how he came to be in this “dead man's shoes” kind of role, why volunteers on the reserve are absolutely essential to its continued success, and how much joy can be found running and climbing in this exceptional landscape when you wake and work between its peaks.> Want to volunteer at Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree Islands NNR yourself? Walk this way.Listen, enjoy, tell your friends, subscribe to the podcast if you get and chance, and thank UKHillwalking.com for their kind support of this series![episode recorded on 30/08/22]00:00 - Introduction01:56 - Welcome, living on Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve (“it's a short commute to work”) amongst the “largest remnant” of ancient Caledonian pinewood06:06 - A run-down of a Reserve Manager's job, stalking deer and growing trees from seed09:06 - A small team for a 5,000 hectare area11:24 - Growing 20,000 trees per year, repairing deforestation by humans and herbivores16:06 - “As a manager, you want to see things happen in your time… but especially with woodland restoration like this you've got to acknowledge that you're just a fragment in time when you think of the hundreds of years it'll need to restore these landscapes.”17:11 - More about deer management, “aiming for a about 1-2 deer per kilometre squared”, the absence of apex predators (“we don't have an intact natural process”)20:06 - A “‘dead man's shoes” kind of job20:36 - Doug's journey to becoming a Reserve Manager, the challenges of conservation, feeling a connection to the environment29:36 - Getting out in the evenings and getting up high - “if you can run, you can pack a lot into a short time… to get up on the Beinn Eighe ridge while the light's flooding in from the west”, the scrambly mountain running in the area32:46 - Multi-pitch trad climbing on Beinn Eighe, and the appeals of winter when ice climbing is in. Being one step ahead of UKClimbing's forums36:26 - Welcoming the general public, the first waymarked route in Britain which rises to 500m with views of Loch Maree38:16 - The hardest days on the job, being uplifted by the “vibrance and enthusiasm” of volunteers on the Reserve, enjoying their varied backgrounds41:40 - Midge chat: “the weather's not always hot and sunny… and my house must be one of the midge-iest spots in Scotland. They never lose their bite”... don't end up with a “lather of dead midges all over you”... “grimace”45:36 - Greatest mountain memory… a winter traverse of the Cuillin in perfect weather and perfect snow conditions; a winter climb of the Fiddler's Nose (“I'm still buzzing”)48:16 - All the time, money, freedom… what would you do? Climbing in Alaska and the Himalayas, but “I love my job and I'm pretty content, so I wouldn't ask for much more”

Stephen and Kate take a trip to RSPB Scotland's Lochwinnoch nature reserve. They're joined by Senior Conservation Officer Toby Wilson who has some tips for things to keep an eye out for as we head into winter. Warden Dan Snowdon shows off his new scrapes which are proving to be a home for all kinds of wildlife. The team also has all the latest nature news.LINKSIf you want to see the scrapes at Lochwinnoch watch this video https://youtu.be/rChb6zIsFz8 This project is supported by the Scottish Government's Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot. It's also part of the wider Garnock Connections project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.Find out more about the Birdcrime report here https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/BirdCrimeReportLaunched/Info on the Nature of Scotland Awards https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/at-home-and-abroad/scotland/nature-of-scotland-awards/

Brodie Thomas, a project placement helping to facilitate NatureScot's use of genetic technologies, explains what Environmental DNA is, and how this non-invasive sampling technique can monitor wildlife and help build up a detailed image of what lives where. She explains the pros and cons of the technique, how it's being used to detect the presence of invasive non-native species, and the potential use of eDNA to help tackle nature loss and climate change. Further reading:Measuring biodiversity from DNA in the air Elizabeth L. Clare, Chloe K. Economou, Frances J. Bennett, Caitlin E. Dyer, Katherine Adams, Benjamin McRobie, Rosie Drinkwater, Joanne E. Littlefair Current Biology JournalAirborne environmental DNA for terrestrial vertebrate community monitoring Christina Lynggaard, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Casper V. Jensen, Matthew S. Johnson, Tobias Guldberg Frøslev, Morten Tange Olsen and Kristine Bohmann Current Biology Journal

In this episode we chat with Peatland ACTION Project Officers Ben Inglis-Grant and Sue White. Both are based on Scottish islands; Sue works with Shetland Amenity Trust and Ben is with Carloway Estate Trust on the isle of Lewis.We hear about their varied work with Peatland ACTION, the national programme helping to restore damaged peatlands in Scotland, led and funded by Scottish Government and delivered by NatureScot and partners.  They explain the importance of peatlands and how restoring these vital carbon stores can provide a range of benefits for people and nature, and help tackle climate change.Further reading:Peatland ACTIONPeatland ACTION Fund - how to applyThe Shetland Amenity TrustUrras Oighreachd Chàrlabhaigh (Carloway Estate Trust)

In this episode NatureScot staff Fiona Leith and Claire Gordon chat to Christina Riley the founder of the Nature Library, a pop-up nature library which travels to festivals and events around Scotland.Christina explains how the book collection has evolved, and why taking stories to local communities is helping more people appreciate and make space for nature, particularly during Scotland's Year of Storytelling 2022.Christina also explains how now, more than ever, as the climate and nature crises become more apparent, nature writing is touching all of our lives and why we all need to take immediate action and make a difference.Further reading:The Nature LibraryWays to Make Space For Nature Scotland's Year of Storytelling 2022Or follow @thenaturelib on Twitter to find out where the library will be touring next.

Foraging Fortnight, a series of events celebrating Scotland's natural environment and wild food, recently took place across the country. Following on from this festival, we chatted with two NatureScot colleagues, Elli Carlisle and Kat O'Brien, about the easiest and safest ways to experience the best of Scotland's natural larder.From brambles and chanterelles to wild garlic and hazelnuts, which food is ripe for picking depends on the time of year, and it's vital we eat only those wild plants and mushrooms safe for human consumption. Responsible wild harvesting means taking only what you'll use and picking carefully to have minimal impact on the plant. Read more:Foraging Fortnight More about foragingForaging wild plantsScottish Wild Mushroom Code Scottish Outdoor Access Code

In episode two of this Natural Capital Series we discuss and raise the awareness about Scotland's Rainforests. What are Scotland's rainforests, why are they special, what are the threats and how do we look after them? Recorded on site at Tanish National Nature Reserve with Helen Bibby Senior Conservation Consultant SAC Consulting and Stan Phillips from NatureScot.Helen Bibby is a Senior Conservation Consultant with SAC Consulting based in Oban, Argyll. Her work focuses on management advice to famers, crofters and other land managers to support farming and biodiversity. This is a varied job and ranges from grant scheme advice to best practice information to support different species and habitats as well as raising awareness on the importance of Biodiversity within the farmed landscape. Stan Phillips is an Operations Officer for NatureScot based in Argyll. His work includes biodiversity management advice to landowners and land managers, particularly those on designated sites, many of which are woodlands. Stan is involved in a number of projects for Scottish rainforest, the restoration and enhancement of which could neatly help address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The Earth's soils, rocks, air, water, plants and animals are all valuable resources that provide a wide range of services and benefits. These resources need to be carefully managed and maintained to support a healthy functioning environment. In this Natural Capital podcast series, hosted by Rachel Smillie we will explore different natural capital assets and their value to Scottish agriculture and the rural economy, including the opportunities and risks for the future. Hosted by Rachel Smillie, produced by Iain Boyd, editor Ross Mackenzie, executive producer Kerry Hammond. Timestamps Scotland's National priority species : 2:55 – 3:45What are Scottish rainforests, do we have rainforests? : 3:50 – 10:00What makes our rainforest so special? : 10:08 – 13:25Measure to protect and pressures on Scottish rainforest : 18:08 – 28:00Farming benefits, looking after and managing rainforests : 28:01 – 35:03Related FAS ResourcesScotland's National Priority Species: https://www.fas.scot/environment/biodiversity/scotlands-national-priority-species/ FAS Sounds: https://www.fas.scot/sounds/ FAS Environment Pages: https://www.fas.scot/environment/ Other Related ResourcesAlliance for Scotland's Rainforest: www.savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk Follow Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest on Twitter: @ASRainforestAlliance for Scotland's Rainforest farmer on Mull video: https://savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk/people/farmer Taynish Nature Reserve: https://www.nature.scot/enjoying-outdoors/scotlands-national-nature-reserves/taynish-national-nature-reserve

In episode two of this Natural Capital Series we discuss and raise the awareness about Scotland's Rainforests.  What are Scotland's rainforests, why are they special, what are the threats and how do we look after them? Recorded on site at Tanish National Nature Reserve with Helen Bibby Senior Conservation Consultant SAC Consulting and Stan Phillips from NatureScot. Helen Bibby is a Senior Conservation Consultant with SAC Consulting based in Oban, Argyll. Her work focuses on management advice to famers, crofters and other land managers to support farming and biodiversity. This is a varied job and ranges from grant scheme advice to best practice information to support different species and habitats as well as raising awareness on the importance of Biodiversity within the farmed landscape.   Stan Phillips is an Operations Officer for NatureScot based in Argyll.  His work includes biodiversity management advice to landowners and land managers, particularly those on designated sites, many of which are woodlands.  Stan is involved in a number of projects for Scottish rainforest, the restoration and enhancement of which could neatly help address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.  The Earth's soils, rocks, air, water, plants and animals are all valuable resources that provide a wide range of services and benefits. These resources need to be carefully managed and maintained to support a healthy functioning environment. In this Natural Capital podcast series, hosted by Rachel Smillie we will explore different natural capital assets and their value to Scottish agriculture and the rural economy, including the opportunities and risks for the future.  Hosted by Rachel Smillie, produced by Iain Boyd, editor Ross Mackenzie, executive producer Kerry Hammond.  Timestamps  Scotland's National priority species : 2:55 – 3:45 What are Scottish rainforests, do we have rainforests? : 3:50 – 10:00 What makes our rainforest so special? : 10:08 – 13:25 Measure to protect and pressures on Scottish rainforest : 18:08 – 28:00 Farming benefits, looking after and managing rainforests : 28:01 – 35:03 Related FAS Resources Scotland's National Priority Species:  https://www.fas.scot/environment/biodiversity/scotlands-national-priority-species/   FAS Sounds:  https://www.fas.scot/sounds/   FAS Environment Pages: https://www.fas.scot/environment/     Other Related Resources Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest: www.savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk  Follow Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest on Twitter: @ASRainforest Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest farmer on Mull video: https://savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk/people/farmer   Taynish Nature Reserve: https://www.nature.scot/enjoying-outdoors/scotlands-national-nature-reserves/taynish-national-nature-reserve

Scottish MP Angus MacNeil is calling for a cull of sea eagles as farmers and crofters say they are taking more lambs as numbers grow. The bird - with a wing-span of around two metres - was driven to extinction in Scotland, until reintroduction programmes in the 1970s brought them back. Now there are more than a hundred breeding pairs. NatureScot is offering management schemes, including funding extra shepherds to help farmers. But so far there is no compensation for lost revenue, and no plans for a managed cull. Dutch farmers have been making headlines around the world, not for their agricultural produce but intensive protests. Tractors have rolled up outside parliament, blocked supermarket distribution centres and turned up outside politicians' homes. Even Donald Trump has weighed in, in support of the farmers. The demonstrations are against the Dutch government's plans to cut harmful nitrogen emissions to meet climate targets. The farmers argue the government's proposals are unrealistic and unfairly target their industry. The presenter is Charlotte Smith.

In this episode NatureScot's Chief Executive Francesca Osowska and Lorna Slater MSP, Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, discuss what the Scottish Government and NatureScot are doing to tackle the climate and nature crisis and what radical change is needed by us all, to help heal Mother Nature by 2045.Further reading:NatureScot Corporate Plan 2022-26Scottish Biodiversity Strategy consultation State of Nature Report 2019 ScotlandScottish Government Nature Restoration Fund Scottish Government Let's Do Net Zero campaignLecture to the Royal Society of Edinburgh by Francesca Osowska Make Space For Nature - seasonal tips 

The Helping It Happen awards from Scottish Land and Estates are now open to nominations - with a deadline of 18th July 2022. The awards recognise the role of estates, farms, rural businesses and individuals in helping rural Scotland to thrive - whether that's through providing affordable rural housing, supporting local businesses, or working with schools to support rural skills. Sarah-Jane Laing and Lucy Laidlaw from Scottish Land and Estates, and Ronnie MacRae from the Communities Housing Trust join Anna to talk about the awards. We also hear from Robbie Kernahan, Director of Green Economy at awards sponsors NatureScot. Details of the Helping It Happen Awards: https://scottishlandandestates.co.uk/helping-it-happen

In this special episode for Green Health Week, Fiona Leith and I chat to Paul MacFarlane, Mountain Bike Trail Therapy Leader with Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, part of Scottish Cycling. Trail Therapy is an innovative project, supported by NatureScot and partners, using mountain biking and contact with nature to help people suffering from mental ill-health. He explains the positive impact it's having on participant's mental and physical health, and suggests ways we can all benefit from making space for nature.More reading:Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland Mountain Bike Trail TherapyNatureScot Our Natural Health ServiceBenefits of Green HealthGreen Health Partnerships

In this episode two NatureScot colleagues chat about their personal experiences of making space for nature in their lives. Keen gardeners Fiona Leith and Marianne Sandison provide top gardening tips and discuss the healing power of the natural world.Spring is the perfect time to start the green fingered journey or to refine gardening skills, and they also highlight that even without a garden there's still plenty everyone can do. From volunteering to simply developing a deeper appreciation of nature through our senses, together we can help fight nature loss and climate change.Read more:Marianne mentions nature relevant accounts she follows on Twitter: @morethanweeds encourages us to embrace weeds and the wilderness, the Dandelion Appreciation Society @DandelionAppre1, and @urbanponds_101 for anyone who likes newts and frogs.Top ways to Make Space For Nature in springPlantlife's No Mow May campaign

For many of you, Megan Rowland needs no introduction. She is a Deer Management Officer for NatureScot, Scotland's nature agency. Before that, she worked as a surveyor for RSPB Scotland where she surveyed the entire suite of Highland bird species. She has also been a volunteer for the Scottish Wildlife Trust, a local Raptor Study Group, the Scottish Mink Initiative, and the British Red Cross. Megan is a founding member of the Scottish Crofting Federations' Young Crofters. Moreover, she's The Youth Ambassador for the Highland branch of the British Deer Society and a Lantra Scotland Game & Wildlife Industry Champion.That is a really impressive resume and I am excited to bring you my conversation with Megan. We started our chat with a general discussion about the red deer situation in Scotland and related land use and land management issues. From there I asked a few questions related to deer stalking in the Highlands. So, those of you who dream about a Highland stag might pick up some useful tips. Finally, we ended up talking about rewilding since no podcast about land management in Scotland would be complete without this topic.You can find more from Megan by visiting her website Wayfaring and Wandering or by following her on one of the social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.Support the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/tommysoutdoorsRecommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/the-best-nature-books/T-shirts: tommysoutdoors.com/tommys-outdoors-t-shirts/Follow Tommy's Outdoors onTwitter: twitter.com/outdoorspodcastInstagram: instagram.com/tommysoutdoorsFacebook: facebook.com/tommysoutdoorsTikTok: tiktok.com/@tommysoutdoorsYouTube: youtube.com/tommysoutdoors See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we chat with Kevin Lafferty, Chief Executive of Paths For All.  Scotland's national walking charity, supported by NatureScot and other partners, works hard to get everyone in Scotland to be active every day – from maintaining paths and training volunteers, to providing local health walks for all. Kevin explains how the new Step It Up strategy aims to tackle physical inactivity, poor mental wellbeing, health and transport inequalities and the climate emergency. He also highlights the many benefits of walking, how we can all connect with nature when walking or wheeling, and why we need to make our paths fit for our grannies!  Further reading:Find more about Paths For All and the Step It Up strategy.Search for a Health Walk near you and enjoy Walking With Nature.Catch up on the inspirational Paths For All Lecture Series.

Conservationists have urged https://www.nature.scot/ (NatureScot) to stick to the timetable it set for Scotland's new policy on wild beavers, to save animals from being shot. In our latest podcast, Richard Baynes talks to campaigners, landowners and NatureScot about the challenges and benefits of relocating beavers. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy AdBarker - https://adbarker.com/privacy

In this podcast we hear from Johanne Ferguson of NatureScot about the importance of cropping on the Uist Machair.  We discuss what the machair is and what it is designated for, as well as how the traditional cropping practices used on the Uist machair benefit the wildlife.

Finding new ways for visitors to connect with nature and landscapes, whilst protecting those incredibly valuable assets for the future, will be essential to secure a sustainable future for tourism for Scotland. In this episode we talk about what you should be considering within your tourism business - from promoting active travel, encouraging slow tourism, collaborating with other businesses and agencies, to educating guests on responsible behaviour. Featuring: Simon Brooks, Strategic Planning Manager, NatureScot  Elaine Ford, Wildlife biologist and founder Electric Explorer and Planet Rewild All the resources mentioned in this episode are available at hie.co.uk/tinto

Emma Bryden, a member of the Young People's Forest Panel, and Abi Gardner, NatureScot's Biodiversity and Climate Change Engagement Officer, tell us about Scotland's Young People's Forest (SYPF) and its positive impact, both on climate change, and also on people.We also hear why some people are experiencing climate anxiety and how projects such as SYPF are providing a way to take positive action and instil a sense of hope for many.SYPF is a project by Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland, with support from NatureScot, Scottish Enterprise, Corra Foundation, Pears Foundation and Wood PLC.More information: https://youngscot.net/news-database/young-peoples-forest

In this episode we chat with biodiversity enthusiast and ex-colleague Ewen Cameron about how we can all help nature this winter. Ewen retired from NatureScot a few years back and now volunteers much of his spare time to help nature, including through the North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership.Ewen encourages us to think outside the box, to 'stick with it' and is not averse to stealing a few ideas - if they work! He shares his personal stories and memories of inspirational projects and people, and how we can all be inspired. A great listen during the festive season to help us take collective and immediate action, really make a difference, and plan what other changes we can make in 2022 and beyond.More information: RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch List of volunteering organisationsNorth East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership or search for the 'North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership' on FacebookTen ways to Make Space For Nature in winterThe Association of Local Environmental Records CentresCitizen science for biodiversity

Our host Dr Joanna McKenzie is joined by Professor Ed Mitchard - Co-founder and CTO of Space Intelligence - and Emma Mitchell of NatureScot to discuss the companies' collaborative project exploring Scotland's biodiversity. Check out Space Intelligence's land cover map of Scotland: https://www.space-intelligence.com/scotland-landcover/ 

Well known for her weather forecasting with the Met Office and BBC Scotland, Heather was recently appointed to NatureScot's Board. Throughout her career she's witnessed significant changes in our weather. We discuss the direct impact of climate change and the significance of STEM in understanding these changes. With a focus on hope for the future, Heather highlights what we can all do to make space for nature and reduce our carbon footprint. A really inspiring listen!

Scotland's wildlife agency has been ordered to stop issuing licences to cull beavers without first giving its reasons in writing. A judge ruled that NatureScot had unlawfully issued licences in the past - upholding complaints from the rewilding charity Trees for Life. It argued that too many culls were being allowed rather than looking at alternatives, like re-homing beavers. Beavers have been re-introduced in some areas of the UK and are popular, but in others where they've escaped into the wild or been re-introduced illegally farmers say they cause a lot of damage. So what next for Scottish beavers? We visit a farm in Staffordshire where pumpkins have become big business. And this week we're focusing on grass - what its good for, what its bad for and how farmers use of it is changing. We start by hearing from DLF - the world's largest producer and distributor of grass seeds. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

Today the science of farming - from the beginnings to the latest challenges. Regulating science for use on farms is a complicated business. We look at the Sustainable Action Plan for the use of pesticides in the UK. Alongside that the UK will have to develop its own system for approving and managing farm chemicals, to replace the EU regulations, and there are some arguments about how that should work. Scientific breakthroughs over the years have transformed agriculture, from the development of crop rotation and land drainage to inorganic fertilisers, pesticides and now gene editing. Some things didn't work out as intended, others we take for granted and many have proved controversial. We discuss the history of science in agriculture. Thousands of acres of trees planted using Scottish government grants have failed to turn into proper woodlands, according to experts at Scotland's Nature Agency, NatureScot. Many native tree plantations don't have bluebells or holly and so, they say, don't provide all the benefits they were meant to. Now a scheme has been launched to help farmers and land managers boost the 'infill' as it's called, and help turn the trees into woods. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

We speak to Debbie Bassett, NatureScot's Climate Change and COP Coordinator, who explains so well how climate change and nature loss are linked, what COP15 and COP26 mean for us all and what we can all do to make more space for nature in our lives. A great listen - follow Debbie's advice and let's all be part of the change!

Recorded on Thursday 17 June 2021 as part of our virtual events for the Royal Highland Showcase, this conversation saw NatureScot's Chair Dr Mike Cantlay in the hot seat being asked questions by SLE Chairman, Mark Tennant. Rewilding, biodiversity and working in partnership were some of the areas discussed. Find out more about NatureScot - www.nature.scot ScotLand Matters is the official podcast of Scottish Land & Estates, and is produced by Calum Henderson.

How does being immersed and active in nature help improve mental health?Paul MacFarlane, Trail Therapy MTB Leader with Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, chats with Viola Marx the Green Health Partnership Coordinator within Dundee City Council on how green health partnerships operate and her hopes in using mountain biking as part of the process of recovery from periods of mental ill-health.Viola then turns the questions on Paul where she explores the mountain bike scene including its accessibility in Tayside & Fife and his hopes and ambitions for the Trail Therapy project in Dundee and the wider area.The Trail Therapy project is supported by NatureScot, Trek and Edinburgh Napier University.Podcast launched during Green Health Week and Mental Health Awareness week.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought many new riders into our sport. In this podcast, representatives from NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland and mountain bike journalist, Aoife Glass, look at how we can keep them riding whilst educating them on responsible access, and also look at our cumulative impact on the environment. Just what has been the Covid impact on our outdoors? How do we mitigate against any negative impacts to this growth in accessing the outdoors.The interview was part of the Scottish MTB Gathering 2020.

Open access, ebikes, enduro bikes, adventure, instagram – is this all sustainable in Scottish mountain biking? Do we need create a set of outdoor ethics for Scottish mountain bikers? In this session, recorded live at the Scottish MTB Gathering 2020, we will hear from industry experts and seasoned mountain bikers on this sometimes hot topic. How has the mountain bike scene changed over the years? How do we as a community address these issues? Who should be driving forward a forward thinking approach?Graeme McLean from Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS) hosts with special guests - GoWhere Scotland's Andy McKenna, Bridget Jones from NatureScot, Davie Black from Mountaineering Scotland and mountain bike filmmaker and writer Tommy Wilkinson discuss. Enjoy.

Mushrooms, rose hips and elderberries all feature in this week's podcast. Rupert Waites of Buck and Birch came into the pod to talk about his great love of the outdoors larder we have on our doorsteps. With Marysia, he explains his journey into foraging and the base of his business. You will be inspired to look at Mother Nature differently.  For more information please visit the Buck and Birch website.  For safety information and guides to foraging, please visit the NatureScot website before venturing out.