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Scottish Environment LINK - The voice of Scotland's environment movement

THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005

24. Natural Care

CORNCRAKE MANAGEMENT SCHEMES

The scheme provides financial incentives to help safeguard populations of breeding corncrakes within corncrake Special Protection Areas in Western Isles, Tiree, Coll and Islay by encouraging and supporting the sympathetic management of agricultural land.

Applicants sign up to a one-year management agreement which covers:

  • The establishment and management of late mown grass crops, and
  • The creation of adjacent early/late cover, thereby ensuring that suitable tall vegetation is available for corncrakes throughout the breeding season from April to October.

Both annual payments and capital payments for fencing and gates are available.

LOCAL GOOSE MANAGEMENT SCHEMES

There are seven local Goose Management Schemes in Scotland, covering populations of wintering Greenland white-fronted geese and wintering barnacle geese (South Walls, Orkney; Lock of Strathbeg; Uists; Coll and Tiree; Isaly; Kintyre; Solway). They aim to help integrate productive farming with the conservation of wild geese and their grazing on farm and crofting land. Most of the Schemes provide payments towards the maintenance of disturbance free feeding areas where geese are resident whilst encouraging the scaring of geese from other parts of the farm.

In most cases applicants sign up to a 5-year management agreement which covers the establishment and management of:

  • Feeding zones: Refuge areas where geese can graze undisturbed. No audible scaring within 100m of boundaries of feeding zone fields. Grassland maintained according to good agricultural practice.
  • Buffer zones: Non-audible goose scaring permitted, whilst minimising disturbance to adjacent feeding zones.
  • Scaring zones: The farmer or his agent actively scares geese. Audible scaring is encouraged through loan of scaring equipment or grant towards equipment purchase.
  • Different rates are offered by the local Goose Management Schemes for each of these prescriptions. This reflects differences in farming/crofting practices and profit margins between different localities.

Natural Care - MOORLAND MANAGEMENT SCHEMES >>