• Summary & Conclusion
• part 1
• part 2
• part 3
• part 4
• sitemap

THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005

32. EXISTING POLICY COMMITMENTS AND POTENTIAL FUTURE POLICY DEVELOPMENTS FOR SCOTLAND WITH RESPECT TO AGRICULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

With respect to environmental commitments, the Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture (FSSA) (SEERAD, 2000), outlines the commitment to develop policy in partnership with the farming sector and to integrate environmentally-friendly incentives as a part in a complementary and complex whole. There are a number of agri-environmental initiatives and schemes designed to deliver this commitment. However, lack of farmer and local involvement in development and implementation of schemes has been a recurrent problem. One consequence of this is a lack of transparency in aspects of scheme delivery. For example lack of transparency is a major criticism of the scoring system used in agri-environment schemes. Some farmers and crofters may not be certain how many points are required to secure entry into the scheme, or how the point scoring system can contribute to the measures that may be most suitable on their land. And, IACS businesses already involved in other agri-environment, conservation or woodland schemes are given additional points making it more difficult for new entrants. While some revisions to the Rural Stewardship Scheme have been conducted such as including specific crofting prescriptions, generally, agri-environment schemes such as the Rural Stewardship Scheme (RSS) favour large ecologically diverse holdings by a scoring system with high weighting of the diversity of habitats and make it difficult for land with a limited range of habitats to enter even if these are of exceptional quality, although now additional points are give to smaller holdings with less that 20ha.

Local targeting of specific problems and issues has been identified as one of the key elements of successful agri-environment policies (Wright et al., 2005). If schemes are devised locally, or if there is more local flexibility, and a degree of local priority-setting for schemes, this can provide an opportunity for farmers and other stakeholders to become more involved in the process of agri-environment scheme development, giving them a sense of ownership of this process, which could result in more targeted schemes and more participation, consequently improving potential environmental benefits (Burton et al., 2005; Schwarz and Burton, 2005). In addition, given the strong linkages between biodiversity commitments, resulting from the Gothenburg summit and the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SEERAD, 2004), and the potential policy tools (agri-environment support) to deliver biodiversity benefits through land management, biodiversity targets and measures need to be specifically considered in agri-environment schemes, clearly defined at local level. Moreover, while the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy aims to fulfill its commitments by 2030, the Gothenburg Summit sets a significant earlier date of 2010 to halt biodiversity decline. The first set of Implementation Plan actions will be assessed at the first reporting round in 2007.

INTEGRATED APPROACH TO LAND USE POLICY >>