Conservation

FARMERS are being advised to irrigate at night to reduce evaporation

SEPA monitoring Firth of Tay area water supplies that are now at risk
WATER supplies in the Firth of Tay area are now at risk, prompting the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to publish its first water scarcity 'alert' of the year.

Deirdre Stewart and Lyn White have joined the WES board

Two new appointees at Wildlife Estates Scotland

Jim Ramsay at home on the hill at Milnmark – an upland home to his family's farming business and one that he would never want to see planted

Time to go back to the 'facts' on tree planting

Farmers and crofters can now apply for up to £1000 of specialist advice

All farmers and crofters offered farm advice grants

Donald Houston has has 'substantial stakes' in all three companies

Celtic Renewables investing in world-beating biofuels from whisky by-products

Velcourt has invested in Oakbank and will own 50% of the company

Velcourt invests in Oakbank

Having three dogs, even to flush game, will be illegal under new proposals in the Hunting with Dogs Bill

BASC urges members to help define new dog laws

Beaver kits getting released (Pic: Beaver Trust)

Family of beavers released in Perthshire

A poisoned golden eagle was found on Invercauld estate in March 2021

Wildlife crime leads to restriction of general licenses on Invercauld Estate

Drone image of Moine Mhor NNR peatland restoration 2 ©Stuart Shaw/NatureScot

NatureScot looks back on 2021's achievements

Beaver - a resident, not a visitor (Pic :Ian Hay - rspb-images.com)

Farming and beavers could help each other in Scotland

Andrew Connon reflects on his first year as NFU Scotland vice president

Moredun scientists found no link between conservatino grazing on wetlands and incidences of liver fluke in livestock

Moredun minimises liver fluke link to conservation grazing

Joe McGowan and Jim McKerracher, gamekeepers working on the Game for Giving Initiative

Gamekeepers deliver 1000 meals to those in need

Rhiannon Moore of Montagu Evans

How will the National Planning Framework influence housing on farmland?

Biodiversity has a big role to play in fighting climate change

Net Zero targets can’t distract from biodiversity and soil health

The Red Shepherdess Hannah Jackson with a Westmorland Rough Fell at the Great Yorkshire Show.

Photography by Richard Walker

Red Shepherdess to pick UK's best Christmas tree

Scottish farmers awarded 2022 Nuffield Farming Scholarships

Asian hornet’s pose no more threat to human health than our native wasps and hornets, but they do pose a risk to honey bees (Pic: Pixabay)

Beekeepers told to be vigilant following Asian hornet sighting in Ascot

South of Scotland's trees have a new 'Conservator'

Beaver have been reintroduced to Scotland and given native status and protection

Beaver dams benefit brown trout

New investment in Scottish land can benefit nature and nation

Invasive species cost UK over £5 billion

A healthy three-month-old lamb killed and eaten by sea eagles

Sea eagles force sheep farming into retreat

Pollinators are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production (Photo: Lorne Gill/Nature Scot)

Buzzing for Bees’ Needs Week 2021

Fellfoot Forward farmer information event in Cumbria

Tom Turnbull elected chairman of the Association of Deer Management Groups

Tom Turnbull to steer the future of Scottish deer management

Hedgerows have been a pivotal part of Britain's countryside since the Bronze Age – but we lost about half of our hedgerows last century through incentivised removal, which makes those that remain even more valuable

New phone app aims to close the gaps in UK hedgerows

Dendoldrum Farm in Angus opened its gates to the public for the first time as part of the LEAF Open Farm Sunday event

A host of new farmers join the Open Farm Sunday family

Jeremy Clarkson filming at home in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire in February 2020 (Photo: SWNS)

Clarkson's Farm yields a second series

Arla farmer Roger Hildreth

Make a space for bees on your farm or in your garden

A direct tine drill in action at Backboath in Angus

Handling the transition to reduced tillage

Businesses and community groups from Scotland's islands can apply for grants of up to £150,000 through the new Island Communities Fund

Island communities fund offering £150,000 grants opens

Organic wheat variety trials

Breeding wheat to suit organic production

GROUSE MOORS are collaborating with Wildlands to tag and track a golden eagle chick

Unlikely alliance between grouse moors and conservationists

Bluebells in well-established woodland – but in newly planted woods, wildflowers may need some encouragement

Adding wildflowers to new woodland

A pair of white-tailed eagles were first spotted at Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve in early March this year, appearing in the area for the first time in over 100 years (Pic: Lorne Gill/NatureScot)

Sea eagles' return to Loch Lomond is a worry for local sheep farmers

The Scottish Government has committed to restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded peatland by 2030, with an annual target of 20,000 hectares

ScotGov to spend £22m on peatland restoration over the next year

Mountain Hare Lepus timidus, in the Cairngorms National Park (Pic: WWF)

Climate change is impacting on Scotland’s wildlife

Mark Henderson of the the Red Squirrel Survival Trust

Who is Scotland's red squirrel champion?

SGA chairman Alex Hogg has urged Nicola Sturgeon to ensure rural jobs are protected when entering into coalition talks with the Scottish Greens

Scotland’s rural workforce must not be 'thrown under a bus' by a Green coalition

NORTHERN IRISH environment minister Edwin Poots with beekeeper, Sam Baird, marking World Bee Day

New pollinator push in Northern Ireland

Images of dead hinds inside a woodland scheme in Dunvegan have caused a stir on Skye residents social media

Out-of-season deer culls cause concern on Skye

The sea eagle with the lamb carcass in its grasp

Death from above - a sea eagle that prefers lamb to fish

Appeal over golden eagle's death

Deer in the Scottish Highlands

Declaration for upland deer management

Time to support nature-friendly farming policies

Farmer Robert McTurk at his farm near St John's Town of Dalry

Farmers back Galloway National Park proposal

The SGA claim that 13,100 rural jobs could be on the line, if the Scottish Green party seek to end all game management and angling in Scotland (Pic: Jonathan McGee)

Updated Nicola Sturgeon urged not to sacrifice gamekeeper livelihoods in pursuit of Greens' policy support

British farmers play their part in supporting bird populations on-farm (Pic: Marlies Nicolai)

British farmers support burgeoning bird population

Slioch and Glen Grudie pines, in the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve, Wester Ross (Pic:SNH)

NatureScot invests in reserves and rangers

Shift to conservation farming will not suit everyone

The charred remains of NatureScot’s popular Mill Hide on the shores of Loch Leven National Nature Reserve (NNR) which was completely gutted in a blaze on February 18

An appeal to rebuild Mill Hide at Loch Leven NNR following devastating fire

EVIDENCE of beaver activity has been recorded within the City of Perth (Pic: Neil Mitchell / NatureScot)

Tay Beavers come to town