COLUMN: Biodiversity paper leaves crofting out in the cold again
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From the Croft by Russell Smith
There is, as always, lots going on in the crofting world.
The Scottish Government has been seeking views over the past few months for their Biodiversity Strategy, which is due for publication in 2022. The strategy is the starting point in a process which will lead into the development of rolling delivery plans and, through the introduction of a Natural Environment Bill, statutory nature restoration targets.
The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) has responded to the consultation on behalf of its members. We made the key points that biodiversity and good quality food production are not mutually exclusive. Crofting can give you both.
Crofting was not mentioned at all in the consultation document, which shows a lack of understanding from the government.
We also made the point that you need to consider the role of people and traditional/local knowledge in any system. You can’t look at the environment in isolation. Native breeds and seeds have a role to play in maintaining biodiversity as they are well adapted to the climate and conditions.
The Crofting Commission have a draft plan out for comment, now that we have a new set of commissioners.
To my mind, their focus needs to be on getting the turnaround down on regulatory applications. That is the interface that most crofters have with the commission so is what they are judged on.
They say “We are committed to continual improvement of levels of service to applicants that have an application in progress” – but there is no target for how long an application should take to process. That is a feature of the plan – there is nothing that their performance can be rated against in two to three years’ time.
Interestingly, they say they would “in principle, support the extension of the designated areas in order that crofts could be created more widely across Scotland”.
There are welcome commitments to creating new crofts, retaining land in crofting for future generations, taking action against those in breach of their duties and preventing large scale amalgamation of landholdings.
The Scottish Government consultation on the future agriculture support systems has been published, and met with a loud chorus of disappointment that after so much time, so many consultations and advisory groups, there are few details and no numbers.
Donald Mackinnon, chairman of SCF, said: “The Scottish Government have had years to come up with a policy. For the vague document we have been presented with to be the sum total of that work is disappointing at best. With a new set of schemes planned to launch in 2025, the lack of progress is staggering.”
The Scottish Red Meat Resilience Group described the Scottish Government’s stakeholder engagement as “dysfunctional and broken” and stated that they were expecting more clarity and direction for their members.
We need to know what the new system will mean to us as individual businesses. This autumn we are making decisions on how many stock replacements to keep for lambing in 2024.
If costs are rocketing, prices are flatlining and government support may be reducing – where does that leave our profitability? Where does it leave our ability to live in and make a living in the Highlands?
Russell Smith is a crofter at Bonar Bridge and a director of the SCF.
