The Biosphere's Take On Land Use
The underlying ethos of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere is sustainability.
For the Biosphere sustainability is about “Thinking Global, Acting Local” - it’s about dealing with the needs of the local environment, the local economy and our local society in a balanced and even-handed way.
We extend this to our approach on land use too. We believe the Biosphere can support an environment that is good for production of food and fibre, that can help alleviate the impacts of climate change, can enhance and celebrate our rich natural and cultural heritage, can provide new employment opportunities and a place for the health and wellbeing of local people and visitors to the region.
For us that landscape is a mosaic of integrated land uses, where people work together to shape a future that doesn’t just benefit us here and now but will also ensure that future generations will be able to meet their own needs.
Ed Forrest, G&SE Biosphere Director
The Galloway & Southern Ayrshire (G&SA) Biosphere have created a Sense of Place Toolkit, which is available on their website for anyone to use. This may be helpful for communities to help focus on what areas are valued by members of the community, and to help people identify what’s special about their area.
To find out more visit www.gsabiosphere.org.uk and search under ‘Business in the Biosphere’ and then ‘Business Resources’.