Land Use
A Vision for Land Use in the Glenkens
Land use in the Glenkens and district - whether forestry, farming, wind farms, housing or business - has been on many people’s minds for some time now. In late 2022, the Glenkens was selected as a focus area for the South of Scotland ‘Regional Land Use Partnership’ pilot project. Led by the Social Enterprise Academy, this was a series of webinar and open online discussion events that culminated in a Glenkens event in late January 2023 that sought feedback on a draft ‘Vision for Land Use in the Glenkens’ and some associated recommendations for action. It was a great evening with lots of constructive conversations between some of the many people who value our land.
A working group then refined the feedback from that evening into a Final-Draft Vision for Land Use in the Glenkens, which was published in the June / July 2023 edition of the Glenkens Gazette for final community review. Once the feedback from this public review was incorporated, the final Version was created and in July 2023 was adopted as an Addendum to the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan.
This Vision and the associated recommendations are intended as the first step to creating a balance in Glenkens land use where all voices are heard, respected and valued. Huge thanks must go to everyone on the working group who gave up so much of their time and knowledge to get us to this point, particularly Morag Paterson of Communities for Diverse Forestry.
This Vision now exists as a community resource, for organisations who see their issues reflected in it to use to advance the local, regional and national recommendations included in it.
In 2024, some of the recommendations from the Vision were moved forward thanks to funding from NatureScot and SOSE. This led to the publication of two documents in May 2024: 'Feasibility Study into Glenkens Land Use Forum' and 'Participatory Monitoring of Land Use in the Glenkens'.
These two very interesting studies will hopefully lead directly to more work on this important topic. Thanks to Dr Stephen Connelly and Dr Kerry Morrison for their work on them. The reports were fed back to the community at an event on the 8th July 2024 and the slides for that are shown below with the full reports.
Land Use Organisations & Groups
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D&G Woodlands
A new initiative supporting trees, habitats and the people that depend on them in Dumfries & Galloway (SCIO No.052525).
They also administer the South of Scotland Tree Planting Grant Scheme across D&G.
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Scottish Land Commission
The Scottish Land Commission is driving a programme of land reform spanning both urban and rural land, to create a Scotland where land is owned and used in ways that are fair, responsible and productive.
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Regenerative Farming Network South West Scotland
The Regenerative Farming Network is a peer to peer knowledge exchange group offering farm walks, talks, webinars and more.
It is open to farmers and food producers from across the region or anyone just curious about regenerative farming.
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Community Land Scotland
Community Land Scotland was established to provide a collective voice for community landowners in Scotland.
They have over 100 member organisations across Scotland, ranging from community landowners of major crofting estates in the Western Isles to inner city community hubs in diverse communities.
Land Use Articles
