Millions of trees to be planted as conservation projects get £60m boost

HUNDREDS of conservation projects across Scotland are to be helped by a £60 million cash injection from the Scottish Government to be announced today.

It will see millions of trees planted across the country as new areas of forestry are created as part of efforts to fight climate change and protect species of wildlife.

Other projects include the building of new, small-scale renewable energy projects, while efforts will also be made to protect rare bees on an island off North Uist and species of orchids on the island of Coll.

The funding comes from the sixth round of the Rural Priorities scheme within the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP), which has now approved investment of 257.8m for about 3,600 projects in rural Scotland.

Environment secretary Richard Lochhead said: "The Rural Priorities scheme is an important means of mitigating climate change in Scotland.

"The funding provided will see millions of trees planted across Scotland, including 1.5 million in the Highlands and Islands area alone, making a significant contribution to our target on forestry cover.

"Rare species and habitats will also receive enhanced protection on farmland and other areas where we want to see them flourish."

The SRDP is a 1.6 billion initiative of economic, environmental and social measures designed to develop rural Scotland over the next seven years.

It brings together a wide range of formerly separate support schemes including those covering the farming, forestry and primary processing sectors, rural enterprise and business development, diversification and rural tourism.

This round sees grants ranging from less than 6,000 to more than 300,000 going to a variety of rural projects.

Angus Macdonald, who runs an organic farm on the uninhabited island of Vallay off North Uist, has been given 171,400 to use traditional farming methods to help the environment and indigenous wildlife.

He keeps 260 Highland cattle on the farm, which he began renting ten years ago.

Since then, he has seen numbers of the rare corncrake rise from none to ten pairs due to his organic cultivation methods.

Who will get the cash in conservation giveaway

THE Achiltibuie Garden in Wester Ross will receive 66,000, half the cost of building a new visitor centre which will increase employment from three to five full-time equivalents by 2012.

The firm sells kits to grow vegetables, salad plants, herbs and fruit and has a mail order arm supplying a range of hydroponics growing kits, from those suitable for growing herbs on a windowsill to custom-designed systems for domestic greenhouses.

THE machair and dunes on the Coll Nature Reserve contain more than 200 species of flowering plant, including ten species of orchids, and three species of rare bees.

A grant of 86,329 will ensure the proper management of the site and increase the regionally important populations of breeding waders by extensive cattle grazing of wet grassland. The plan will also support breeding pairs of corncrakes on the island.

THE tidal island of Vallay, off North Uist, was previously managed under an RSPB agreement and is predominately species-rich grassland with an area of arable machair. A grant of 171,400 will help continue measures to benefit the rare corncrake, populations of which have risen dramatically since organic farmer Angus Macdonald took over the land ten years ago.

WEST Scryne farm, near Carnoustie, will receive a 50,000 grant to develop a management scheme for corn buntings and other wildlife across four farms in Angus. Corn buntings are increasingly endangered due to loss of habitat through modern farming practices. The scheme will ensure the sustainable management of the unharvested crops and grassland areas, which the birds depend on, for five years.

A GRANT of 5,888 will help create a 1.7 acre woodland and hedgerow near Pencaitland in East Lothian. This will link two existing areas and contribute to the mitigation of climate change through increased carbon capture, contribute to native woodland expansion targets and increase local biodiversity.

THE Moffat Hills is already a popular walking area and a 100,000 grant will be used to carry out habitat management on 2,717 acres of the Moffat Hills Site of Special Scientific Interest to bring some parts of the area into favourable condition.

A PRODUCTIVE 311-acre conifer woodland is to be created on marginal agricultural land, presently used for hill grazing at Coom Rig, south west of Elvanfoot in South Lanarkshire, with the help of a grant of 309,519.

YOUNG farmer Gary Mitchell in Dumfries and Galloway will use a 247,000 grant to help finance further expansion of slurry storage, dry cow accommodation and innovative technology to monitor and improve fertility and lameness in cows. The funding will also help restructure the business by expanding the herd, invest in animal welfare and reduce pollution and improve water quality in the Piltanton Burn.

BRUNTHILL Farm near Turriff plan to expand the successful skip hire and waste recycling side of their business using a 191,600 grant. The business also proposes to improve its environmental performance by re-using/recycling as much waste as possible by investing in several specialist items of machinery. This will increase the amount of waste being recycled.

THE Mains of Dalvey farm, an established agricultural business near Grantown on Spey, plans to conserve and enhance a number of species and habitats using a 283,714 grant. This proposal offers a large area of open grazed grassland for wildlife in addition to unharvested crops, hedges, species-rich grassland, wetland and water margins. that are extensively connected, providing numerous corridors between habitats and an ideal habitat for wildlife, in particular birds.