Views sought on how communities might benefit from the countryside around them

VIEWS are being sought on how communities might benefit from creating, restoring and enhancing the countryside around them.

A discussion paper has been launched by the Scottish Government agency, Scottish Land Commission, to examine “how investment in natural capital enhancement, restoration and creation…can deliver a multitude of public, private and community benefits”.

Says the paper, here: “The paper  ̶  aiming to help shape the emerging field of community benefits  ̶ draws together the Commission’s current thinking on some of the key questions about community benefits from investment in natural capital, and highlights the need for major investment in Scotland’s land to fulfil these on a local level while meeting climate demands.”

Accompanying the paper is a series of case studies, “showcasing examples of existing land ownership, use and management, where investment has been crucial in transforming land to act in the interest of local communities”.

One is a forest which sustains itself by selling ‘carbon offset units’ to organisations emitting carbon but seeking to ‘neutralise’ it.

Pictured: St Fillans, Perthshire, Picture credit: Place Design Scotland