Natural capital in the South of Scotland
One of our Board members, Grace Murray from Stow Community Trust, writes about the natural capital potential in the South of Scotland.
New project launches to ensure communities benefit from natural capital investment
A new initiative is launching to ensure more people can benefit from the investments being made in natural capital across Scotland.
The project will broker partnerships between local communities, landowners, and nature finance developers.
Led by Community Land Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Land Commission, the Natural Capital Partnerships Project will help deliver Government expectations that communities are involved in decisions about – and benefit from – Scotland’s land.
With investment in land for natural capital developments growing rapidly, there is a need to ensure that communities are meaningfully engaged, that they receive an equitable share of the benefits and that the risk of them being sidelined is minimised.
The Natural Capital Partnerships Project aims to establish fair and practical examples of projects where communities, developers, and landowners work together to share in the benefits of natural capital investment.
Team members based around Scotland
We will start recruiting two new team members in November to lead this work, with two additional hires planned for Spring. Team members will be based across the Scottish mainland and islands, working hands-on with landowners, investors and communities to build partnerships and create inclusive project models.
This is an ideal opportunity for candidates with backgrounds in sustainable development, or nature-based solutions and investment, or land management or community development, to make a lasting impact on Scotland’s natural capital landscape.
The project is funded with the support of Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Foundation Scotland, Scottish Forestry, South of Scotland Enterprise and others.
Other project supporters include the Scottish Land Commission, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Cairngorm National Park Authority and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.
Natural Capital News
Amendment to our Scotsman opinion piece – 31st October 2024
In an opinion piece in The Scotsman our Policy Manager Josh Doble commented about land value uplifts on Highlands Rewilding estates, these comments have been retracted with a full explanation below.
Natural capital markets in Scotland are at a crossroads
This article was published as an opinion piece by The Scotsman on 31st October 2024: How ‘Green Lairds’ with dreams of vast profits are pricing out local Highland communities.
Guest blog: Is the private financing of rewilding a threat to community empowerment?
We are delighted to share a guest blog from Dr Caitlin Hafferty, University of Oxford who shares some of her recent research on communities and the nature finance markets.