This article was originally published on Farming UK.
“Scottish farmers are to take part in a project to assess the value of natural assets to help them make decisions that will protect the environment and the land that they work on.
The trial will apply the international Natural Capital Protocol to land-based businesses on two estates in Moray which are run by Crown Estate Scotland. It is hoped the initiative will help put Scotland at the forefront of developing new ways of assessing how farmers manage land and environment.
Crown Estate Scotland contributed insights on its work at the World Forum on Natural Capital which took place in Edinburgh in November. The pilot project will be completed in March 2018.
‘Natural Capital’ covers natural assets including geology, soil, air, water and all living things, which provide societies with a wide range of services. These include food, water and the plant materials, as well as climate regulation and natural flood defences provided by forests, the billions of tonnes of carbon stored by peatlands, and the pollination of crops by insects. The pilot will cover the entire 23,000 hectare Glenlivet Estate, an upland tenant farm on that same estate, and a lowland arable business on the Crown Estate Scotland’s Fochabers Estate…”
Read on at: Farming UK.