News

Today members of Scottish Environment LINK’s Farm for Scotland’s Future campaign presented Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, with a petition calling for a new farm funding system that works for nature, climate, and people.

On 9 December, 28 organisations wrote to Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, following the publication of the Climate Change Committee's ‘Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland’ report.

A growing number of farmers and crofters are already working with nature and climate in mind by keeping their soils healthy, planting trees, and making space for wildlife but these farmers and crofters need more support.

Over the decades, agriculture policy has focussed primarily on food production with nature and the climate side-lined. But with so much agricultural land, there’s enormous potential to redress this and create a more harmonious relationship.

Healthy, semi-natural grasslands are thriving ecosystems, where thousands of different wild plants over millennia have co-evolved alongside farmers managing the land as hay meadows and grazing pasture. 

If Scotland can create a farm funding system that works for all farmers and crofters, for people and for the planet, we will have made a major investment in our future.

The Scottish government is consulting on its proposals for a new Agriculture Bill. Here's how you can respond to the consultation.