Chamber and committees

The Year of Natural Scotland 2013 is an excellent opportunity to promote Scotland’s stunning natural beauty and biodiversity. The whole country is being promoted as a destination for all visitors including walkers.

The Year of natural Scotland presents an opportunity for those promoting walking at Cape Wrath and the wider area to increase awareness of Cape Wrath as a destination for walkers.

Scottish Planning Policy states that planning authorities should safeguard the character of wild land areas in development plans. It will therefore be for Highland Council to protect the wild land character of the land around these trails.

The Year of Natural Scotland presents an opportunity for those promoting walking at Cape Wrath and the wider area to increase awareness of Cape Wrath as a destination for walkers.

CNN’s accolade supports the Scottish Government’s ambition to grow the tourism sector.2013 has been assigned the Year of Natural Scotland, which is an opportunity to spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s outstanding natural beauty, landscapes and biodiversity to our people and our visitors, and to continue to build on the momentum created by the previous focus years as we progress towards Homecoming 2014 and beyond.

It is intended that the legacy of the Year of Natural Scotland will be economic benefit for Scotland through increased awareness of Scotland’s natural assets and participation by Scotland’s people and visitors in festivals, events and natural attractions; enhancement of Scotland’s reputation as a place of outstanding natural beauty to enjoy responsibly; better working relationships across the sector; and development of operational practice and initiatives that continue through to 2014 and beyond in supporting and enhancing sustainable nature-based tourism.

The narrow-headed ant (Formica exsecta) is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Species and is included on both the Scottish Biodiversity List and the UK Red Data Book.

All mound-building red wood ant species are threatened by degradation of forest habitat and fragmentation as a result from increased forest cover caused by low levels of grazing, deer culling and encroachment by scrub and bracken.

The most important management practice for the narrow-headed ant is to maintain open areas within the forest. This management requirement has been taken into consideration in two important areas for the species, one as a site of special scientific interest and RSPB reserve, and the other a Forestry Commission Scotland forest where foresters are proactively helping to protect and enhance populations of the ant.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) published a report in 2006, A Review of wood ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Scotland which contains information on the ecology of the species. SNH has also been a member and a strong supporter of the National Wood Ant Steering Group, which includes the James Hutton Institute, Scottish Wildlife Trust, RSPB, among other organisations and individuals. The group has promoted surveys and collated information on wood ants. SNH recently contracted the James Hutton Institute to gather information to inform the Biodiversity Surveillance Strategy in relation to wood ants and a report has been produced which is currently being reviewed.

Around 90% of the UK population is found in Scotland, mainly within the Abernethy-Glenmore-Rothiemurchus region where there are around 380 nests. Outlying populations exist at Rannoch (7 nests), Mar (17 nests) and Carrbridge. Most Scottish historic records are from the Caledonian forests of mid-Strathspey. Almost all nests are found at altitudes between 200 and 400 metres.

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) legislation, staff contracts transferred from Cowal Ferries Ltd to Argyll Ferries Ltd when the latter took over operations from the former. Redundancy payments amounting to £1,400,182 were, therefore, made by Argyll Ferries Ltd under terms agreed through negotiation with the relevant Trades Unions. No redundancy payments were made to agency staff. The accounts of Argyll Ferries Ltd are prepared and independently audited under UK Accounting Standards and applicable UK law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The decline in cow and herd numbers in these parishes is in line with the national trend over the same period, demonstrating a move toward more specialised dairy enterprises which allows farmers to achieve production efficiencies and economies of scale.

A number of measures to provide support for dairy farmers can be accessed through the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). This includes support to dairy farmers through Less Favoured Area Support Scheme payments to those in the ring fenced dairy area which are likely to have smaller herds.

The draft Second Report on Proposals and Policies currently under development will set out our proposals and policies for meeting our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the period 2013 to 2027. The draft report will be laid in Parliament in early 2013. Parliament will have the opportunity to comment on which proposals should be adopted during the consultation period.

Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2011 will be published in June 2013. The exact publication date will be available by May 2013 on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Search/Forthcoming.