Description:
The project is based in the low-lying flat land of the Carse of Stirling in central Scotland and is being led by the people who live and work in the area. We're using an ecosystems approach to develop integrated land and water management.
Location:
Carse of Stirling, west of Stirling, Scotland
Partners, organisations and stakeholders involved:
The farmers, residents and local people of the Carse of Stirling, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Stirling Council, RSPB.
Aims of the project/initiative:
To involve the people who live and work in the area to develop the priorities for integrated land and water management. The ecosystems approach allows us to take a more holistic view beyond administrative boundaries with more emphasis on ecosystem functioning.
Challenges and lessons learned:
- Building trust between agencies and the people in the local community
- Finding time and a place to have a facilitated discussion where people felt able to speak freely
- Managing expectations: the Panel's vision raised expectations which led to frustration when these were not delivered
- Measuring the value of nature's services relative to one another: eg food production vs the aesthetic qualities of landscape
- Baseline data: some assumptions had to be made to fill in the gaps of available data
- Keeping the momentum going once the facilitators had completed the Action Plan: the local community are grappling with the task of implementing the Action Plan projects, securing additional funding and developing the project further