Sustainable Upland Estate Management

The Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century project has been going on at the Centre for Mountain Studies UHI since late 2007, and includes four projects funded by the Henry Angest Foundation.  It is now in its synthesis phase, which will continue through 2012.  This website gives more information about the project and will be updated over the next six months. 

The overall aim of the project has been to integrate the concept of ‘sustainability’ into the management of large, upland estates in Scotland.  This was in recognition of the fact that there has been little academic and policy attention paid to how different ownership types and management objectives relate to the principles of sustainability.  Past work on estates has focused on individual estates or particular sectors, and little has been done since the Land Reform (Scotland) Act in 2003.  To ensure the on-the-ground relevance of the research, an Advisory Group helped to design the project and met with the researchers once a year.  The five group members represented key stakeholder groups (Scottish Land and Estates, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Knoydart Foundation, Scottish Environment LINK) and the Scottish Government.

The research findings will be increasingly relevant in the context of the rapidly evolving rural policy context in Scotland, for example with the implementation of the Scottish Rural Development Programme, the development and implementation of the Land Use Strategy and wider debates about CAP reform.

Please note that results and other information will be added to this website over the coming months.  If you require more information or have any questions, please contact us at your convenience.

The Sustainable Estates Team.