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Case Studies Community Partnerships on the national forest estate Forestry Commission Scotland Community Partnerships on the national forest estate Contents Foreword 3 Authors’ Note 4 Introduction 5 Community Partnerships Map 8 Case Studies Rosehall 10 Strathglass 13 Laggan 16 Cow Hill 20 Birse 23 Ladybank 27 Blairadam 30 Glenkinnon Burn 34 Bellsbank 36 Dalbeattie 39 Discussion 43 Sources of Information 46 d l a n o D c M t a P © y t l e K e g a m i r e v o C t n o r 2 | Community Partnerships on the national forest estate F Foreword Working in partnership with communities It’s forestry…… but not as we have known it……… Governance in Britain evolved rapidly in the 1990s, not only with devolution from Westminster to Scotland but also through increased emphasis on citizen engagement and the citizen as customer and also a focus on achieving effective outcomes from public policy and service. At the same time that these changes were happening an interest and desire for community empowerment in the management of rural land was developing. In the more remote rural areas such as Galloway and the north-west Highlands this was seen as a mechanism for rural development and reinvigorating the vitality of communities. One of the earliest examples was driven by local GP, Dr Ian Richardson at Laggan, where the Laggan Forest Initiative was established in 1992. The FAPIRA (Forests and People in Rural Areas) Initiative brought local forest governance to the fore. FAPIRA was an informal partnership established in 1994 between the Forestry Commission, Rural Forum Scotland, development and countryside agencies and WWF. Robin Callander’s 1995 report ‘Forests and people in rural Scotland’ laid out a case for ‘rural development forestry’ in Scotland with a key argument for community access to forest management and setting out the benefits of local management. The Forestry Commission’s response to this was rapid and revolutionary in terms of previously accepted paradigms for estate management. Lord John Sewell, the Scottish Office Forestry Minister, launched the first formal partnership agreement between the Forestry Commission and the local community at Laggan in 1998. Since then the concept has blossomed across Scotland. The publication in 1999 of ‘Forests for People working with communities – our commitment’ and ‘Forests for People working with communities – our approach’ were major milestones in the process. This process has been hugely facilitated by the establishment of the Forestry for People Panel in 1999 under the Chairmanship initially, of Andrew Raven OBE and more recently, of Councillor Ian Ross. Members of the panel have willingly volunteered their time to help steer Forestry Commission Scotland through the complexities of its response and developing mechanisms for working with local communities. Over the past five to eight years this heady mix of circumstance has spawned opportunities for many local communities to engage with Forestry Commission Scotland and to develop a growing list of diverse and prospering partnerships. At the time of writing there are around 110 formal agreements of varying types between Forestry Commission Scotland and local communities in Scotland. Community Partnerships on the national forest estate | 3 Forestry Commission Scotland Community Partnerships on the national forest estate Foreword and Authors’ Note Today I am pleased to recognise the success of all the effort, by communities, and by staff of the Forestry Commission Scotland and other partners, which is vested in the publication of this booklet – not just the ten case studies but also the other one hundred or so partnerships which have evolved and are continuing to develop and grow. Just as our national forests are evolving, becoming more diverse and interesting, so too our relationships with local communities. The one common factor is that change is ever constant, with each day bringing new ideas, challenges and opportunities for all involved with Scotland’s national forest estate. Hugh Insley, Chief Executive Officer, Forest Enterprise Scotland (the management agency of Forestry Commission Scotland) Authors’ Note About the authors In the spring of 2005, we were asked by Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) to prepare case studies of John Fowler is a writer and former representative partnerships between FCS and local senior journalist with the Herald. His most recent book is Landscapes and communities. We selected ten partnerships which took in a Lives: the Scottish Forest Through good geographic spread, different types of community, and a the Ages. He also co-authored the variety in the interests and scale of community involvement. booklet Native Woodlands of Scotland for the Forestry Commission. We visited each project, interviewing both community members and FCS staff. We would like to thank all those Roland Stiven is a forestry consultant working primarily on involved for their time and for giving us their open and frank native woodland and community views. These covered the development of the partnerships, related projects. He has previously the challenges and successes, and the impact the co-authored books on Wood pasture for Scottish Natural Heritage and on partnerships are having on the woodland, the communities Forest Networks for Habitats and and on Forestry Commission Scotland itself. We hope we People, (with John Fowler) for SNH have given a fair reflection of these views within the case and FCS. studies and discussion. 4 | Community Partnerships on the national forest estate Introduction Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) has a long history of involvement with people in communities. For many years forestry helped to sustain rural communities by providing work for local people and newcomers. Forest workers and their families often formed a significant proportion of the population in country districts - and in a few cases whole new villages were built to house them. Much of that intimate connection with rural life has gone. Staff numbers in rural areas have reduced as expansion of forest cover on the national forest estate declined and also because of other factors such as productivity gains, mechanisation and the centralisation of staff. The face of forestry continues to change, and today FCS is actively developing new ways of working with local people. Possibly the most significant of these is the drive to set up working partnerships between FCS and community organisations. Because FCS is the largest single land manager in the country, this represents a real opportunity. Since 2000, when FCS committed itself to working with communities, it has established formal relations with more than 100 community bodies. These range from informal arrangements with community councils when planning forestry activities to ambitious business partnerships sharing forest management. Community Partnerships on the national forest estate | 5 Forestry Commission Scotland Community Partnerships on the national forest estate Introduction Scene setter Most schemes involve the provision of recreational facilities for local people and for day visitors and tourists. At the simplest level this can mean the opening up or improvement of woodland paths and the provisions of picnic tables, benches and shelters. The construction of mountain bike trails is a feature of some schemes. Programmes of forest-based events, either recreational or educational, are organised by many woodland groups. Some community organisations take an active share with FCS in woodland management, perhaps after constitution as a limited company, working to detailed business plans. At the top end, the outright purchase of woodland from the national forest estate may be the ultimate aim – not just a community woodland but a community-owned forest. A new dimension was added in 2005 with the launch of the National Forest Land Scheme, which gives communities the right to buy land on the national forest estate even if FCS has not put it on the market - provided they can meet certain conditions. Managing large areas of land can be a major undertaking, and while some communities may exercise their right to buy, many others will prefer to work on a more modest scale in partnership with FCS. A great deal of experience has been built up during the development of existing partnerships, and lessons have been learned on both sides. For example FCS staff, experts in their profession, have had to adapt to a new ‘people-friendly’ approach, and the transition has not always been easy to make. In the early days, perhaps not unnaturally, FCS sometimes reacted coolly to the idea of ‘community woodlands’ on its land (see the Laggan case study). Since then attitudes have changed radically, so that listening to and working with communities has become a major feature of FCS policy. The Forestry Commission has long dedicated itself to developing a business culture to improve management and efficiency in its necessarily long-term strategy, and this being so, it is not always easy to relate to the community vision. It has required a philosophical leap. 6 | Community Partnerships on the national forest estate Introduction Scene setter At the same time, it is true to say that policy on such issues as the environment, ecology, amenity and access have changed over the years, and there has been a steady convergence between the views of Forestry Commission Scotland and those of the public at large. Meanwhile members of community groups, generally inexperienced in forestry matters, have had to acquire new knowledge and skills. They have had to become proficient negotiators with the numerous grant-giving charitable bodies and non-governmental organisations on whom they must depend for funds. Few, if any of the groups interviewed suggested that it has been easy. Developing a partnership takes time and patience and not all groups are well organised and coherent. Even in those that are, members tend to meet outside office hours and give time voluntarily, so that swift decision-making is hard to achieve. And for every group successfully established it seems likely that there is another potential group which has failed to ‘gel’, despite much time and effort spent on the part of both local enthusiasts and FCS staff.

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