AECS success for common grazings

Photo: Scottish black face sheep on North Bragar common grazings | Peigi Ann Shields

Atlantic58 have successfully secured a five-year grant in partnership with two common grazing committees to put over 1800 hectares into conservation based farming practices under the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS).

AECS is a Scottish Government administered grant scheme to support farming / crofting land management activities that will benefit nature and mitigate against climate change. Throughout the five-year contract, applicant awardees carry out practices to best benefit the nature and climate of the land they manage, such as timing the grazing of livestock and cutting of vegetation around the bird breeding season to reduce disturbance, and to allow plants to flower for pollinators.

In the Western Isles, land management and biodiversity are deeply intertwined; for millennia, traditional, low intensity agricultural practices have led to a symbiosis between people and wildlife. This supports productive farmland-based habitats and the species that rely upon them, like lapwing, corncrake, and curlew, all of which breed in relatively high densities in the farmland of the Western Isles.

Atlantic58 provided ecological support, mapping services, and report writing for the applications. The funding from this scheme will allow the neighbouring common grazings of North and South Bragar to collaboratively manage the land in complementary practices. This will increase the connectivity and availability of suitable habitat for sensitive species such as greenshank, curlew, and corncrake for the next 5 years, demonstrating the benefits of AECS in the Western Isles for both nature and local crofting communities.