Five Scottish farms and estates consisting of 75,000 acres have been awarded prestigious international accreditation for their work in wildlife management and conservation.
Three farms and estates have received Wildlife Estates Scotland (WES) accreditation for the first time and another two obtained reaccreditation, a process that takes place every five years.
The new accreditations were awarded to Forneth Estate, in Perthshire; Bunloit Estate, on the west shores of Loch Ness in Inverness-shire and Beldorney Estate, in Aberdeenshire.
The two reaccreditations were presented to Mar Estate, located in Upper Deeside and Roxburghe Estates, in the Scottish Borders.
Despite varying in size and location, the accredited landholdings all share a commitment to best practice in management of animal and plant species, the condition of their habitats and the ecosystems that support them.
WES is a national version of the Wildlife Estates initiative and is endorsed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Environment, whose objective is to preserve and improve the environment.
All types of landholdings, farms and estates can apply for accreditation, with Scotland sitting second in the league table of Wildlife Estates accredited land on 1.25 million acres, with only Spain ahead on 1.6 million acres.
Between them, WES accredited landholdings have stewardship of 97 nationally protected sites (SSSI, NNR) and 79 internationally designated sites (SAC, SPA, Ramsar etc).
Dee Ward, chair of Wildlife Estates Scotland, said these farms and estates played a crucial role in benefiting the environment and biodiversity.
She said: "It's important that their commendable work, which often comes at a significant cost to businesses, can be recognised publicly through Wildlife Estates Scotland.
"Not only do land managers put that care into practice on a daily basis, they collect a wealth of information and data that provides valuable insights into where our collective conservation efforts should be focused.
“Obtaining WES accreditation is a meticulous process and sets the standards for others to achieve in wildlife and conservation management.”
The awards of WES accreditation was made at the GWCT Scottish Game Fair.
