Farm conservation advice service makes comeback

A new farm conservation advice service has been formed in Scotland almost a decade after the demise of the original organisation.

The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (Fwag), has been given a new lease of life by a group of independent farm conservation advisers.

The original Fwag was run as a charity by a network of employed advisers but the reformed group is a network of conservation specialists in the shape of fully independent consultants running their own businesses.

Some former Fwag advisers have come together with other independent consultants to form an association which aims to promote the farm conservation message.

Fwag chairman Richard Lockett runs his own consultancy business and a modest farming operation in the Highlands.

“The need for skilled conservation advice remains but how that happens now is totally different,” he said.

“Scottish Fwag members today run their own businesses and have the flexibility to decide what best works for them and the needs of their area, whether it be farms, estates, crofts, nature reserves or smallholdings.”

The new Fwag has 12 members covering most of Scotland. All are professionally accredited and work as independent consultants with a commitment to helping land managers improve the natural environment.

Mr Lockett is clear that the need for the new organisation is as strong as ever.

He added: “Farming and conservation in Scotland are completely interwoven. Many of the issues we face today – biodiversity loss, water quality, climate change, flood management – are directly linked to land use decisions. The need for trusted, independent expertise is as great today as when the original Fwag was formed. Some of the old Fwag messages are accepted as mainstream, but many new and some old challenges remain.”

Richard Lockett is chairman of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group.