We recognise that, as a society, we are facing very significant challenges ahead managing our environmental impacts at all levels and on all scales. Scottish Government has set out a clear vision of how we could progress towards a more environmentally sustainable future, supported by a range of publicly funded revenue streams. There is also an evolving market in carbon credits, as the private sector develops its own offsetting schemes.

We can help and support our clients how best to deliver on a wide range of environmental goods and services, including peatland restoration, carbon sequestration through habitat improvements and woodland creation and deer management.

Finding the balance between the three cornerstones of carbon, biodiversity and resource productivity is not easy. Some support mechanisms push management towards one of these at the expense of the others. We attempt to find optimal solutions that deliver low-carbon, biodiversity-rich and productive environments that support local communities as well as national targets.

This is a rapidly evolving policy environment, with new legislation on the natural environment, agriculture, land reform and deer management all expected in the next 2 to 3 years. We will keep abreast of all the latest developments but also aim to offer resilient solutions, that are based on sound science and achievable expectations, and are flexible in outlook, such that they can accommodate and evolve with new information and changing government policy. It is important that we get the right solutions in the right places, so that we don’t find ourselves at odds with our original objectives in 20 years’ time.