Wildlife Estates Scotland appoints Miles Montgomerie as new chair
Miles Montgomerie
Wildlife Estates Scotland, an accreditation initiative to promote the best habitat and wildlife management practices for farms and estates, has appointed a Miles Montgomerie as its new chairperson.
Miles Montgomerie is the owner of Southannan Farms and West Glenalmond in Perthshire. Mr Montgomerie takes over from Dee Ward who recently became chairman of landowners’ organisation, Scottish Land & Estates.
WES is a national version of the Wildlife Estates (WE) initiative and is endorsed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Environment, whose objective is to protect, preserve and improve the environment for present and future generations.
All types of landholdings, farms and estates can apply for accreditation and Scotland currently sits second in the league table of Wildlife Estates accredited land on 1.25 million acres, with only Spain ahead on approximately 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).
The appointment of a new WES chair comes as Scotland prepares to host an international congress attended by 11 of the 19 countries participating in the Wildlife Estates initiative. Attendees from across Europe are convening to discuss progress, share knowledge and see the work being undertaken on accredited landholdings in Scotland.
Miles Montgomerie said: “I’m looking forward to working with WES members to help them continue the excellent work they are doing in turning the tide on biodiversity loss.
“WES landholdings deliver a huge amount of biodiversity, wildlife and habitat improvement at scale and as such are increasingly seen as trusted operators by NatureScot and the Scottish Government at a time where working together to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss has never been more important.
“Significant progress has been made by WES over the last 10 years as part of the international Wildlife Estates family and I would like to see momentum continue to build so that integrated, biodiverse land management becomes the norm rather than the exception.”
Outgoing chair Dee Ward added: “Wildlife Estates Scotland has grown substantially since the first pilot estates were accredited in 2013 and everyone associated with the initiative wants to see more farms and estates engage with WES and commit to best practice in wildlife and habitat management.
“I’m delighted that Miles will be leading the next phase of WES’ development at a time when addressing the biodiversity crisis has never been more important. Despite the exceptional work that takes place by many of those managing land, Scotland has a ‘biodiversity intactness’ rating of only 56% which means it has retained just over half of its biodiversity, compared with 65% for France, 67% for Germany, and 89% for Canada.
“Indeed, out of 240 ranked countries and territories, Scotland ranks 28th from the bottom. There is much cooperation and new ways of working required over the next decade and beyond and WES is well placed to help deliver that.”
Miles Montgomerie
Wildlife Estates Scotland, an accreditation initiative to promote the best habitat and wildlife management practices for farms and estates, has appointed a Miles Montgomerie as its new chairperson.
Miles Montgomerie is the owner of Southannan Farms and West Glenalmond in Perthshire. Mr Montgomerie takes over from Dee Ward who recently became chairman of landowners’ organisation, Scottish Land & Estates.
WES is a national version of the Wildlife Estates (WE) initiative and is endorsed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Environment, whose objective is to protect, preserve and improve the environment for present and future generations.
All types of landholdings, farms and estates can apply for accreditation and Scotland currently sits second in the league table of Wildlife Estates accredited land on 1.25 million acres, with only Spain ahead on approximately 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).
The appointment of a new WES chair comes as Scotland prepares to host an international congress attended by 11 of the 19 countries participating in the Wildlife Estates initiative. Attendees from across Europe are convening to discuss progress, share knowledge and see the work being undertaken on accredited landholdings in Scotland.
Miles Montgomerie said: “I’m looking forward to working with WES members to help them continue the excellent work they are doing in turning the tide on biodiversity loss.
“WES landholdings deliver a huge amount of biodiversity, wildlife and habitat improvement at scale and as such are increasingly seen as trusted operators by NatureScot and the Scottish Government at a time where working together to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss has never been more important.
“Significant progress has been made by WES over the last 10 years as part of the international Wildlife Estates family and I would like to see momentum continue to build so that integrated, biodiverse land management becomes the norm rather than the exception.”
Outgoing chair Dee Ward added: “Wildlife Estates Scotland has grown substantially since the first pilot estates were accredited in 2013 and everyone associated with the initiative wants to see more farms and estates engage with WES and commit to best practice in wildlife and habitat management.
“I’m delighted that Miles will be leading the next phase of WES’ development at a time when addressing the biodiversity crisis has never been more important. Despite the exceptional work that takes place by many of those managing land, Scotland has a ‘biodiversity intactness’ rating of only 56% which means it has retained just over half of its biodiversity, compared with 65% for France, 67% for Germany, and 89% for Canada.
“Indeed, out of 240 ranked countries and territories, Scotland ranks 28th from the bottom. There is much cooperation and new ways of working required over the next decade and beyond and WES is well placed to help deliver that.”