A Sunny Gathering with Leven Catchment Farmers

On a beautiful sunny summer evening, we had the pleasure of coming together with farmers from across the Leven catchment. The evening was an opportunity to discuss the projects and ideas we’ve been developing to support farm and landscape health, resilience, and productivity in the catchment.  

It was great to discuss the work we’ve done so far and to gather valuable thoughts and questions. Coming together gave us a much better understanding of how our efforts align with and can support the work and interests of farmers in the catchment. 

Amelia Heath, co-director of the trust and part of the Leven LENs team, kicked off the session with an introduction to Forth Rivers Trust and how Leven LENs started. Following her, Alison Rickett from 3Keel took the floor to explain how LENs works and how the mechanism can support farm resilience and productivity. This, combined with a lively Q&A session, led us to explore a variety of important topics, such as: 

• • The process for applying to LENs 📋
  • How prices are determined for different measures that farmers can implement 💵
  • Contingencies for extreme weather events impacting measures or causing setbacks ⛈️
  • Ownership of rights to sequestered carbon or enhanced biodiversity 🌳

If you’re interested in exploring answers to these questions, then send us an email on levenlens@forthriverstrust.org to request an FAQ.

We were also fortunate to hear from Ross McLeod, head of policy at GWCT, about farm clusters and how they can bring farmers together to collaborate on shared challenges and aspirations. Following the expressed interest from farmers in creating a farm cluster, we now hope to begin the process of applying for funding to bring this to life.  

“A farm cluster is a group for farmers by farmers. It offers an opportunity for farmers and land managers to work together to share skills, experience and explore issues related to farm and landscape health, resilience and productivity Curious how that works? Click on these amazing and inspiring examples of farm clusters Loch Ness Farm Cluster & North Essex Farm Cluster” 

Being in the same room to hear everyone’s challenges and aspirations, as well as opportunities for collaboration, was insightful. We left the event feeling enthusiastic about the interest for the farm cluster and LENs and the value that it can potentially provide. The Leven LENs team is excited to continue collaborating with farmers in the catchment to support farm and landscape health, resilience, and productivity. 

Thank you to all the farmers who attended that evening.  We appreciate you taking the time during this busy period. Thank you to Alison and Ross for sharing their insights.