Landscape Statement – Vision

The Solway Firth is one of the most important estuaries in Britain, shared between Scotland and England, its amazing seascape is vital for people and wildlife. The Dumfries and Galloway coastline runs for 210 miles from the shimmering sands of the inner Solway to the rugged shores of Wigtownshire, and the Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s most southerly point. The Firth has shaped the history, economy, art and culture of Scotland, a gateway to the world and a rich natural resource.

This amazing landscape/seascape is, however, facing challenges; sea-level rise, coastal erosion, fragmentation and loss of habitats, disconnection of local people from the coast and sea. SCAMP will address by harnessing Solway’s land and seascapes to respond to the climate & nature crises, by reconnecting habitats, creating resilient communities and boosting local economic activity. Coastal communities will be at the heart of our holistic seascape approach, and we will focus our work on six key habitats: native oyster reefs, seagrass beds, saltmarsh, sand dunes, coastal woodlands and coastal burns.

Working with local communities, SCAMP will deliver a 10-year programme to understand, conserve and develop the potential of the natural, cultural and built heritage for the people of the Solway Firth. SCAMP will focus on a range of large-scale interventions and activities to deliver a coherent, and co-ordinated approach reconnecting people to the Solway Firth seascape. SCAMP will leave the Solway Firth in a healthier condition, better understood, protected and will ensure the seascape can respond to today’s nature and climate crises.

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How does this project deliver the principles of the charter?

1. Collaboration

SCAMP is founded on collaboration, within a partnership of environmental organisations that are delivering its outcomes and the communities that we will be working with at a local level. Our ambition, over the next 10 years, is to form further collaborations with a wide variety of organisations, individuals and communities. By developing and showcasing best practice in marine and coastal restoration, in collaboration with the communities who live in/on the land and seascape, as well as local, academics, artists, historian, to ensure a collaborative and joined up approach to restoration that maximises benefits for nature, climate and people. Our approach is one of seeking understanding and building connections between people, habitats and organisations to ensure a holistic approach, where every contribution is valued and encouraged. We will work with and seek to influence national policy and policy makers.

2. Dynamism

SCAMP recognises that our climate is changing, human pressure on natural systems is increasing. Through identifying and recognising the nature of this change we hope to help our coastal and marine habitats to find ways to adapt, migrate and be resilient to this change. Healthier, stronger habitats provide resources for multiple species and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. By working with local people to understand the condition and benefits of these habitats we will foster action to restore and safeguard these habitats and seascapes for the future.

We will focus on the inter connections and relationships between habitats seeking to restore functioning ecosystems which will have greater resilience and adaptability to future changes.

SCAMP will actively work to foster sustainable economic connections between local communities and these ecosystems, based on sound knowledge and long-term relationships.

We aim to work with landowners and stakeholders who work with these fragile habitats to help them find economic models that provide high quality sustainably produced food alongside integrating habitat restoration. For example, the sustainably fished last Wild Oyster Fishery in Scotland is in Loch Ryan on the Solway Coast. It provides sustainably harvested native Oysters but also acts as an important source of young oysters for other restoration projects across the Uk and Europe.

3. Diversity

SCAMP is led by a passion and desire to help our coastal and marine habitats restore and provide nature-based solutions to combat biodiversity loss and the climate crisis.

We have a unique partnership of 7 different environment organisations, all working on different aspects of the restoration work but with a collective ambition to restore nature and help connect people to the Solway Coast.

Much of our seabed and coastal landscapes have been ‘improved’ over the last two centuries for the ease of human exploitation, we seek to restore the complexity to these systems that will bring resilience and diversity to our coast and marine environment. We will explore new and novel techniques to kick start this process and seek to influence management to ensure complexity is maintained in these systems.

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What's Next

The charter includes the need for balance, for nature restoration to work alongside communities and business who work on the land and the sea. SCAMP is an innovative model which is holistic, collaborative and connected across the Solway’s seascape. As SCAMP develops and progresses there will be many lessons to learn and share. Ultimately it may even provide a model for other places and could be used to help inform policy in Scotland. We intend that this initial 10-year project is the start of a change in the region, where coastal communities and authorities refocus their attention to the health and benefits the Solway can bring to our region into the future, for people nature and climate.

Find out more here on their programme and the introductory video:-

SCAMP-Programme-Plan-June-2025-Final(SM)

 

More about this project

Image Credits:

Mike Bolam Photography; Duncan Ireland photography; Robbie Cowan; Bryan Scott; Newton Stewart Sub Aqua Club; SCAMP; Free Coast

Landscape Statement – Vision

We have been custodians of various parts of the Archerfield Estate since the late 1960s. We continue to own and manage eighty hectares which includes mature forestry, farmland, a Georgian Walled Garden and fifteen rental properties. Our vision for the land we own is to sensitively farm the arable land, positively manage our woodlands, and repair and conserve our properties for the enjoyment of future generations.

As part of a farm diversification project, our aim has been to sensitively restore the derelict Georgian Walled Garden and its surrounds to provide an enterprising and accessible café and shop creating a high-quality destination for locals and visitors from further afield alike and creating jobs for over eighty people.

We actively encourage use of our estate and garden by community groups, school groups, and local volunteer networks to contribute to knowledge learning and sharing, and the provision of well-being through nature.

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How does this project deliver the principles of the charter?

1. Collaboration

We work closely with local community groups to provide facilities for use. We support local schools and playgroups and Dirleton Market on the Green, which provides high quality goods at an accessible market to an ageing rural population. We work with East Lothian Council Ranger Service on the provision of learning activities for children and adults.

We host the annual Edinburgh Taxi Outing where over one hundred taxis bring differently abled children on a scenic drive ending in fun activities on the Estate.

We host a weekly Junior Park run which regularly attracts over eighty runners and who have just celebrated their fourth birthday.

We have worked closely with Heriot Watt University and Dirleton Primary School on the provision of the Solar Walk – a scale model of the universe with the Sun located in the local village of Dirleton 1km away and Neptune at Archerfield Walled Garden – showcased at an annual Wonders of Space event.

2. Dynamism

We have been caretakers of the land at Archerfield since the early 1970s. Since 2013, we have worked to restore the Georgian Walled Garden on the estate which provides fruit, vegetables and herbs for our Garden Café emphasising the ‘garden to plate principle’.

Our Garden Team, helped by enthusiastic volunteers, have transformed the area from bare earth in 2014 to a thriving garden with lots of benefits for wildlife and a showcase for diversity.

We care for a wildlife area with pond, rose and scented garden, perennial meadow with fruit trees, cutting beds and ornamental borders including a water-saving border. Beyond the Walled Garden we have hot borders, live willow structures, and meadow plantings. In the garden we practice: No Dig – Mulching – Chemical free gardening – Dead-hedges and bug houses – Chop and Drop clear ups – Homemade compost and plant foods – Collection of rainwater.

We recycle and upcycle using estate brash to make dead-hedges, horse manure and wool packaging as mulch for fruit trees/rose mulch, and we compost coffee grounds from the café, weeds in plant feed, pallets from deliveries and cardboard from packaging, and use estate grown willow and birch for plant supports.

The garden is free to all, educationally as a team we are always happy to explain why we do things and how we care for the environment.

3. Diversity

We retain the last remaining thirty hectares of farmland at Archerfield and have been farming regeneratively for over 5 years using techniques that are innovative in Scotland and further afield. We consider best practice advice along with practical considerations for producing a regeneratively farmed crop with a decent return – meaning we are often an example of gold standard in this sector. We use beneficial microbes to improve soil health, therefore reducing the amount of fertiliser used and creating a more resilient, disease resistant crop.

Having completed Net Zero training, we are reassessing our Carbon Footprint to reflect the mitigative effects that our positive farming activities, woodland management practices and recent investment in two hundred solar panels and four electric vehicle charging points at the shop and café have on our wider landholding.

We have hosted the East Lothian Climate Hub: Healthy Soil for Growing and Nature convention, donated plants to numerous schools and community groups and delivered information sessions and lessons to schools on Where Our Food Comes from and Estate Management.

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What's Next

We are in the process of designing and creating a children’s play trail with five elemental themed areas which will be accessible and will encourage the provision of outdoor education through play in nature. There will be a learning hub available for use by community and school groups.

More about this project

Image Credits:

Archerfield Estates

Landscape Statement – Vision

Destination Tweed aims to celebrate and share the nature, history and stories of the River Tweed and deliver significant economic, environmental, educational and social benefits to the South of Scotland and North Northumberland.

Introduction to Destination Tweed: https://youtu.be/KNvy1s2Gtvs?si=naZWH2ixtatOe2c7

At the heart of Destination Tweed is the creation of the River Tweed Trail, a spectacular new walking and cycling route starting at Moffat before climbing to the source of the river, threading through the Scottish Borders and on to Berwick-upon-Tweed where the river meets the sea. This ambitious, multi-year, partnership-led investment includes a further 12 projects covering a wide range of cultural, river and landscape enhancements that are connecting communities and attractions along the route and creating opportunities to celebrate, care for, enjoy and promote the river sustainably.

Makerston 2 – tree boxes in which new trees have been planted to replace lost mature trees within the designed landscape at Makerstoun, near Kelso

The project includes natural heritage conservation projects to tackle environmental issues at source through woodland and pollinator habitat creation, river restoration and control of invasive non-native species. An array of ambitious education, heritage and cultural projects provide a varied and exciting programme of events and opportunities for participation.

Destination Tweed is a practical demonstration of the Charter’s vision in action, showing how integrated landscape management can deliver benefits across environment, economy, community and culture.

Edston looking north – riparian planting at Edston in Upper Tweed, delivered by Tweed Forum

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How does this project deliver the principles of the charter?

1. Collaboration

Destination Tweed embodies the collaborative approach through its partnership model. The project was conceived, developed, and is now being delivered by a partnership of organisations, including environmental charities and place-based organisations, bringing together expertise, connections and resources to deliver meaningful change across the region.

By working together closely, our teams frequently identify and act upon opportunities for collaboration between Destination Tweed’s 12 projects, strengthening connections between organisations and communities, and delivering better value for funders and stakeholders.

Our place-based and landscape-led approach relies heavily on dialogue and cooperation between our delivery partners as well as local authorities, communities of place and interest, local businesses, and a wide range of other stakeholders who live, work and visit the south of Scotland and north Northumberland.

Bringing communities along with us is at the heart of Destination Tweed, and the contribution of volunteers plays a key part in many strands of the project. For example, co-curated community archaeology project Uncovering the Tweed draws heavily on local interest and passion, working with existing heritage groups to support them in taking forward their own strands of research as part of the wider project. In starting a conversation, we ensure that the project creates meaningful opportunities to get involved in exploring the sites and themes that matter most to those who have spent years championing the heritage and archaeology of their local area.

Peebles INNS volunteers – after a day of Himalayan balsam removal

2. Dynamism

The Charter acknowledges that landscapes will evolve and change, and that this change needs to happen at pace, particularly around climate and nature. Destination Tweed’s river restoration work, woodland and pollinator habitat creation, and control of invasive species are all active examples of delivering dynamic change at scale through land management.

To use our environmental projects as an example, through Destination Tweed, we aim to: plant 300,000 trees to create new native riparian woodlands in the upper Tweed; restore and enhance up to 40 hectares of wildflower-rich habitat across 50 sites; restore 20 historic designed landscapes with around 5,000 native and specimen trees; and create 80ha of upland native woodland through the addition of 52,500 trees and shrubs.

Corehead Farm Hay Meadow June 2025 –  meadows enhanced by Buglife Scotland

By acknowledging that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, Destination Tweed is creating dynamic change at scale, and at pace, across the Tweed’s landscapes.

Scything, Corehead (C Patience). Participants developing skills during a scything workshop at Borders Forest Trust’s Corehead site.

3. Diversity

Tweed Forum is lead partner in the delivery of Destination Tweed, and has long understood the importance of diversity in strengthening resilience at a landscape scale.

This is actioned through a variety of Destination Tweed’s projects. We are working to create, restore, monitor and manage a network of wildflower-rich habitat for pollinators along the Tweed river corridor. We are creating native woodlands which support a broad range of flora and fauna (oak trees support more life than any other native tree!). Our riparian planting projects stabilise riverbanks, improve water quality and help reduce flood risk. Our agroforestry schemes integrate trees into farmland in a planned and productive way. And the removal of invasive non-native plant species allows the riverbanks to return to a vibrant, flourishing and diverse ecosystem.

Neidpath agroforestry – agroforestry tree in cactus guard, allowing continued grazing while the tree establishes

Our work creating 80ha of upland planting contributes to Borders Forest Trust’s vision for Southern Scotland as a place where a rich tapestry of native woodlands and wild places flourish, cared for by volunteers and local communities.

Muirhouselaw 1 – tree boxes in which new trees have been planted to restore an historic avenue of trees at Muirhouselaw, near St Boswells

Some strands of Destination Tweed involve significant capital works, such as construction of the River Tweed Trail and the construction of a new bunk house at the Crook Inn. However, the project’s whole life carbon emissions will be net zero within 15 years, and will be net positive in the long term, resulting in less atmospheric carbon overall, as the trees that we are planting now continue to sequester carbon decades into the future.

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What's Next

Delivery of Destination Tweed continues into 2028, though its impacts will be felt for many decades afterwards. Central to project success is the creation of the River Tweed Trail which, once completed, will create opportunity for more people to spend more time along the river and in its landscapes. Project partners will build on the strong connections forged during delivery of Destination Tweed, collaborating to ensure a healthier river catchment and a lasting legacy for future generations.

 

More about this project

Image Credits:

Destination Tweed and various -see individual image credits