Category: Environment

Global learnings for land reform in Scotland: Towards more radical solutions

Posted on October 2, 2024October 2, 2024 by Andy Wightman

I am pleased to publish this guest blog by Dr Fraser Sugden, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography in the University of Birmingham’s School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. In it, Dr Sugden examines Scotland’s land reform journey in light

Cashel Estate and the post-war Labour Government

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Andy Wightman

The excellent Parkswatch blog has published a piece today on the sale of the 1242ha Cashel Estate on the east shore of Loch Lomond in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. In 1946, the new Labour

Rural domestic heating solutions

Posted on April 10, 2024 by Andy Wightman

I was invited to discuss rural domestic heating solutions on BBC Radio Scotland Good Morning Scotland this morning alongside Donna Smith from the Scottish Crofting Federation. You can hear the interview below.

The First Minister, Gresham House, the Scottish National Investment & the City of London Corporation Burns Supper

Posted on January 29, 2024October 9, 2024 by Andy Wightman

The Ferret ran a story today about how the asset management company, Gresham House has been taken over by US private equity form Searchlight Capital Partners LP. “The Scottish Government’s investment bank gave £50m to a forestry scheme that has

Why Scotland should Stop Selling Carbon

Posted on November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 by Andy Wightman

In this blog I hope to crystallise my thoughts on some of the reasons why current Scottish Government policy on carbon markets is flawed and undermines efforts to tackle climate change. This is a very brief overview and assumes some

Short-term lets – the case of mountaineering club huts

Posted on September 24, 2023September 24, 2023 by Andy Wightman

There has been much discussion in mountaineering club circles as to whether the operators of mountaineering club huts will need to apply for a short-term let (STL) license under the The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets)

Climate Finance and Carbon Offsetting

Posted on March 3, 2023June 21, 2023 by Andy Wightman

On 1 March 2023, NatureScot announced a £2 billion private finance pilot designed to secure landscape scale restoration of native woodlands. The project involves NatureScot and private companies Hampden and Co., Palladium and Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe) Ltd. NatureScot

Highland Titles Day 2023

Posted on February 10, 2023March 29, 2024 by Andy Wightman

Happy Highland Titles Day (10 February 2015) Its been a while since I have said anything further about Highland Titles for obvious legal reasons. I do have a great deal more to say of which more later. Meantime, it is

Established Titles

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Andy Wightman

Established Titles There has apparently been quite a fuss among so-called YouTubers (folk who run influential YouTube channels) about an outfit called Established Titles. This video by Scott Shafer has been viewed 2.5 million times in 7 days. He calls

Land Reform Consultation – Scale and Concentration

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Andy Wightman

This blog is the second in a series of blogs about the Scottish Government’s consultation – Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation (see this page for details). It follows a previous blog that provided an overview of the proposals.

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