Wildlife crime is the focus of a free training seminar in the Cairngorms National Park this week.
Organised by the Land Based Business Training Project at the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), the event is designed to provide a background for those working in the land based sector into the current legislation relating to flora and fauna.
At Mar Lodge, Braemar on Tuesday 18 October and Kincraig Village Hall on Wednesday 19 October, the ‘Wildlife and the Law Training Seminar’ will also give people the knowledge they need to help combat wildlife crime.
Speakers include Jamie Stewart from the British Association for Shooting and Conservation who will be taking participants through the legislation relating to traps, their identification and legal methods of use.
The CNPA’s Local Biodiversity Action Plan Officer Stephen Corcoran will be there to talk about the law in relation to plants and fungi and there will also be presentations on the persecution of raptors and legislation relating to badgers. The training seminar is being chaired by John Grierson, a retired wildlife liaison officer.
The Land Based Business Training Project Manager, Kate Christie explained: “We have organised this course, which is free of charge, in response to requests we have received for this type of training. People perhaps feel they are not fully up to speed with new legislation or land designations, for example. “In the same way that people want to keep up to date with their health and safety training – because it’s a requisite of the job – people want to make sure their knowledge of the current wildlife legislation is accurate.”
The Land Based Business Training Project is funded by the CNPA and the European Social Fund. It is open to any business that is involved in the use or management of the land including estates, farms, crofts, forestry operations, outdoor recreation businesses and horticultural nurseries.
The project can part fund courses which will help improve the competitiveness and efficiency of a business such as the use and maintenance of machinery, equipment and vehicles; environmental courses; IT and business skills and health and safety. Fully funded courses are those which deliver public benefits such as training relating to outdoor access, disability awareness, communication or this course relating to wildlife crime.
For more information on the Land Based Business Training project please contact Kate Christie on tel: 01479 870535 / email: [email protected] or Sam Masson on tel: 01479 870537 / email: [email protected].