Landowners and managers who enter rural programme contracts and have to work on protected natural areas of land will no longer need additional SSSI (site of special scientific interest) consents.
As part of the Scottish Government’s new Wildlife and Natural Environment Act, land managers will no longer have to obtain consent from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) for work on an SSSI under a rural priorites contract, or under a protected species licence, a Muirburn licence, or a species control order from SNH.
Stewart Pritchard, SNH protected places operations manager, said: “This is part of our continuing effort to make things easier for our customers. These land managers do valuable work protecting special habitats and species in Scotland, and it’s important to make the process as easy as possible for them.”