SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) works with Scotland’s people to care for the natural heritage in Scotland. It is a government body responsible to the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament. It is very much an enabling organisation, working in partnership with many like-minded organisations and supporting their activity through advice and grant-aid.

The Trust has worked closely with SNH, and its predecessor bodies the Countryside Commission for Scotland and the Nature Conservancy Council, over many years. For instance the Trust helped shape the Countryside Scotland Act in the 1960s that led to the establishment of CCS, Country Parks and Scotland’s Ranger Services. The Trust hosted the first meeting of CCS, ahead of its acquisition of its head office and Battleby. The Trust ran the first two national ranger training courses in Scotland, a model subsequently taken up and run by CCS until the early 1990s.

SNH was established in 1992 and since then Trust staff at Head Office, the regions and the properties have developed close and effective working relationships with their counterparts in SNH, within SNH’s devolved structure. For instance, each ranger service meets up with the appropriate SNH Area Officer twice a year to discuss and agree work programmes and monitor progress being made.

Communication operates at the more strategic level as well, to ensure there is cross-fertilisation of experience and policy. The recent development of wild land policies in both organisations is a good example.

This co-operation between our two organisations has culminated in the development and publication of a Concordat between NTS and SNH. This spells out our mutual aims, our key undertakings and the operational framework within which we will jointly function.