Golden Plover Award 2016 - the winner is announced

Winner: The Hopes Estate

Adam Smith and I are delighted to announce that The Hopes Estate is the winner of the Heather Trust and GWCT Golden Plover Award 2016. 

Adam and I would like to congratulate Robbie Douglas-Miller, his Gamekeepers: Ian Elliott and Julian Bond, and the farm manager Gordon Kerr, and we look forward to presenting the award to the estate at the Scottish Game Fair on Friday.  Sadly, Robbie Douglas-Miller cannot be with us, but the estate to be well-represented by the rest of the team.

Adam and I visited all four, shortlisted estates together during June, and some details we gathered during the visits are on the Award's website.

We were delighted by the standards of management we were shown and there was strong competition for the award.  There can be only one winner, but we would like to acknowledge the high quality of the other applications.

Sponsored by:

Golden Plover Award - update

Adam Smith and I have reached our decision and the winner of this year's award will be announced on Monday.  Deciding on the winner has not been easy previously due to the stiff competition, and this year has not been different.  However, we think we have a worthy winner.

Details of the four shortlisted applicants are on the Award website and all of them will be represented at the presentation of the Award, which takes place at the Scottish Game Fair at 16:30 on Friday, 1st July.

We are grateful for the support from a great many people who have shown an interest in this award, and the sponsorship from Lindsays.

Golden Plover Award - Judging in progress

A scene from the GPA tour 2016 - all in a day's work!

Adam Smith (Director Scotland for GWCT) and I have started our tour of Scotland to visit the shortlisted applicants for the Golden Plover Award. We visited Candacraig Estate in Aberdeenshire last Thursday, and then two estates on Friday: Cawdor near Forres and Phoines near Dalwhinnie.  We will be visiting The Hopes Estate at Gifford in the Lammermuirs on Thursday, this week.  

The visits have served to confirm that Adam and I will be challenged when trying to choose a winner, but we will announce this in the week commencing 26 June. We look forward to seeing representatives from all the shortlisted applicants for the award ceremony which takes place at the Scottish Game Fair on Friday 1 July, starting at 16:30.

Golden Plover Award 2016 - The Shortlist

A print of a Golden Plover by the renowned artist, Colin Woolf 

is awarded to the winner

Adam Smith and I have selected four estates to form the shortlist for the Golden Plover Award.  We will be visiting all four estates in the next 10 days to select the winner.  Full details of all the applicants will be placed on the Golden Plover Award website, after the visits have been completed, and we will announce the winner during the week commencing 27th June.

The award ceremony will take place at the Scottish Game Fair at 16:30 on Friday, 1st July.

To be eligible for the 2016 award, in addition to demonstrating innovative moorland management, applicants have been asked to demonstrate how they incorporate sheep farming into the management of moorland.

The shortlist comprises the following estates:

• Candacraig, Strathdon
• Cawdor, Nairn
• Phones, Dalwhinnie and
• The Hopes, Gifford.

Golden Plover Award 2016 - applications

The application window for this year's Golden Plover Award is closing.  We have received a good range of applications but would welcome more.  If you have been wondering whether to apply or not, today would be a good day to come off the fence and make the decision to make an application. It is a simple process - a phone call would do to start with.

This year we are encouraging applications from those who have integrated sheep into the management of their moorland and this has raised some interest from the farming sector. 

There is more information about the Award, and its development over the last three years, on the dedicated website: www.goldenploveraward.co.uk

Golden Plover Award 2016 - Integrated Moorland Management & Sheep

We are working with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to promote our Golden Plover Award for Scotland.   In addition to an integrated approach to moorland management, which is carried out to a high standard, this year  we are seeking applicants who use sheep as an integral part of their management regime.

We will welcome applications from all parts of Scotland, the more remote the better! Applicants are not restricted to estates or landowners; we will value applications from tenant farmers and crofters.

If you value the management that your sheep provide for your moorland, you will be eligible to apply for the award. 

There is more detail about the Award on the dedicated website. 

The deadline for applications is 23 March 2016 so that we can review applications and select the winner in the for the award to be made at the Scottish Game Fair on 1 July 2016.

We are grateful to Lindsays - who are Edinburgh based solicitors - for sponsoring the Golden Plover Award, this year.

Golden Plover Award

This award is made by the Trust in collaboration with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust.  Adam Smith and I have been on a world tour of Scotland in the last week to visit the three short-listed applicants.  This saw us in Sutherland on the Gordonbush Estate at Brora, last week; on the top of the Cairngorms on the Mar Estate, on Tuesday; and in Shetland, yesterday.

 Gordonbush Estate

Mar Estate

Cunningsburgh Apportionment

Adam and I are extremely grateful for the enthusiasm with which we have been received and entertained by the applicants.  We could have spent days with all of them, rather than the hours we had available, to learn more about the management of their land.  It is fascinating to see the management issues through the eyes of those who have to make the decisions and it is a change for Adam and I not to switch into an advisory mode.

We have now to sit down and weigh up all the information we have received to pick a winner of the award.  The award will be presented at a reception, sponsored by Savills, at the Scottish Game Fair - 4.30pm on Friday, 3 July.

More information about the Golden Plover Award and the three applicants that were shortlisted, is available on the Award's website.  We will be announcing the winner, next week. 

Golden Plover Award in the Press

See the article published in the Deeside Piper today, which describes the success of the Finzean Estate last year and reiterates the challenge to the owners and managers of moorland in Scotland, with a peatland interest, to come up with a worthy successor to Finzean for the 2015 Award.

"Applications for the 2015 award are welcomed from any owner or manager of land in any part of Scotland who can demonstrate a real commitment to sustainable moorland or upland management. Applications from the more remote parts of Scotland are encouraged , as are applications from individuals.

The Golden Plover is not just an award for estates.

The theme for the award is peatland management and restoration; applicants will be expected to demonstrate how they are managing their peatland to improve its condition.

Application forms are available to download from the GWCT and Heather Trust websites.

The deadline for applications for 2015 is Friday, 27 February."

For more details see the Award's website: www.goldenploveraward.co.uk

Golden Plover Award in the Scotsman

See the article published in The Scotsman today to see what others are saying about this award.

As a reminder, the closing date for applications is 27 February and full details about the award and the application forms are on the Award's website.

The Golden Plover Award - update

After last year’s huge success, The Golden Plover Award for Moorland Management is now seeking applicants for the Award in 2015. 

The annual Award is jointly presented by the Heather Trust and GWCT Scotland in order to promote and celebrate the very best in sustainable, integrated moorland management for a number of outcomes, including sport, conservation, recreation and agriculture. This year’s Award will focus particularly on peatland conservation, helping to highlight this crucial and developing area of upland management.  

In 2014, Savills sponsored the award and laid on an impressive award ceremony at the Scottish Game Fair, where the presentation was made by the former Heather Trust chairman, Malcolm Hay.  I am delighted that Savills are also sponsoring the 2015 award and the award ceremony, which will take place at the Scottish Game Fair on Friday, 3 July. 

Anyone can enter the Award, from farms and estates to individuals and syndicates, and we hope that the application process will attract a wide range of people from across Scotland. Much more information on the Award and its background can be found in the dedicated website for the Award, where application forms are also available to download and complete. 

The closing date for applications is 27 February, after which the judges will consider the applications to narrow down the field to three candidates, which will be visited during the Spring.