Julie Stoneman from Plantlife Scotland, who is Saving Scotland’s Rainforest Project Manager and Chair of the Common Ground Forum, explains the significance of the forum receiving the Nature of Scotland Innovation Award.

Members of the Common Ground Forum receive the prestigious Innovation Award at the Nature of Scotland Awards ceremony. From left to right: Abdul Rahim, Centre for Good Relations; David Allison, Reay Estate; Paul Roberts, NatureScot; Alan McDonnell, Trees for Life/Scottish Environment Link; Sam Tedcastle, Centre for Good Relations; Helen MacIntyre, Common Ground Forum Project Manager; Lea MacNally, Scottish Gamekeepers Association.

Last November, a public servant, a representative for environmental charities, a representative of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, and a head stalker of a private estate were among a small group that stepped onto a stage in Edinburgh. They were receiving the Innovation Award at the Nature of Scotland Awards, a prestigious annual event organised by the RSPB to celebrate the very best examples of nature conservation in Scotland.

The award recognised the work of the Common Ground Forum, a group of people who have committed to work together in a more collaborative way, so that better, more informed decisions about upland deer management can be made as a result of respectful, constructive conversations.

It may well have been the first time such a diverse group of people have received this kind of award. Not many years ago it might have been difficult just to get these people in the same room. And yet here they were enjoying a great night out in Edinburgh celebrating the work they’d been doing together.

The challenge we have in the conservation sector in Scotland is enormous. Despite a plethora of environmental organisations working for decades, with thousands of members, hundreds of nature reserves and countless initiatives, we’re still living in one of the most biodiversity-depleted countries on Earth. On the other hand, hope is in the air as we start to witness the results of large-scale nature restoration efforts.

Projects such as Cairngorms Connect, Cariffran and the Great Trossachs Forest Project, as well as constant pressure from the rewilding movement, are leading to a growing acceptance that if we really want to save nature, we need to think much bigger, across large areas of land, going beyond the boundaries of nature reserves. This inevitably involves collaboration among multiple landowners, and where neighbouring landowners have different objectives, it can feel like a daunting task.

Which is why the Common Ground Forum came about. The seed was sown a few years ago when the Association of Deer Management Groups approached the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest to see if there were opportunities to work together on what they saw as ‘the common ground’. However, at that time it seemed impossible to make that happen because of a deep-seated, long-established lack of trust between people in the two groups.

To cut a long story short, we brought in the Centre for Good Relations, a non-profit organisation that specialises in civic mediation. They helped to bring people together from all sides of upland deer management to help them build relationships and trust. When that process was ending, the people involved insisted they wanted to carry on building on the progress that had been made, and needed a forum in which to do it. This led to the formation of the Common Ground Forum which was launched publicly in Autumn 2023.

Even though the initiative goes beyond the rainforest zone, I have remained involved throughout, and have taken the role of Chair of the Forum, due to my neutral positioning and facilitation skills. It’s been a fascinating journey – probably better described as a rollercoaster ride.

There are times we feel we are making great progress, and there are times when the voices of the sceptics ring in our ears: that this has all been tried before without success; that we’re just creating another talking shop; that we’re not moving fast enough or dealing with the issues head-on enough. It’s challenging stuff and the work is inherently iterative, requiring us to constantly adapt and evolve our plans as a result of our learnings, as well as external developments in the world of deer management.

Tackling conflict in upland deer management was never going to be an easy task, and as a recent evaluation report shows, we still have many challenges ahead. That’s why the award is such a significant milestone. It shows that if you have the right people, with the will and courage to step across divides and collectively look for solutions, extraordinary things can happen… like seeing the beginnings of breaking the deadlock of decades of conflict.

Find out more about The Common Ground Forum here:

The Common Ground Forum – what difference can an award make?

Scotland’s rainforest news highlights of 2024