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Prince Philip

Prince Philip accepts award for Balmoral Estate

<![CDATA[The Duke of Edinburgh recently received an award from Wildlife Estates Scotland on behalf of Balmoral Estate, as a result of it being recognised as having a high standard of wildlife and game management.
The Wildlife Estates Scotland (WES) accreditation acknowledges estates' work and dedication towards the management of farm land and estates. It is an internationally recognised award which looks to reward those who have shown excellence in their land management.
Commenting on the award, Balmoral’s resident factor, Richard Gledson, said: “We are delighted that the Estate has been awarded WES accreditation.
“It marks the culmination of a long process to ensure Balmoral meets the high standards of the scheme and I am very pleased on behalf of everyone on the Estate who has worked hard to apply best practice in game and wildlife conservation. That process will continue apace with the full support of the Royal Family, who are thrilled by this award.
“We look forward to working with Wildlife Estates Scotland to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to accreditation and hope we can play our part in promoting the objectives of the scheme to other estates across the country.”
Over twenty farms and estates have received awards from WES, with Balmoral now being included.
Wildlife Estates Scotland first began as a European Union initiative to drive forward the emphasis on better standards of environment conservation. The Scottish government have continued to support this scheme, which works closely with the 'Land Use Strategy'.
The scheme was first promoted by Scottish Land & Estates, and gained help and support from Scottish Natural Heritage, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, and the Cairngorms National Park Authority.
The chairman of Wildlife Estates Scotland, Robbie Douglas Miller, stated: “The Wildlife Estates Scotland project has been going from strength to strength since its inception four years ago and we are delighted that Balmoral has now been awarded accreditation.
“As with all the accredited estates, Balmoral has shown an outstanding commitment to the requirements of WES. This has happened because landowners genuinely want to play their part in helping our game and wildlife to flourish in well managed habitat.
“There is much to be proud of in this initiative and we look forward to Balmoral’s example providing further impetus for more and more estates to become involved in the WES project.”
Featured photo credit: Defence Images via photopin cc]]>