The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF), formerly called the Scottish Crofting Foundation (also formerly called the Scottish Crofters Union), is an organization of

crofting Crofting (Scottish Gaelic: ') is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production peculiar to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th-century townships, individual crofts were est ...

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

in the

highlands and islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act o ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The SCF's mission is to safeguard and promote the rights, livelihoods, and culture of crofters and their communities. Its magazine is called ''The Crofter''.

SCF (Scottish Crofting Federation)

The SCF is a charity dedicated to safeguarding crofting and its cultural heritage. Established and run by crofters, SCF engages with agencies and government at a local, national, and international level to influence policy on rural issues including sustaining rural populations, food production, and environmental protection. It also provides a network of support to established, new, and aspiring crofters through training, mentoring, and sharing of experience.

Scottish crofting produce mark

The Scottish crofting produce mark was introduced in 2008 to identify products produced by a croft or similar small

agri-business Agribusiness is the Industry (economics), industry, Business, enterprises, and the field of study of Agribusiness value chain, value chains in agriculture and in the Bioeconomy, bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-ent ...

that is located in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

or the Islands of Scotland.SCP Mark announcement at Rural Gateway
/ref> Only those businesses that qualify and are members of the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Crofting Federation may place the mark on their products. The federation states on its website that it plans to enforce product quality, cleanliness, and traceability, as well as ensure animals are healthy and reasonably treated.Scottish Crofting Federation SCP Mark announcement
/ref>

Importance of crofting

Crofting has sustained rural communities in many areas in Western Europe. Crofting provides certain benefits to the local community. Small-scale eco-friendly systems, as practiced by crofters, is an alternative to

industrial agriculture Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and ...

. Much of the UK's High Nature Value farming is found in the crofting areas. Extensive land management methods have created and preserved the habitats of rare species now threatened elsewhere in the UK, and continuing crofting land use is recognized as having an important role in maintaining and increasing biodiversity.

Opposition to marine protected areas

The SCF opposes Highly Protected Marine Areas, a proposal from the Scottish government to create

marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...

Indigenous people

The SCF is currently involved in activities to encourage the UK government to recognize crofters as indigenous people of Scotland. .

References

External links

Scottish Crofting Federation home page
Crofting

{{Agriculture of Scotland