Whether full colour calendars for 2003-04 have been sent in the same envelope as Integrated Administration and Control System forms to all …

The Scottish Biodiversity Forum's IACS Year Calendar 2003-04 was issued with Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) packs to all IACS producers in the spring of this year. The distribution of the IACS year calendars in the IACS packs was jointly authorised by Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department's agricultural staff, CAP Management and Countryside and Natural Heritage divisions. Following issue of the IACS Year Calendar 2002-03 last year, the Scottish Biodiversity Forum's Agriculture Working Group (AWG) invited NFUS Farming Leader recipients to provide feedback on the calendar, in particular whether one should be produced for 2003-04. Eighty-eight per cent of questionnaire respondents requested an IACS Year Calendar for 2003-04 and on the basis of that result, AWG members agreed that another calendar should be produced. It was clear from the responses that a majority of IACS producers considered the calendar to be valuable not only in biodiversity terms but also for highlighting key dates for events and grant and subsidy scheme deadlines. The IACS year calendars are not Scottish Executive publications but have been produced by the AWG. A wide range of organisations is represented on the AWG (now known as the Rural Land Use Working Group) and several have been directly involved in creating and contributing to the cost of the two calendars.The production and issue of IACS year calendars to almost 20,000 IACS producers in 2002 and 2003 is just one of several ways the AWG has gone about fulfilling its remit of raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity and encouraging its protection and enhancement. Such publications will contribute towards farmers' understanding of the natural environment and how important their role is maintaining biological diversity in the countryside. This is particularly worthwhile as farmers become involved in a more environment-focused CAP system, cross-compliance and other environmental issues. A copy of the IACS Year Calendar 2003-04 was sent to 19,725 IACS producers at an additional postage cost of £6,706.50. The total cost of producing 20,000 and distributing 19,725 IACS Year Calendars for 2003-04 was £16,819. As in the previous year, all these costs were met by the AWG.