Having been charged with the management of Fordhouse for over a century, the
Reid family places a strong emphasis on sustainable development. A desire to
protect the Scottish countryside for future generations is reflected by the
farm’s conservation efforts.

Environmental aims are in line with EU conservation aims and include:
• To improve the landscape by creating and improving habitats for
breeding birds, plants and other wildlife.
• To create buffer zones which are adjacent to hedges, ditches
and houses in order to create a network of wildlife corridors.
• To continue the sympathetic management of natural
watercourses.
• To cut only one third of hedgerows in any one year.

Fordhouse Farms Ltd was enlisted by the Game Conservancy Trust in spring 2005 to take part in
the Scottish Lowland Research Project. It is one of 32 farms in Eastern Scotland participating in
the research on ‘Winter Food & Farmland Birds’. The Reid family has recorded over 60
species of birds on the farm to date. These include the greater spotted woodpecker,
skylark, buzzard and the goldcrest – one of Britain’s smallest birds.