Leven, Scotland

The Leven region is one of the most agriculturally diverse areas in Scotland. The catchment boasts a mix of farms producing a wide range of products including crops, livestock, poultry, eggs, flowers, and even Christmas trees.

Several waterbodies in the region have conservation designations, including Loch Leven, which is recognized as a National Nature Reserve. Loch Leven is one of the most significant sites for waterfowl in Britain, hosting thousands of birds, particularly during migration periods. The loch and its surroundings also support a diverse range of flora and fauna, including rare and endangered species, making it a key area for ecological research and conservation efforts.

Leven LENs was scoped in 2023, and during 2024 we’re working towards a first trade. It aims to preserve and enhance the Leven catchment’s natural assets. It will identify and implement a strategy for long-term investments into measures to make the Leven landscape healthy and productive while benefitting the environment, boosting biodiversity and uplifting local communities.

Leven LENs is bringing together businesses to identify shared commercial land management needs that would be difficult to tackle within their own supply chain in isolation. These include improving water quality; improving the resilience of crop production; meeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets; protecting nature & increasing biodiversity; mitigating flood risk; and protecting rivers and other bodies of water.

Once these needs are identified, and we begin a first trade, an outreach partner (known as a ‘supply aggregator’) will approach land managers and farmers, and work with them to propose a selection of solutions that can be implemented on their land, and to identify how much they will cost.

The measures and initiatives are proposed, funders negotiate to decide what measures they will co-fund, and how much each funder will contribute. A deal is negotiated – usually via the supply aggregator – to ensure that the agreed funding is transferred to the landowner once implementation has been verified.