More than 30 representatives from community land initiatives across Scotland will gather in Abriachan, by Loch Ness, this week, to share their experiences and receive training in a variety of different topics relating to community ownership and management of land.

The two-day seminar event, entitled 'Towards Success', has been organised by the Community Land Unit at Highlands and Islands Enterprise and will run on Thursday and Friday of this week (28th an 29th November).  Discussion will focus on the options and opportunities for community land initiatives to develop income-generating projects.

Andrew Anderson, acting head of the Community Land Unit, said: "There has been a very obvious growth in community ownership of land around the Highlands and Islands in recent years and we are very pleased to have been a part of that. But ownership is really only the beginning. Community land initiatives must become financially sustainable and generate economic wealth for their local areas, and that is what the Abriachan seminar, which forms part of our aftercare programme, is intended to address.

"These seminars have proved to be an excellent means of developing the ability of communities to manage their own land initiatives as well as a useful opportunity for networking and keeping informed of the issues that effect them."

The event is being co-hosted by Abriachan Forest Trust - itself a community initiative which bought 1,500 acres of woodland in 1998 and which has successfully managed its land to provide a range of benefits to locals and visitors alike.