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2001 Conference - Rotorua
  
Regional Development
The SE Network comprises 12 local enterprise companies (LECs),
details of which can be found at www.scottish-enterprise.com.
To select one as a case study would have been a matter of
personal preference, but events earlier this year meant that the
obvious choice was SE Dumfries and Galloway.
On 1 March 2001 the current outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)
reached Scotland when the first case was confirmed on a farm at
Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway. By the middle of April the
region had become one of the epicentres of the disease nationally,
with 155 confirmed cases to date. The people of Dumfries and
Galloway are only now seeing the huge impact that FMD is having on
every sector and community. The impact of the disease has been
particularly severe in this region because agriculture is
concentrated on livestock. Around 33% of Scotland's dairy herd,
18.5% of its beef cows and 16% of its sheep are found in Dumfries
and Galloway.
The loss of livestock has been on a massive scale. Total stock
losses to date are 298,845 sheep and 48,267 cattle. More than 50% of
agricultural holdings have been affected in some way.
While there is Scottish-wide concern about the impact of FMD, for
the businesses and people of Dumfries and Galloway, with 97% of
recorded Scottish cases to date, the crisis is both an economic and
human tragedy.
Communities have rallied around the policy of containment and
eradication and Dumfries and Galloway has been committed to
containing the disease within its borders. The recent round of
business survival workshops and meetings in local communities with
thousands of calls received by the helplines, have shown the breadth
and depth of emotion, helplessness and despair. As with most crises,
however, the response of the people involved is what provides hope
and, in this case, the vehicle for recovery.
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