A TWO-PRONGED initiative has been launched by the Learning and Skills Council as part of a Countryside Skills Recovery Plan for Devon and Cornwall.

The first part of the initiative, called the Xtreme campaign, concentrates on informing young people about current opportunities for careers in the countryside because colleges and training providers have highlighted the danger of a significant shortfall in entrants for land-based courses. The second part of the initiative, a new Countryside Skills Recovery Group, will concentrate on the long-term skills needs of sectors based in a countryside where the pace of change will undoubtedly increase dramatically as the result of the foot and mouth epidemic.

The group, including representatives from the National Farmers' Union, Young Farmers Clubs, Lantra, Agri-net, South West Tourism, South West of England Regional Development Agency, the Employment Service, the LSC, Devon county council, Bicton and Duchy Colleges, has agreed a three-part plan to identify skills gaps, identify ways of filling them and then draw up an action plan.

Mark Williams, of the LSC, who chaired the meeting, said: "It's a bottom-up approach to finding out what's going wrong, so that we can collbratively plan future provision in Devon and Cornwall."

One of aims of the Xtreme campaign is to target young people leaving school this year and next and is being run by Bicton College of Agriculture, Drake Training, the Duchy College and the LSC.

Mike Ellingham, regional technical adviser for the NFU, said: "The foot and mouth disease will inevitably lead to a situation in which many who have worked in farming, and sectors heavily dependent on it, will require retraining to adapt to new work opportunities arising from changing policies and economic influences.