MSPs recently voted to increase funding for nature. In this blog Anne McCall, Director of RSPB Scotland gives us the run-down of what happened and our assessment of how well the green recovery is going in Scotland.
The shoots of spring have begun to unfurl, and people are looking ahead with hope at the prospect of lockdown restrictions easing across Scotland. Recovery from the pandemic continues to be at the front and centre of our minds, from those recovering physically from illness, to being able to see loved ones again and to seeking support and work for people whose jobs have been displaced.
Nature’s recovery has a vital role to play in getting our economies and societies back on their feet as part of a green recovery. Investing in nature is also urgently needed to reduce the disruption and challenges that we will face in the future from nature and climate crisis. The latest lockdown has once again seen many people turn to nature to support their health and wellbeing, but we also know that there should be much more nature thriving across Scotland.
Last year, we set out a routemap for nature’s recovery, developed by RSPB Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust and WWF Scotland. More recently we published analysis which shows that investing in just 5 areas of the nature recovery plan could create upwards of 7,000 jobs across Scotland. There are huge opportunities to grow and expand the nature sector over the coming years to provide jobs, tackle environmental challenges and improve people’s quality of life across Scotland. Read our new briefing at the end of this blog to find out more about the types of jobs that can be created from investing in nature.
The Scottish Parliament recently passed the 2021-22 Scottish Budget, which included efforts to deliver a Green Recovery. But how green was the budget in reality?
A green recovery must speed up action on tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. In practice, this means investing in industries and sectors that will benefit people and planet for many years to come, such as renewable energy and clean technologies, large-scale restoration of nature and improving people’s wellbeing by bringing nature back to towns and cities. Creating the right jobs and skills in a fair way will mean that efforts to restore nature can also help to address inequalities.
The 2021-22 Scottish Budget didn’t deliver a transformational green recovery. It did though plant some seeds that we hope can grow and expand after the Scottish Parliament elections in May, in particular a new £10m nature fund. It is really positive that so many MSPs voted to approve this funding, which will help vital conservation projects to be delivered over the next 12 months.
In order to enable successful delivery of nature projects that will really make a difference for biodiversity, this new nature fund must be transformed to be bigger and better, providing long-term, multi-annual funding.
This multi-annual model has been adopted for peatland restoration, and the budget reaffirmed the commitment to £250m for peatland restoration over the next 10 years, unlocking £22m for the coming year. This is hugely welcome and is a great start. The next Scottish Government should ensure that funding for peatlands is increased to match the scale of the nature emergency, including by providing the right signals to give the private sector confidence to invest in these activities.
Scotland’s amazing peatlands, when healthy, are vast carbon stores, supporting rare plants and animals, however around 80% of Scotland’s peatlands are currently degraded. There should be a commitment to restore all of Scotland’s degraded peatlands.
There was also increased funding for forestry in the budget. To deliver for nature there must be a clear aim to expand and restore Scotland’s native woodlands. Scotland’s native Caledonian pine woods, which are home to wildlife like red squirrels, capercaillie and crested tits only remain in 1% of their former range. A commitment to ensure native species make up 50% of new planting would help to ensure that native woodlands receives its fair share of funding.
There was also £5m additional funding for climate-friendly farming in the budget. This will help more farmers, crofters and land managers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. However, it does not add up to the urgent investment and policy signals needed to secure nature- and climate-friendly farming across Scotland.
It is very concerning that the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) has seen a significant reduction in budget and the Scheme been significantly scaled back this year. AECS offers farmers 5-year, multi-annual agreements to carry out positive environmental activities.
Funding for AECS was already insufficient to secure the scale of uptake by farmers and crofters needed to address declines in farmland wildlife and help tackle climate change. This cut, and the uncertainty about the future of AECS, makes matters significantly worse. In contrast, at least £490 million of the agriculture budget is given to farmers and crofters but without incentivising environmental action, and is largely offered as a form of income support.
The next Scottish Government and Parliament must develop and agree a whole new package of farm support measures that have tackling the loss of nature and climate change at their heart. This means retaining the approximately £600 million spent each year directly supporting farmers and crofters and reshaping how it is spent to ensure it makes a much greater contribution to a green recovery than it does now.
The seeds of a green recovery have been sown, but investment and action are not large enough and not quick enough. Overall, the funding committed so far is a fraction of what is going to be needed to recover nature. Looking ahead, it is critical that the next Scottish Parliament and Government recognise that nature is the beating heart of Scotland’s economy, and urgently upscale investment in nature’s recovery for people, jobs and climate.
Link to the full briefing: