Scotland is home to an astounding array of species and habitats, some of which are unique, and many are found in only a handful of places on Earth. For many Scots, these natural treasures have come to define our country - the mountain heaths, native forests, peatlands, kelp beds and wild shorelines, the Eagles and Puffins, Red Squirrels and elusive Scottish Wildcats.
But these apparent natural riches are highly misleading. Nature in Scotland is in decline and has been for generations. Scotland is actually amongst the most nature depleted countries on the planet, ranking in the bottom 25% of nations in terms of its biodiversity intactness. This bleak reality means that Scots are not able to experience the same wildlife riches as most of our European neighbours. The State of Nature in Scotland, the most comprehensive report on the state of our wildlife, has shown that today, one in nine species in Scotland are facing extinction.
But thankfully, there is hope.
At the end of last year, the Scottish Government published its Biodiversity Strategy to 2045. This highly ambitious plan outlines this administration’s ambition to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and to restore and regenerate biodiversity by 2045.
To support these ambitions, the Scottish Government will soon introduce a Natural Environment Bill. This Bill is a rare opportunity for new and better legislation to support nature conservation. If executed properly, it has the potential to be transformative for nature in Scotland, pulling species back from the brink of national extinction and helping to revive globally rare habitats.
Through the Natural Environment Bill, the Scottish Government will seek to:
In this blog, we dig into the detail to explore just what will be needed to allow this Bill to succeed in reversing the chronic decline of nature across Scotland. We also draw attention to where potential hazards lie, specifically surrounding the level of parliamentary scrutiny that some of these key changes must receive.
Statutory nature recovery targets
RSPB Scotland strongly supports the Scottish Government’s plans to introduce statutory nature recovery targets through the Natural Environment Bill. If ambitious enough, these targets will help to drive progress for decades to come, holding all future Scottish governments to account to reverse nature’s decline.
The Natural Environment Bill will create a ‘framework’ for the introduction of these nature recovery targets. This means it will outline the broad themes of targets but will not finalise the detail - this will happen after the Bill becomes an Act. With 2030 now just 5 years away, we will be calling for the detail of these nature targets to be based firmly in evidence and defined as clearly and specifically as possible in the Act. To meet the 2030 commitment the detail then needs to be finalised quickly and effectively following the Scottish election in 2026 and formation of the new parliament.
Red Deer stag calling by Rosie Dutton
Improving deer management
It is estimated there are now around 1 million wild deer in Scotland – in 1990, numbers of wild deer stood at 500,000. In the absence of natural predators, such as Lynx and Wolves which have been extinct in Scotland for several centuries, better management of deer is needed to allow important wildlife habitats to recover. Reducing the grazing and trampling pressures brought about by deer is urgently needed to ensure publicly funded peatland restoration is successful and to give our native woodlands the chance to flourish and expand.
An independent review of deer management was published in 2019, which makes a series of proposals to modernise deer management in Scotland in order to address the climate and nature emergency. The Scottish Government has largely accepted most of these proposals and has also made some positive additions of its own. This includes the proposal to give new powers to NatureScot to impose Deer Management Nature Restoration Orders where important areas for wildlife are being seriously damaged by deer. Currently, NatureScot’s powers to intervene to reduce deer numbers are not enough to address the scale of the problem.
Strengthening the role of National Parks
Scotland currently has two National Parks: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, and the Cairngorms. These areas have a key role to play in leading nature’s recovery on a big scale. However, nature still faces many pressures and issues within their boundaries and many of these areas are not effectively managed for wildlife.
Our National Parks could play a much bigger role in stopping the breakdown of biodiversity, tackling the climate emergency and contributing to Scotland’s international commitment to protect 30% of land by 2030. RSPB Scotland strongly supports the Scottish Government’s plans to strengthen the leadership role of National Parks in tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis through the Natural Environment Bill.
We will be working closely with the Scottish Government as it develops these reforms and to ensure our National Parks are equipped to tackle the interconnected nature and climate crises for generations to come.
RSPB Youth Council exploring the Cainrgoms National Park, by Emily Major.
Ensuring our most important environmental protections are not weakened
While the Natural Environment Bill has great potential to benefit nature, RSPB Scotland has serious concerns about the Scottish Government’s intention to use this Bill to allow future changes to some of our most important environmental protections. Environmental Impact Assessment and the Habitats Regulations lay the foundation for environmental protections in Scotland and are critical to protecting some of our most important habitats and species from inappropriate development and harm.
We are deeply concerned that the Scottish Government will seek the introduction of broad powers to change these vital protections without full parliamentary scrutiny.
RSPB Scotland will be seeking assurance that any changes to our foundational environmental protections will only be made where there is clear evidence that protections are being strengthened as a result, not weakened. This is sometimes called ‘non regression’.
It is absolutely critical that The Natural Environment Bill takes us in the right direction – towards the recovery of nature at pace and at scale across Scotland.
Meanwhile, RSPB Scotland will be seeking additional measures in the Bill to address key areas where current provisions need to be strengthened for nature. These include resources for tackling invasive non-native species and improving our national network of protected nature sites.
Time is running out, but it is not yet too late. Ensuring this Bill is ambitious and effective is our best possible opportunity to turn the tide on nature’s decline and to restore Scotland’s status as a nature abundant country.
The Natural Environment Bill is expected to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in the coming months. We’ll have more to share on how you can get involved once this happens.
In the meantime, you can sign up to our campaign newsletter and keep an eye on our social media pages for the latest updates.
Main image: Razorbills jumping from cliffs, by Sam Turley