Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045

Executive Summary

The Global Climate Emergency and the Nature Emergency are twin reinforcing crises: the actions we take to address each are fundamental to our wellbeing and survival as a species. There is now an indisputable body of evidence that biodiversity, both globally and in Scotland, is in real trouble. Our efforts to address the crisis to date have generated some lessons and local successes, but we urgently need to accelerate and scale up those efforts to drive landscape and seascape scale recovery.

This Strategy sets out a clear ambition: for Scotland to be Nature Positive by 2030, and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity across the country by 2045. Our vision is:

By 2045, Scotland will have restored and regenerated biodiversity across our land, freshwater and seas.

Our natural environment, our habitats, ecosystems and species, will be diverse, thriving, resilient and adapting to climate change.

Regenerated biodiversity will drive a sustainable economy and support thriving communities, and people will play their part in the stewardship of nature for future generations.

To deliver the Vision, we have identified a detailed set of Outcomes which help us to define and understand what success will look like by 2045:

• across our land and seascapes.
• on land.
• in rivers, lochs and wetlands.
• in marine and coastal environments.

These Outcomes will be achieved through detailed actions set out in Delivery Plans.

This Strategy identifies the following six objectives which have shaped the development of actions to deliver our high-level goals, continuing progress towards our aim of halting the loss of biodiversity and being nature positive by 2030.

• accelerate restoration and regeneration;
• protect nature on land and at sea, across and beyond protected areas;
• embed nature-positive farming, fishing and forestry;
• protect and support the recovery of vulnerable and important species and habitats;
• invest in nature; and,
• take action on the indirect drivers of biodiversity loss.

The Strategy forms one part of a Strategic Framework for Biodiversity which sets out the steps we are taking to deliver our ambitious Vision and Outcomes. Our Strategic Biodiversity Framework includes three components:

• this Strategy, which sets out our high-level Vision and Outcomes;
• delivery Plans to be reviewed every six years which set out detailed actions we will take; and,
• statutory Targets for nature restoration to be put in place through a Natural Environment Bill.

Achieving our Vision and Outcomes is also dependent on us implementing a range of enabling conditions for success:

• governance.
• monitoring and evaluation.
• securing sufficient investment.
• public engagement.