Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045

Strategic Vision and Outcomes

The previous chapter outlined the scale and scope of the biodiversity crisis and the growing international consensus that urgent and deep rooted action is needed to halt biodiversity loss and bend the curve to ensure a nature positive future. The Strategy’s vision sets out Scotland’s response to the challenge:

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.

This Vision encapsulates three core ideas: that urgent action is needed at scale across our land and seascapes; that we are looking to the future – regenerating biodiversity and building resilience to climate change; and that people and communities are central to a nature positive future.

Underneath the 2045 term vision sits a key milestone of halting biodiversity loss by 2030, in line with the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature. This milestone will enable us to assess whether we are on track to achieving the longer term vision.

2.1 Outcomes - what does success look like?

Delivering this Vision will mean a Scotland that looks substantially different to what we are familiar with today. To help define what success looks like we have identified, in conjunction with experts and stakeholders, a set of Outcomes which capture how our land and seascapes will need to evolve.

By 2045 across our land and seascapes:

• ecosystems will be diverse, healthy, resilient and deliver a wide range of ecosystem services.
• protected areas will be larger, better connected and in good condition.
• the abundance and distribution of species will have recovered and there will be no loss of diversity within species.
• Scotland’s internationally important species will have increased in numbers and have healthy resilient populations.
• natural capital will be embedded in policy making.
• nature-based solutions, such as tree-planting, peatland and blue carbon habitat restoration, will be central to our efforts to deliver NetZero and adapt to climate change.
• harmful invasive non-native species (INNS) will be managed so that established INNS no longer degrade native habitats and species or impede their restoration and regeneration and new introductions are managed quickly and effectively.
• biodiversity as a concept will be understood and valued across the population and embedded in educational curriculums.

On land by 2045

Nature Networks across our landscapes will underpin the resilience and health of species and habitats.

Farmland practices will have resulted in a substantial regeneration in biodiversity, ecosystem and soil health and significantly reduced carbon emissions while sustaining high quality food production.

Management of deer ranges, grouse moors and upland agriculture will be contributing to the regeneration of biodiversity in upland areas.

Forest and woodland management will have led to sustainable natural regeneration; a greater diversity of woodland species; increased woodland cover with a healthy understorey, enhanced woodland connectivity; and improved integration of trees into other land uses.

Soil health will have been improved by tackling loss of organic carbon, erosion, compaction, and the impacts of grazing, air pollution and climate change, and will function as a nature-based solution to flooding, erosion and biodiversity loss.

The actions we take to improve biodiversity will create new green jobs and economic opportunities to supporting thriving communities.

Towns and cities will include nature-rich environments close to all communities, contributing to Nature Networks and measurable increases in urban biodiversity.

Multi-functional urban nature-based solutions will enable people and biodiversity to adapt to our changing climate by cooling the urban environment and managing extreme rainfall events, with blue and green infrastructure designed and managed to benefit biodiversity, provide habitats and allow wildlife to move through urban areas.

In rivers, lochs and wetlands by 2045

The extent of restored catchments and improvements in ecological status of rivers, lochs and wetlands will have increased with waterbodies in good condition.

Riparian woodland will have expanded reducing the average temperature of our rivers and burns, leading to increases in freshwater fish species and other wildlife.

A substantial, widespread and ongoing programme of peatland restoration will have led to the majority of Scotland’s peatlands being in good condition, a net sequester of carbon with thriving wildlife and biodiversity.

The extent, condition, connectivity and resilience of wetlands, including floodplain wetlands and pond habitats will have significantly improved.

Beavers, salmon recovery and riparian woodland will be established as key ecological components of restored rivers and wetlands.

In marine and coastal environments by 2045

The health, condition, and resilience of pelagic, coastal, shelf, and deep sea marine habitats will have been restored, supporting wider ecosystem function, providing increased benefits to society, and contributing to climate resilience and adaptation through nature-based solutions.

2.2 Objectives for 2030

Six-year Delivery Plans will set out in detail the actions needed to deliver these Outcomes. The first plan will be published alongside this Strategy. Work on the Delivery Plan has been guided by the following six strategic Objectives which have shaped our development of actions to deliver our high-level goals. Cumulatively these will drive the transformation needed to ensure Scotland is on track to meet the 2030 milestone of halting biodiversity loss and being Nature Positive. It will also ensure that Scotland is seen as a global leader in fulfilling its international obligations.

Accelerate restoration and regeneration If we are to achieve our

Vision and Outcomes, we need to address restoration of our degraded landscapes and ecosystems more urgently and at greater scale than we have done up to now.

Protect nature on land and at sea, across and beyond protected areas

Much of our special biodiversity is found in protected areas. These are among the ‘jewels in the crown’ – this biodiversity is rare, sometimes endangered, and globally significant.

Embed nature-friendly farming, fishing and forestry

Areas under agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, and forestry must be managed more sustainably, in particular through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, increasing the productivity and resilience of these production systems.

Recover and protect vulnerable and important species

Scotland is home to significant populations of species which are at risk from the threats outlined in this Strategy. Climate change will mean that the profile of species and populations in Scotland will need to adapt but we must make every effort to prevent the extinction of globally threatened species.

Invest in nature

We know that both public and private investment in nature will be required in order to deliver this Strategy. Green Investment is increasing internationally and Scotland has committed to developing a values-led, high-integrity market for responsible investment in nature.

Take action on the indirect drivers of biodiversity loss

The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (May 2019) identifies both direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss. The five direct drivers emerge from the indirect drivers, the ‘societal values and behaviours that include production and consumption patterns, human population dynamics and trends, trade, technological innovations and local through global governance’. In the next chapter, we set out the importance of addressing these in order to support more traditional efforts to deliver the Strategic Vision for biodiversity.

Case Study: Farmland Waders

Waders, although often seen in winter in large numbers in coasts and estuaries, migrate inland in spring to nest in upland farmland and lowland moorland. They favour semi-natural, rough grazing or less intensively managed moorland or arable land. Livestock farms in Scotland’s marginal uplands provide important habitat. As ground nesters, they like open ground with a diverse sward, for hiding nests and chicks and wet areas with broken ground for feeding on worms and insects.

Kinclune Organic Farm in Angus is an upland grassland livestock farm. Rowan and Marguerite Osborne bought Kinclune in 2002 and underwent the organic conversion process. After 16 years, they remain committed to organic management with the benefits of lower input costs and organic premiums on their produce as well as seeing increased biodiversity.

Their daughters, Virginia and Aylwin, members of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, are continuing the livestock business, alongside agri-tourism. They have been working with the RSPB and Working for Waders since 2020 to improve wader habitat on Kinclune. Organic grazed grassland provides superb breeding habitat and Kinclune boasts five species of vulnerable protected wader: Curlew; Lapwing; Common Snipe; Oystercatcher and Redshank. The UK population of these once common species is in decline, with Curlew and Lapwing on the UK Red List of species most at risk, while the Common Snipe, Redshank and Oystercatcher are on the Amber List. Scotland holds an estimated 15% of the global breeding population of Eurasian Curlew.

The sisters’ approach to wader conservation is five-pronged:

(1) habitat improvement and creation, including removing trees which provide predator perches, creating wader ‘scrapes’ (shallow pools for feeding) and re- wetting areas of formerly improved, but unproductive, land;

(2)  sward management, through rush cutting and livestock grazing management, including exclusion or low density grazing where appropriate;

(3)  nest identification, monitoring and protection through grazing management and altering the farming calendar (including silage cutting);

(4)  monitoring and reporting breeding success with the RSPB and Working for Waders and adapting farming practices accordingly, as well as contributing to Nature Scot supported research and data collection; and,

(5)  controlling predators, including foxes and corvids, which predate eggs and chicks.

Although the sisters’ approach to wader conservation is comprehensive, they are keen to encourage other farmers, demonstrating that small changes to farm management practices can make a big difference to our severely threatened species.