We are delighted that the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill has been voted into law. This truly landmark legislation will create a much better legal framework for nature recovery than Scotland’s current system – a shared victory for people and nature.
Statutory nature restoration targets, reforms to deer management legislation, and improvements to our National Parks have been sorely needed for years.
This Bill is the result of years of campaigning by people who care about Scotland’s nature. In the face of the terrifying decline of nature in recent decades and the despair that can cause, this moment is well worth celebrating.
While this legislation is a major leap forward, the real work is done by people on the ground – and they still face barriers to nature recovery not addressed by this Bill.
Scotland’s decades-old system of nature conservation designations is no longer always the right tool for large-scale nature recovery. In a changing climate, a static approach can unintentionally prevent nature from healing itself – holding back nature recovery.
On land, nature needs more than protection. In Scotland, one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries, it requires active intervention to restore habitats and enrich the diversity of species and ecosystems.
We need to empower the people on the ground who want to be the architects of nature’s recovery.
We are pleased the Scottish Government has listened to calls for a short life working group, with an independent membership, to look at how protected sites can deliver better for nature. We look forward to supporting that process and working alongside the people across Scotland who want to see nature come bursting back to life.
Alastair Seaman, Director at the Woodland Trust Scotland, said:
“Our sites across Scotland are havens for people and wildlife. Action to restore nature helps tackle climate breakdown and the nature crisis – it’s crucial that designations help, not hinder, nature’s return. We need a dynamic approach that empowers sites prioritising large-scale nature recovery to do what needs to be done.”
Lisa Chilton, CEO of SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, said:
“Across the 100 sites in our Northwoods Rewilding Network, land managers are finding that, in some cases, legal protections designed to conserve individual species and habitats are actually an obstacle to the recovery of self-sustaining natural ecosystems on land. This is especially true for habitats that were in poor ecological condition when they became protected sites. Often the land manager is required by law to maintain the site in this state rather than allowing the landscape to naturally recover and evolve. One example is Muie Croft, where the upland habitat is degraded and low in biodiversity, yet the owners are obliged to keep it that way due to the legal protections in place.”
She added:
“This isn’t about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Protected sites have played a critical role in conserving isolated examples of our most threatened habitats and species. But we now need more flexible designations that also recognise the importance of restoring natural ecological processes.”
Steve Micklewright, CEO of Trees for Life, said:
“Scotland’s network of protected sites has been a vital brake on biodiversity loss. But to really halt and then reverse biodiversity loss, it’s time to move from protecting fragments of nature to restoring entire landscapes. Modernising designations for those that need it most would give nature the freedom to restore itself.”