Category: News and blog

By scrapping plans for a Galloway National Park, the Scottish Government has yet again proved it cannot successfully plot a path to a wilder Scotland.

In response to today’s announcement by the Scottish Government on a new national park for Scotland, Karen Blackport, co-convenor of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and chief executive of Bright Green Nature, said:

“By scrapping plans for a Galloway National Park, the Scottish Government has yet again proved it cannot successfully plot a path to a wilder Scotland. This decision undermines efforts to restore nature, protect wildlife and support resilient rural communities. Amidst a climate and biodiversity crisis, Scotland needs leadership and vision – not another retreat from meaningful action. 

“The Scottish Government must now use the Natural Environment Bill to begin a new phase for Scotland’s national parks – ensuring that everyone can benefit from wilder national parks that can be the jewels in the crown of Scotland’s nature recovery and its journey towards becoming a Rewilding Nation.”

Photo credit: SCOTLAND: The Big Picture

Today’s Programme for Government was a test of the Scottish Government’s willingness to set us on the pathway to a Rewilding Nation. This Programme for Government, with its reduced peatland and woodland restoration targets, weak commitments to consult on real protections for marine areas and nature targets that appear as an afterthought, fails that test.

John Swinney has promised to make Scots ‘healthier and wealthier’ in today’s Programme for Government. But we know there’s a missing piece of the puzzle – nature.

Wilder nature could boost our health and wellbeing, support local economies and help us tackle climate breakdown. Today’s Programme for Government was a test of the Scottish Government’s willingness to set us on the pathway to a Rewilding Nation. This Programme for Government, with its reduced peatland and woodland restoration targets, weak commitments to consult on real protections for marine areas and nature targets that appear as an afterthought, fails that test.

With no nature minister in government and no plan for the large-scale recovery of Scotland’s ecosystems, we’re seeing the effects of this across every decision this government makes. 

Backtracking on beavers – by undermining the Scottish Beaver Strategy.

Overlooking oysters – by stalling on introducing real protections for marine areas.

Losing nerve on lynx – by sidestepping a reasoned debate on lynx reintroduction. 

In response to the Programme for Government announced by the Scottish Government today, Karen Blackport, co-convenor of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and chief executive of Bright Green Nature, said:

“Once again nature is the Scottish Government’s blind spot, undermining John Swinney’s promises to make Scots healthier and wealthier. Today’s Programme for Government is a missed opportunity for transforming Scotland from one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries to a forward-looking Rewilding Nation with 30% nature recovery across land and sea.

“Rewilding boosts health, jobs and local economies, and helps tackle climate breakdown – but the government still lacks a nature minister or a plan for the large-scale recovery of Scotland’s ecosystems. Instead, ministers are backtracking on beavers, stalling on real protections for marine areas, and showing a loss of nerve on lynx reintroduction by dodging reasoned debate on this crucial issue.

“We want to see a Programme for Government that makes Scotland healthier, wealthier – and wilder.”

It could take seven decades before large-scale nature restoration is underway across 30% of Scotland’s land, new figures from the Scottish Rewilding Alliance show.

The coalition of more than 20 organisations calculates that rewilding across Scotland is now underway across 2.5% of the country’s land, with 195,615 hectares rewilding.

This is an increase of 32,985 hectares since the Alliance’s last assessment one year ago, which reported that 2.1% of Scotland’s land was rewilding.

In line with global targets, the Scottish Government is committed to protect at least 30% of its land and sea for nature by 2030. But at current rates of increase, it will take 65 years before major nature restoration is underway across 30% of Scotland’s land.

Rewilding has been surging in recent years, and across Scotland there are now nearly 200 projects led by communities, charities, farmers, landowners, public bodies and others. But the Alliance says a significant increase in political support is now needed to reach the target.

Thousands of people across the country have backed the Alliance’s call for Scotland to be declared the world’s first Rewilding Nation, with nature recovery across 30% of its land and sea. This week the Scottish Rewilding Alliance is taking those voices to parliamentarians by speaking with MSPs at a dedicated display stand in the Scottish Parliament.

“Urgent political action is needed. Leaving it until 2090 before Scotland can benefit from nature recovery across 30% of its land is something we can’t afford,” said Steve Micklewright, Scottish Rewilding Alliance co-convenor and chief executive of Trees for Life.

“Politicians from all parties need to step up. With political will, rewilding can help us tackle the nature and climate emergencies while benefiting health, jobs, sustainable food production and re-peopling, and ensuring clean air and water, and healthy rivers and seas.”

Rewilding 30% of Scotland can be achieved by restoring habitats including peatlands, native woodlands, wetlands, rivers and seas, while maintaining and benefitting productive farmland.

Scotland is ranked one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries. Research shows that intensive agriculture and climate breakdown are having the biggest impacts on habitats and wildlife, with other threats including non-native forestry, pollution, and introduced species.

Polling shows that 80% of Scots think the Scottish Government should have policies in place to support rewilding.

But rewilding is not yet included in the Government’s key policies and frameworks, such as the planning framework, net zero plan, and biodiversity strategy. There are fears that planned legislation, including the Land Reform Bill, may be less ambitious than planned when it comes to nature restoration.

Levels of marine recovery are unknown, due to government delays on ensuring effective Marine Protected Areas and lack of support for large-scale marine restoration. Based on known rewilding projects, however, the total area of Scotland’s seas in recovery is believed to be dangerously low at less than 1%.

“With political leadership in line with its international commitments, Scotland could become a world leader in nature recovery – the opportunities and benefits are huge,” said Karen Blackport, the Alliance’s co-convenor and chief executive of Bright Green Nature.

“Declaring Scotland a Rewilding Nation would lead to meaningful action with ministers committing to restoring the country’s natural environment through legislation and funding to enable rewilding and empower local communities.”

The Rewilding Nation Charter at www.rewild.scot/charter, calling on the Government to declare Scotland a rewilding nation, has been signed by thousands of people. The campaign has been backed by high-profile names  including Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, actor Brian Cox, singer Nathan Evans, and activist Laura Young (Less Waste Laura).

At this week’s display in the Scottish Parliament, MSPs will be invited to sign the Rewilding Nation Charter, hear from constituents, and play a specially designed rewilding game outlining the crucial importance of natural processes.

Ends

Notes to editors

• Methodology on 2.5% of Scotland’s land rewilding: To calculate the area covered by rewilding projects within Scotland, the Scottish Rewilding Alliance used self-reported figures from rewilding initiatives, including data sourced from Rewilding Britain, Northwoods Rewilding Network, and other projects which have restoration of natural processes as an aim. The anonymised data is available to journalists on request.
• Calculations: According to National Records of Scotland Land Area figures (which do not include inland water), the total land area of Scotland is 7.791 million hectares; 30% of this is 2,337 million hectares. 30% of Scotland’s land area minus current area rewilding = 2,337 million hectares minus 195k ha = 2.142 million hectares. At a rate of 32,985 hectares per year, it will take 65 years to reach 30% of Scotland rewilding.
• 80% support for Government policies on rewilding: 1,000 people were asked for their views on the Scottish Government’s policies on rewilding in the opinion poll conducted by market research agency Survation (survation.com) on behalf of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance in August 2024.

We welcome the Scottish Government’s ambitions on nature recovery – but we need spending commitments to match. 

Today, the Scottish Parliament will pass its 2025/26 budget, which sets its spending priorities for the year ahead.

Nature is our life-support system. We rely on it for our access to breathable air, drinkable water and nourishing food as well as human health and wellbeing. However, in Scotland, intensive management, over-exploitation, neglect and pollution have stripped our landscapes and seas of their richness of life. The most recent Biodiversity Intactness Index, published by RSPB and the Natural History Museum in 2021, ranked Scotland 28th from the bottom of 240 countries and territories across the world. 

We therefore welcome additional commitments from the Scottish Government to increasing the Nature Restoration Fund, boosting peatland restoration spending and supporting local government, which has a critical role to play in climate mitigation and nature restoration efforts. 

But the government must start to match its ambition on nature targets with its spending commitments. Valuing and enhancing our environment is a primary ‘National Outcome’ for the Scottish Government. The Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plan recently published by the Scottish Government outlines actions to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 – and to have regenerated biodiversity by 2045. The state of nature in Scotland is currently so damaged that repairing our broken ecosystems requires a significant investment of time, effort and money. 

Rewilding – large-scale restoration of nature to the point where it can look after itself again – offers hope for addressing the connected biodiversity and climate emergencies. Importantly too, it offers a wide range of social and economic benefits. These benefits include nature-based jobs and community wealth-building, improved health and wellbeing, mitigating the impacts of extreme weather from flooding to droughts, ensuring sustainable food production, clean air and water, and re-peopling of depopulated areas.Rewilding must be a national mission: as Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, Minister for Climate Action, said at the launch of our ‘Pathway to a Rewilding Nation’ in

Rewilding offers documented economic benefits and serves as a valuable investment in society. Notably, a sample study of major projects in Scotland revealed a more than 400% increase in job opportunities. Additionally, rewilding interventions can prove to be highly cost-effective. 

As the Scottish Rewilding Alliance launched our Pathway to a Rewilding Nation, we called on the Scottish Government to help create a wilder future for Scotland by expanding funding for nature. We know budgets are under pressure. We acknowledge that the Scottish Government has made some hard decisions while trying to deliver a budget that helps us make progress in the fight against both the causes and impacts of climate breakdown and the nature emergency. 

But without political commitment and a budget that prioritises ecological restoration, it’s a fight Scotland will lose.

To set Scotland on the path to ecological recovery, we need:

• An increase in funding for farmers, crofters and land managers for options that deliver the most positive ecological impact
• Funding for collaborative ecological restoration efforts, like farmer clusters and catchment restoration initiatives
• Funding that enables the natural regeneration of more of Scotland’s woodlands
• Dedicated funding for ancient pinewood restoration – not money diverted from vital rainforest restoration efforts
• Funding for coexistence with wildlife programmes to better enable species translocations and reintroductions

Photo by Mark Hamblin / scotlandbigpicture.com

The Scottish Government’s new Natural Environment Bill is a welcome effort to set Scotland on the course to nature recovery through statutory targets. But 2030 –  a critical year for the government’s nature ambitions –  is now just five years away. We need clear, ambitious and updatable targets. We need legislation that prioritises ecological restoration.

Today the Scottish Government has published its Natural Environment Bill, which requires statutory targets for nature restoration, modernises the aims and powers of National Park Authorities and reforms legislation around deer management.

In the 2023 consultation we welcomed the setting of clear, ambitious and updateable targets for nature restoration. The Natural Environment Bill now before Holyrood creates a framework for nature restoration targets, without the detail we need to know if it will lead to the recovery of Scotland’s land and seas.. 2030, a critical year for the government’s nature ambitions, is now just five years away. 

We also urged the Scottish Government to listen to mounting scientific evidence and embed rewilding into their nature recovery targets. This would show the growing number of rewilders across Scotland that they have been accepted by the government as part of the solution to the dual nature and climate crises. The Natural Environment Bill requires ministers to seek scientific advice when setting targets – we hope this will include evidence on the potential of rewilding to contribute to Scotland’s climate and nature targets. 

This is evidence we would be happy to provide to policy makers as the legislation progresses.

We’re pleased to see updates to the aims of Scotland’s national parks, including the regeneration of biodiversity. Ensuring that other public bodies must implement National Park Plans is also welcome, enabling greater coordination in park areas. However, we’re disappointed to see that our national parks have not been given an overarching purpose to restore nature and lead on a just, green transition.

NatureScot’s powers to enforce deer management have been strengthened – but last year’s proposal for Deer Management Nature Restoration Orders has been dropped. 

Proposals to improve the Scottish Government’s ability to update environmental and habitat legislation have been included. This will ensure that key legislative frameworks which underpin environmental protection can be updated. The bill must ensure that this means stronger protections and close any loopholes.

Yesterday, the First Minister urged bold action on tackling the climate emergency in a speech at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It’s imperative that bold actions are taken to tackle the equally critical, and connected, nature emergency. 

But in the past few months, we’ve seen that this is a government that picks its battles on nature restoration. We’ve seen continued delays to measures that would help protect and restore our seas. We’ve seen the First Minister refuse to have a considered debate on lynx reintroduction. Recent announcements on Scotland’s agricultural budget – with most funding going into foundational payments, and less into enhanced environmental practices – also call into question Scotland’s ability to meet any nature targets it might set.

The need for an urgent response to the nature and climate crises will and should force everyone’s hand. 

Decades from now, people will remember those politicians who took bold steps to transform the fortunes of Scotland’s natural environment and people. 

We need clear, ambitious and updatable targets and we need legislation that prioritises ecological restoration. 

Photo credit: Marieke Peche

An opinion poll conducted by Survation in January for the Lynx to Scotland Partnership shows that support for the return of lynx to Scotland has increased to 61%.

This press release was originally posted on the websites of the Lynx to Scotland partners.

The publication of a new opinion poll today indicates surging public support for the reintroduction of lynx to Scotland. 

The poll coincides with an open letter that has been sent to the First Minister supported by 20 organisations questioning John Swinney’s judgement in dismissing the return of lynx out of hand.

An opinion poll conducted by Survation in January for the Lynx to Scotland Partnership shows that support for the return of lynx to Scotland has increased to 61% – a rise of nine points since the last such survey in 2020, most likely due to growing public awareness of the species and its benefits. Just 13% of respondents were opposed – a drop of six points.

Steve Micklewright, chief executive of Trees for Life, one of the charities involved, said: “This poll shows that growing numbers of Scots want to see lynx reintroduced and understand that the benefits of their return outweigh any problems they might cause. 

“A carefully managed lynx reintroduction would make Scotland’s natural world richer and stronger, providing wider benefits for biodiversity, climate resilience and economic prosperity.”

Lynx are a ‘keystone species’ which play a vital role in maintaining healthy living systems, and biodiversity is negatively affected by their absence. Research shows the Highlands has the habitat to sustainably support around 250 lynx. The species’ reintroduction would require Scottish Government approval, following habitat assessments and a full public consultation.

The lynx is an elusive, forest-dwelling labrador-sized feline that mainly preys on deer and poses no threat to humans. Lynx were driven to extinction in Scotland due to hunting and habitat loss in the Middle Ages. They are recovering across Europe with the help of successful, well-planned reintroductions.

The open letter to the First Minister calls into question his judgement in dismissing lynx reintroduction when speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Scotland Conference. At the conference, Mr Swinney said: “My government will not be reintroducing lynx, or indeed any other large carnivorous species, in Scotland.”

The letter questions the First Minister’s commitment to tackling the nature emergency, and highlights the environmental, climate and economic benefits of reintroduced species.

The signatories ask why Scotland cannot live with lynx when other countries coexist with much more challenging animals like lions and tigers. It also highlights the extensive and long-term work being done by the Lynx to Scotland Partnership to understand the concerns of stakeholders and how potential problems could be managed. 

Peter Cairns, head of rewilding at SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, said: “Last month’s abandonment of lynx in the Cairngorms was reckless, and such acts are certainly not the way to achieve the return of a lost species to Scotland. But none of us can understand why this has led the First Minister to rush to turn his back on any proposal that could reintroduce this important species in a sensible and well-managed way.

“Considering the surging support for the return of lynx, and the efforts being made to ensure that this would be done properly in line with best practice, the First Minister appears out of step with public opinion, and we urge him to reconsider his position.”

The Lynx to Scotland partners are SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, Trees for Life and The Lifescape Project. For more information, see www.scotlandbigpicture.com/lynx-to-scotland.

Notes to editors

• 2025 Survation polling: Fieldwork dates 17-27 January 2025; population sampled – all residents aged 16+ living in Scotland; sample size 2,014. Respondents were asked: “Following the sighting and capture of four lynx in Cairngorms National Park in January 2025, there has been renewed attention on the species’ potential return to Scotland. The lynx, a medium-sized wild cat, contributes to healthy ecosystems, but was driven to extinction in Scotland due to human activity hundreds of years ago. To what extent do you support or oppose the legal reintroduction of lynx to Scotland?” Results including ‘don’t knows’: 61% support; 13% oppose; 20% neither support or oppose; 6% don’t know. Support for lynx reintroduction rose nine points since the last survey in 2020; opposition to a reintroduction has dropped by six points since 2020.
• 2020 Survation polling: Fieldwork Dates – 28/10/2020-03/11/2020; population sampled – all residents aged 16+ living in Scotland; sample size 1,071.
• John Swinney quote to NFUS Conference: www.gov.scot/publications/new-deal-for-agriculture-nfus-first-ministers-speech/

Photo credit: SCOTLAND: The Big Picture

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance condemns the abandonment or illegal release of any animals into any part of Scotland. We call on all stakeholders, from government bodies to conservation groups, to collaborate in establishing clear, legal routes for reintroducing species.

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance condemns the abandonment or illegal release of any animals into any part of Scotland. 

Abandoning animals without care or consultation is not rewilding. It puts both nature and communities at risk, undermining rewilding efforts.

Like others, we await the results of the police investigations and hope that those behind the abandonment or illegal release of lynx and boar are identified and dealt with.

Lynx

We welcome the capture of the lynx found in the Cairngorms National Park last month. Our thanks go to the team at RZSS and others, including police officers and gamekeepers, for acting swiftly to safely recover these animals.

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance would like to see a responsibly managed and fully resourced legal reintroduction of lynx to Scotland in the future. Wild lynx are shy and elusive, pose no threat to people, and would help expand Scotland’s forests by preying on woodland deer. 

The Lynx to Scotland project is working towards a carefully planned reintroduction of lynx that respects the views of farmers and other stakeholders, so Scotland can once again benefit from having lynx in its natural environment. 

Boar

Wild boar create diverse habitats, boost biodiversity and improve soil health. Its presence in Scotland’s landscapes can provide a multitude of benefits for people as well as nature. But we must learn to coexist with these wild animals again – and our government must show leadership here too.

Scotland is already home to thousands of wild boar, with reports of free-roaming populations since the early 2000s. There are also over a thousand wild boar kept in captivity for food. The Scottish Government refers to all pigs living wild in Scotland as “feral pigs” because many are likely to be hybrids. 

In contrast, the Scottish Government has shown fantastic leadership in championing efforts to reduce hybridisation of wildcats. Reinforcing the number of wildcats has helped this predator fulfil its ecological role. 

Towards coexistence

Looking to the future, we call on all stakeholders, from government bodies to conservation groups, to collaborate in establishing clear, legal routes for reintroducing species such as lynx and wild boar, so that we may be able to coexist with these missing species in a harmonious and productive way.

Nathan Evans announces his support to his 2.2m followers on TikTok and Instagram

Scottish sea shanty singer Nathan Evans has today backed a campaign calling on the Scottish government to declare Scotland the world’s first rewilding nation and commit to rewilding 30% of the country’s land and seas.

In a message to his combined 2.2m followers on Instagram and TikTok, the 28 year-old singer from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, said of Scotland:  “I love this place with all my heart and it will forever be home, and it influences so much of what I do.”

The singer is urging his social media followers to sign the Scottish Rewilding Alliance’s Rewilding Nation Charter. “That way you can tell the folks in the Scottish government to listen up, get behind restoring our amazing country and commit to rewilding 30% of our land and sea,” he said.

Today’s public backing comes two weeks after the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, a coalition of more than 20 organisations, presented its “vision of hope” to Scotland’s climate action minister Alasdair Allan at a reception in Edinburgh.

Steve Micklewright, co-convenor of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and chief executive of Trees for Life, said: “We are extremely grateful to Nathan for adding his name to the Scottish Rewilding Nation Charter. We hope this inspires thousands more people to add their name calling on the Scottish government to commit to restoring nature across 30% of our land and seas.

“Rewilding can make an immediate and lasting impact on the nature and climate emergencies, and it can bring a wealth of benefits for people – including jobs, improved health, and clean air and water. We have a golden opportunity for Scotland to become the first country in the world to be declared a rewilding nation. Please sign the Scottish Rewilding Nation Charter today.”

Rewilding 30% of Scotland can be achieved by restoring habitats including peatlands, native woodlands, wetlands, rivers and seas, while maintaining and benefitting productive farmland.

Declaring Scotland a Rewilding Nation would lead to meaningful action with ministers committing to restoring the natural environment through legislation and funding to enable rewilding and empower local communities, the Scottish Rewilding Alliance says.

The Alliance’s Rewilding Nation pathway, presented to the government on 3 December, includes proposals to make nature recovery the primary purpose of protected landscapes and seascapes, establishing wild zones around rivers and coastlines, doubling native woodland cover, restoring peatlands, and restricting dredging and bottom trawling across Marine Protected Areas.

The proposals champion the crucial role of people and communities, and include action for coexisting with wildlife, support for land managers and farmers, and investment in nature-based economies, jobs and skills. Recovery targets would ensure habitat restoration, and increases in species abundance and diversity. 

The Rewilding Nation campaign has drawn widespread support from people and organisations across Scotland. It also received public backing from Scottish actor Brian Cox last month, and from Leonardo DiCaprio in April this year.

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance is calling on people from all walks of life to sign the Rewilding Nation Charter at rewild.scot/charter.

ENDS

Notes to editor

Media contacts: 

Richard Bunting; 07753 488146; richardbuntingpr@gmail.com 

Ian Morton; 07811 183633; ian.morton@campaigncollective.org 

Images: Download at https://bit.ly/RewildingNationimages  

Please credit as per file name. One- time use only; images should not be used in relation to any other messaging, stored for future use, passed to a third party, or sold for commercial use.

A pioneering pathway for Scotland to become the world’s first Rewilding Nation, with nature recovery across 30% of its land and seas, has been presented to the Scottish Government by the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.

A pioneering pathway for Scotland to become the world’s first Rewilding Nation, with nature recovery across 30% of its land and seas, has been presented to the Scottish Government by the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.

The coalition of more than 20 organisations presented the pathway to Minister for Climate Action, Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, at a reception in Edinburgh on 3 December – setting out what it describes as a trailblazing ‘vision of hope’ for Scotland requiring leadership from Government in line with its international commitments. 

Rewilding helps tackle the connected nature and climate emergencies, and creates benefits for people and local communities around health, jobs, sustainable food production, re-peopling, clean air and water, and healthy rivers and seas, says the Alliance.

Rewilding 30% of Scotland can be achieved by restoring habitats including peatlands, native woodlands, wetlands, rivers and seas, while maintaining and benefitting productive farmland.

“This is about choice and opportunity. Declaring Scotland the world’s first Rewilding Nation would be a powerful statement of intent that we want to be a world leader in nature restoration. Our pathway sets out a route offering the Scottish Government the opportunity to show global leadership,” said Karen Blackport, Scottish Rewilding Alliance Co-Convenor and CEO of Bright Green Nature.

Declaring Scotland a Rewilding Nation would lead to meaningful action with ministers committing to restoring the country’s natural environment through groundbreaking legislation and funding to enable rewilding and empower local communities, the Alliance says.

The Rewilding Nation pathway includes specific proposals to make nature recovery the primary purpose of Scotland’s protected landscapes and seascapes, establishing wild zones around rivers and coastlines, doubling native woodland cover, restoring peatlands at pace, and restricting dredging and bottom trawling across Marine Protected Areas.

Recovery targets would ensure habitat restoration, as well as increases in species abundance and diversity. The government would champion expansion of beaver populations, and begin work on a managed lynx reintroduction, in close collaboration with key stakeholders and local communities.

The proposals champion the crucial role of people and communities, and include action for coexisting with wildlife, support for land managers and farmers, and investment in nature-based economies, jobs and skills.

At the presentation of the Rewilding Nation pathway, Minister for Climate Action Dr Alasdair Allan MSP said the event came at an important time for the Scottish Government, and that nature is under threat in an unprecedented way, with one in nine species facing extinction across the country.

The minister acknowledged that Scotland has yet to yet to tackle biodiversity loss at a sufficient scale, and praised the work of Scottish Rewilding Alliance members including Argaty Red Kites, Bamff and Seawilding.

“We are extremely grateful, all of us, for the transformative work being underway and for the partnerships that the Scottish Rewilding Alliance has helped to develop. Addressing the nature crisis requires a whole government and a whole society approach – working together to achieve a nature positive Scotland by 2030,” said Dr Allan.

“We also need to support nature to help address the climate crisis and to create a climate resilient Scotland. We know we must protect and restore natural environment for future generations.” 

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance calculates that more than 2% of Scotland’s land is now rewilding, with over 150 rewilding projects across the country, from community sites to landscape-scale partnerships. At sea, government inaction on ensuring Marine Protected Areas are truly protected is holding back the recovery of Scotland’s waters, says the Alliance.

Calls for large-scale nature restoration are growing. This year thousands of people from all walks of life and a wide-range of diverse organisations have signed the Rewilding Nation Charter, calling on the Government to commit to urgent action. Polling has shown 80% of Scots think the Scottish Government should have policies in place to support rewilding.

Steve Micklewight, Co-Convenor of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and Chief Executive of Trees for Life, said: “As a country, we need to be far more ambitious. This is a chance for Scotland to be leading the movement for global change, reclaiming its voice on the international stage by embracing the Rewilding Nation’s vision of hope for people, nature and climate.”

The Rewilding Nation campaign has drawn widespread support from people and organisations across Scotland. It has received high-profile public backing from actors Brian Cox and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Scotland is currently ranked in the bottom 25% of countries globally for the state of its nature. Intensive agriculture and climate breakdown are having the biggest impacts on biodiversity, according to the authoritative and most recent State of Nature report, with other threats including non-native forestry, pollution, and introduced species.

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance is calling on people to sign the Rewilding Nation Charter at rewild.scot/charter.

This week brings the Scottish Budget. Public spending is the bedrock of ecological restoration. So what do we hope for?

Tomorrow, we will present our ‘pathway to a Rewilding Nation’ to the Scottish Government.

This will be a route map for creating the world’s first Rewilding Nation – in more than just name. 

Scotland is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries. While it is also one of the world’s most beautiful countries, centuries of overexploitation of our natural resources, decades of misguided public spending, and a global collapse in biodiversity have all left their mark.

This nature crisis has huge consequences. As actor Brian Cox CBE said this week in The Guardian, in a letter calling on people to sign the Rewilding Nation Charter: “This fails our hills, glens and rivers. It fails the animals we share our land and seas with. We’ve upset nature’s balance. That has a terrible impact on wildlife, but also on us. Scotland’s broken natural processes undermine our ability to cope with climate breakdown, affect food production, and threaten our health.”

This week also brings the Scottish Budget, the final full budget of this parliamentary term. Public spending is the bedrock of ecological restoration. The government’s spending decisions underpin the fate of our land and seas. So what do we hope for, from this Budget?

We hope for no more cuts to nature funding and the public bodies tasked with stewarding Scotland’s ecosystems, and for a funding system that supports the restoration of Scotland’s broken natural processes.

We hope to see farmers, crofters and other land managers rewarded for playing their part in ecological restoration, and to see local authorities properly resourced to deliver on the establishment of ‘nature networks’. 

Above all, we hope for urgent action to address the nature crisis. 

All this year, the Rewilding Nation campaign has shown us that despite the damage to our natural environment, hope is surging all over Scotland.

We’ve heard from grandparents who want to leave a more nature-rich country to their grandchildren, from walkers who want to ramble through wilder hills, and from young people who see the return of nature as the defining mission of their lives.

We’ve heard from local communities who want more nature-based economic opportunities and jobs, from families who know more nature means better health and wellbeing, and from farmers and growers who know that agriculture depends on properly functioning natural processes and that restoring nature and growing sustainable food go-hand-in hand.

These are voices that sometimes struggle to be heard. Will the First Minister listen?