3 December 2012, external resource

Valuing the Benefits of Designating a Scottish Network of MPAs in Territorial and Offshore Waters, 2012

Commissioned by Scottish Environment LINK’s Marine Taskforce, this report attempts, for the first time, to estimate the benefits provided by designating a network of Marine Protected Areas for nature conservation in Scottish waters. Why? Because, by understanding the economic benefits provided by the goods and services that a network of MPAs can help support, decision-making can be improved. This independent report was produced by the Institute of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning at the University of Oviedo and peer reviewed by Dr Salman Hussain at SRUC. It finds that protecting Scottish seas not only safeguards our marine environment; it makes economic sense too.

22 October 2012,

Preparing Scotland's Environment for a Changing Climate

A report of the LINK Climate Adaptation Workshop on 4th September 2012 in Edinburgh. Prepared for LINK by Simon Pepper.

27 June 2012, LINK Sustainable Land Use Taskforce

How can we get the best from our land? Putting integrated land use into practice

A report from John Thomson on behalf of LINK's Sustainable Land Use taskforce.  The report is intended to contribute to discussions on the implementation of the Scottish Government's Land Use Strategy, a requirement of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

8 November 2011, Joint LINK

Crunch Time for CAP - choosing the right the tools for a richer countryside

The UK continues to face environmental challenges including those driven by CAP incentives and emerging demands on land. Across Europe, soils are depleted and degraded, water is over-extracted and polluted and wildlife struggles to survive across landscapes that have lost many of the features that provide character and distinctiveness. The vision of the joint Links of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales is for the CAP to evolve into an integrated agricultural and environmental policy.  To meet the environmental challenges we face, the CAP must be equipped with tools that will help restore and enhance the natural and historic environment, creating ecological networks at a landscape-scale to achieve multiple benefits over wide areas of countryside. Future CAP payments should be explicitly linked to positive actions that deliver more sustainable land management. Currently, the majority of CAP funds are paid in the form of decoupled payments attached to little more than basic legal compliance. As the next CAP will continue to feature two separate sources of funding (Pillar I and Pillar II), positive action must be secured and integrated across both Pillars and through all payments.

26 October 2011, LINK

Acting Locally - the Scottish Environment LINK Manifesto for the Scottish Council Elections, 2012

On May 1st, 2012, for the first time since the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the Scottish people will have nationwide local government elections in Scotland. This will allow a proper focus on the way that Councils perform as they are held to account by the electorate. In no field of policy will this be more important than the field of protecting and enhancing the environment. Scotland’s Councils are essential to achieving truly sustainable development.  With this manifesto Scottish Environment LINK wants to help our Councils improve their environmental performance.  We also  want to help the Scottish political parties as they establish their policies for the next four years - and to assist them in putting sustainability at their core.  

19 October 2011, LINK

Governance Matters - The Environment and Governance in Scotland

Scottish Environment LINK and its member organisations have long been involved in policy development in Scotland and have contributed to the development of the methods and processes of government – our governance. At the same time we have played a part in the discussions of the constitutional structures of government. As Scottish politics enters another period set to be dominated by constitutional debate we will continue to work in all three fields - but in this paper we seek to turn attention once more to issues of governance. We review our experience of the methods and processes in the legislative, executive, judicial and civil branches of government in Scotland over the years since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 – and present our conclusions and recommendations to the rest of the Scottish policy community.

21 March 2011, external resource

Making the Case for the Sound Management of Marine Protected Areas

A report for Scottish Environment LINK by the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

The purpose of this scientific report is to inform the LINK position on the sound management of Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (NC-MPAs) following their designation under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

See also: Briefing | Executive Summary

21 March 2011, external resource

Executive Summary: Making the Case for the Sound Management of Marine Protected Areas

A report for Scottish Environment LINK by the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

The purpose of this scientific report is to inform the LINK position on the sound management of Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (NC-MPAs) following their designation under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. If well planned, appropriately resourced and properly managed, MPAs can play an important role in both nature conservation and the wider economy, benefiting marine industries as well as helping to mitigate the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems.

See also: Briefing | Full Report

2 February 2011, LINK Local Governance Taskforce

Delivering for the Environment in our Communities: An Audit of Single Outcome Agreements

This new audit of Single Outcome Agreements (prepared for LINK by CAG Consultants) captures how sustainable development and the environment are being addressed by each Community Planning Partnership, and determines emerging trends. It finds significant gaps in addressing national priorities such as climate change adaptation, landscape, the historic environment and the sustainable management of water resources, despite evidence that we can achieve more by joining up economic, social and environmental services. Whilst the audit points to good practice by a few Councils which recognise the benefits of strong environmental policies in terms of adding value to health, jobs, and pride in the community, the report demonstrates that many local authorities, along with their Community Planning Partnerships are failing to see sustainable development as a priority.

In their previous report and advocacy, LINK members argue that financial constraint calls, now more than ever, for local authorities to seek solutions which maximise the economic and social benefits of a healthy environment. LINK members will be monitoring trends and seeking to influence development of new or ‘refreshed’ outcomes-based agreements for the national elections this spring and the local elections in 2012.

See also: Print Version of this report | Working for Sustainable Development through Single Outcome Agreements

16 December 2010, LINK

Scotland's Environmental Laws - from rhetoric to reality

A review of key environmental legislation in Scotland since devolution, commissioned for the 2010 LINK Members' Congress - The Environment and the Law - which assesses the outcomes from eight key environmental laws which LINK and its member bodies campaigned for in working to protect Scotland's environment. 

17 June 2010, LINK Marine Taskforce

Avoiding Conflicts in the Marine Environment

LINK's report on effective planning for marine renewables energy in Scotland.  Our vision is of a thriving industry that will help reduce the causes of climate change and bring secure long-term jobs, while safeguarding a diverse, productive sea.  The aim is to safeguard the environment, so bolster the sustainability and reputation of the burgeoning industry, and help rather than hinder the potential growth of responsible development.

Print version

11 February 2010, LINK Local Governance Taskforce

Working for Sustainable Development through Single Outcome Agreements

LINK's report on priority issues for the Single Outcome Agreement process aims to help ensure that the SOA process works towards a more sustainable future for Scotland.  It aims to offer the support of the LINK and its member bodies to councils and Community Planning Partnerships through the onging process of development of SOAs, in relation to sustainable development, particularly the environment.

It addresses ten priority topics - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Footprint, Education/Volunteering, Historic and Built Environment, Landscape, Physical Activity/Health, Recreational Access, Transport, Water and Flooding.  LINK will monitor how these are addressed and overview emerging trends in the lead up to the national and local elections in 2011 and 2012.

Print version

2 December 2009, LINK

Living with the Land

This paper sets out the views of member bodies of Scottish Environment LINK regarding the land use strategy to be prepared under Section 57 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. This strategy is referred to below as the “Sustainable Land Use Strategy” (SLUS).

Although its main purpose is to tackle climate change, the SLUS provides real opportunities to deliver other public objectives. It has potential to support landscape and wildlife protection, to ensure more co-ordinated planning and delivery between agencies, to reward multi-benefit land use and to resolve conflicts between different land uses.

1 December 2008, LINK Wildlife Taskforce

Delivering the Goods

How Scotland’s Environmental Charities are Implementing the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy

This report aims to demonstrate how Scotland’s environmental charities are playing a key role in the delivery of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. At its core is a set of case studies of successful projects carried out by the charities over the last three years or so and of projects they plan to carry out over the next five years or so.

1 November 2008, LINK

Valuing Our Environment

The natural environment is one of Scotland’s greatest assets, making a major contribution to economic growth and quality of life. . The research calculated for the first time the economic impact of Scotland’s natural environment as well as identifying wider benefits of the environment to businesses and the economy. The full research report (The Economic Impact of Scotland’s Natural Environment) can be found at www.snh.org.uk

This publication summarises research carried out by a partnership led by Scottish Natural and including Scottish Environment LINK

16 September 2008, LINK Climate Change Taskforce

Time to Act on Climate Change

A clarion call from Scotland’s environmental movement.

This statement sets out LINK's views on the main issues to be addressed if climate change is to be tackled effectively in Scotland.

5 September 2008, LINK Agriculture Taskforce

Beyond the CAP

Scottish Environment LINK is calling for the development of a Sustainable Land Management Policy for Europe to replace the existing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

In this report the LINK Agriculture Taskforce presents the case for transforming CAP into a European Sustainable Land Management Policy.

It lays out our vision for how CAP funding could, in future, be retained for rural areas, help maintain land managers’ livelihoods and provide significant public goods.

9 January 2008, LINK Marine Taskforce

Finding NIMAs

A LINK Marine Taskforce report calling for marine protected areas in order to safeguard wildlife of special importance to Scotland.

The term Nationally Important Marine Area (NIMA), was used in 2006 by the Marine Nature Conservation Workstream of the then Scottish Executive’s Advisory Group on Marine and Coastal Strategy (AGMACS). It is a convenient term to describe all protected areas of national importance. New NIMAs are most urgently required to plug the gaps in existing protection and secure the future of many unprotected species and habitats. Unfortunately there has been no commitment by the Scottish Government to the creation of such areas.

40 pages with tables and maps.

1 August 2007, LINK

Scotland 2011: a Challenge to the New Scottish Government

A new Scottish government brings with it new opportunities – not least the chance to look at governance from a new perspective, to try out new ways of working collaboratively, and to tackle the old challenges from a different angle. It is for this reason that Scottish Environment LINK is publishing this document. Sharing our vision for the next four years, it argues for what can be achieved, proposing solutions to the problems we face. In doing this, we challenge Scotland’s new government to show leadership in order to meet the inter-related challenges of climate change, loss of biodiversity and resource depletion that threaten to unravel the ecosystems on which this planet and our own futures depend.

18 July 2007, Joint LINK

Bioenergy in the UK
Turning Green Promises into Environmental Reality

This paper sets out the measures Link believe need to be taken by national and devolved governments, and associated agencies and public bodies, to ensure that UK bioenergy production and use develops in a sustainable way, achieving signifi cant greenhouse gas (GHG) savings, whilst avoiding damaging impacts on the natural and historic environment.

A policy paper by the Joint Links; Wildlife and Countryside Link ,Wales Environment Link, Northern Ireland Environment  Link and Scottish Environment LINK

1 July 2007, LINK

A Strong Coherent Voice

Reflections on the First Twenty Years of Scottish Environment LINK

This report was commissioned in 2007 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Scottish Environment LINK, the network of voluntary countryside and environmental organisations in Scotland. It marks twenty years in which the influence of these organisations has grown hugely in Scotland, and it comes at a time when the environment is higher on the political agenda than ever before.

1 January 2007, LINK

A Charter for Sustainable Development; Policy Manifesto for Scotland’s Environment, People and Economy

This manifesto is drawn from priority issues and commitments that LINK members and Task Forces have identified for 2007-2011. These have been discussed and co-ordinated through member organisations and by the Task Forces working in particular areas of expertise. It has been drawn together as a discussion document in the run up to 2007 Holyrood Election and particularly to inform policy development processes in the political parties.

24 November 2006, LINK

Scotland - the Best Small Country in the World?

In terms of the planet’s ecology, whether or not Scotland is the best small country means something very different from what the glossy brochures intend and, at one level, it means very little...

A report by Ed Douglas, for LINK Congress 2006

2 March 2006, Joint LINK

Halting Biodiversity Loss by 2010

The UK government has made a commitment to halting biodiversity loss by 2010. This leaflet summarises what this means, what is needed to achieve this target and how progress should be measured.

A joint LINKs publication.

1 March 2006, LINK

The Battle for Roineabhal

Reflections on the successful campaign to prevent a superquarry at Lingerabay, Isle of Harris, and lessons for the Scottish planning system.

The saga of the Lingerabay superquarry is a tortuous tale of almost epic proportions, lasting for more than a quarter of a century. It concerns a proposal – first mooted in 1974 – for a 10 million tonne superquarry that would chisel away almost a third of the magnificent mountain of Roineabhal on the Isle of Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland. The planning application by Redland Aggregates brought into focus major issues of national policy on mineral supply, rural support, community empowerment, sustainability, landscape protection and biodiversity. In the latter stages, even issues of European legislation were raised. This volume is not intended as a definitive history of the battle to stop the superquarry at Lingerabay. Rather, it is the perspective of one particular player in the ‘Battle for Roineabhal’: Scottish Environment LINK, a consortium of 19 environmental, non-governmental organisations in Scotland.

1 June 2004,

The Bigger Picture

Investing in Scotland's Historic Environment

1 January 2004, Joint LINK

Sustaining Biodiversity. Revitalising the Biodiversity Action Plan Process

This manifesto highlights why biodiversity is essential to all our lives. It explains how the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) process has been developed to sustain and enhance this biodiversity and makes recommendations on the ways the process can be improved to meet the target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010.

In 1994, the UK started to meet its obligations to the 1992 Rio Convention on Biological Diversity by producing the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). For the first time, a common agenda for nature conservation was prepared and targets were set to judge performance. Government, voluntary organisations and industry joined forces at national and local levels to try to rescue our most threatened species and habitats. Ten years on, much progress has been made. Some species have been saved from extinction, the loss of many habitats has been halted and some are being restored. But we still have much more to do...

1 June 2002, LINK

Must Try Harder

Scotland’s progress report on sustainability 1992-2002 - “must try harder”.

Political leaders will meet in Johannesburg in August 2002 for the World Summit on Sustainable Development “to take a critical look back at the Earth Summit, and aim to arrive at a comprehensive, frank and useful review of the past ten years.” It is the most important environment gathering since Rio. Scotland is one of the world’s over-consuming nations, using more of the world’s resources than is sustainable (see below).

Environmental groups in Scotland have undertaken a review of Scotland’s progress towards sustainable development. A progress report is published opposite, and conclusions in each of the four areas covered by the Rio agreements are given on the inside pages. On the back page is a ten point urgent action plan for the Scottish Executive.