Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Tracker

Delivery Update May 2026

The Natural Environment (Scotland) Act was passed in March 2026. The Act requires Scottish Ministers to lay draft regulations for statutory nature targets within 12 months of commencement of section 1 of the Act and to consult on those regulations. The Act sets out detailed arrangements for the introduction, monitoring and review of targets. Key aspects include:

Scottish Ministers may set targets on any matter relating to the restoration or regeneration of biodiversity, but must set at least one target in respect of each of these topic areas:

– the condition or extent of any habitat
– the status of any species (including in particular those which are or may become threatened)
– the environmental conditions for nature regeneration

Scottish Ministers must review progress towards the targets every 3 years and review the targets themselves every 10 years (in both cases seeking scientific advice and reporting)

Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) is established as ‘Independent Review Body’ to independently assess those 3 and 10-year reviews. ESS has raised concerns directly with the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs about the timetable and the implications of delay for delivery against the 2030 biodiversity commitments.

The Biodiversity Programme Advisory Group (PAG) published its final advice on target topics and indicators in December 2025, and NatureScot’s scientific advisers have also reviewed the proposed approach.

Dan Paris, LINK’s Director for Policy and Engagement, gave evidence at the Climate Action Committee session on 3rd September and raised concerns about the delay to the commencement of Part 1, the need for targets to both be both robust and evidence based whilst getting them in place quickly to influence decisions ahead of 2030. Richard Dixon, Chair of ESS, was also questioned about why the process takes so long. He said without high level targets in place, decisions on areas such as agriculture and land use could continue to be made without the framework they were intended to work towards. He also told the committee a lot of work had already been done to develop the targets, and he said while consultation is important, it needs to be accelerated and the committee needs to be pressing on that.

Government officials have informed LINK that pre-consultation on targets is not expected until ‘early 2027’.

Ecological Contribution

This measure strengthens the legal basis for nature recovery by establishing statutory targets, which is a significant shift from previous policy-led approaches. However, Scotland has historically had a persistent gap between environmental legislation and delivery of measurable biodiversity outcomes. The effectiveness of this measure will depend on how ambitious the targets are, the robustness of monitoring systems, and whether they are supported by sufficient resourcing and enforcement. Without these elements, statutory targets risk not translating into measurable improvements in ecosystem condition. The 12-month deadline for draft regulations is subject to the Scottish Government choosing to commence section 1 of the 2026 Act.

If we are to expect pre-consultation on targets in ‘early 2027’ followed by a full public consultation, it appears unlikely that biodiversity targets will be in place before 2028. This is a significant delay which threatens our ability to halt nature loss by 2030.

LINK recognises the complexity of developing meaningful, achievable, evidence-based targets. However, given the scale and urgency of Scotland’s nature crisis, the Government must move faster towards full implementation of the Natural Environment Act.

Evidence Links

Hitting the targets: Delivering Scotland’s nature ambitions
Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026
Scottish Government – Natural Environment Bill consultation (2023)
SPICe Briefing – Environment: Session 7 Subject Profile