Support wider ongoing work on building skills and capacity on biodiversity and nature across the planning system, including through information sharing events.
Objective 2: Protect nature on land and at sea, across and beyond Protected Areas
Priority Action 12. Champion new planning and development measures for protecting and enhancing biodiversity
Capacity building for biodiversity in the planning system is being supported primarily through published national policy and guidance, rather than a formally defined training programme.
The main mechanism is NPF4 Policy 3(c), which requires development to deliver positive effects for biodiversity. Implementation is supported through NatureScot’s “Developing with Nature” guidance, which provides practical advice on how biodiversity should be incorporated into planning decisions and development design. Further support is provided through the Nature Networks Framework, which sets out how spatial ecological networks should be embedded in planning and decision-making processes at national and local level. These resources are intended to support consistent interpretation of biodiversity requirements across planning authorities and applicants, but they rely on local implementation within existing planning capacity.
There is no published evidence of a single national, coordinated programme of biodiversity planning workshops or training delivered by Scottish Government or NatureScot with defined coverage across all Local Authorities. As a result, support for skills and capacity is largely embedded within guidance, policy implementation and ad hoc engagement rather than a structured national training programme.
Evidence from planning practice indicates that capacity constraints remain significant across many Local Authorities, particularly in relation to ecological expertise and resource availability. This leads to variation in how consistently biodiversity requirements are applied in planning decisions across Scotland. Overall, capacity support is being delivered through guidance and policy frameworks rather than a formalised training programme, and consistency of implementation remains uneven.
Building skills and capacity in the planning system is essential for consistent delivery of biodiversity policy, including habitat protection, enhancement and connectivity through development decisions. NPF4 Policy 3(c) requires positive effects for biodiversity, meaning ecological outcomes depend on planners and decision-makers having the expertise to apply these requirements effectively. NatureScot guidance (“Developing with Nature” and the Nature Networks Framework) provides the technical basis for delivery, but implementation depends on capacity and ecological expertise within Local Authorities. Overall, strengthening skills and resourcing in the planning system is critical to ensuring biodiversity policies translate into measurable ecological outcomes on the ground.
NatureScot – Developing with Nature Guidance (NPF4 Policy 3(c))
Scottish Government – National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4)
NatureScot – Nature Networks Framework
Develop and publish a biodiversity metric for Scotland’s planning system, to support delivery of NPF4 Policy 3b.
Raise awareness and promote the Developing with Nature guidance to support delivery of NPF4 policy 3c and develop user-friendly version of the guidance.
Ensure that development provides positive effects for biodiversity, by developing clear guidance on the implementation and delivery of NPF4 policies which support the cross-cutting outcome ‘improving biodiversity’.
Develop and adopt a National Marine Plan 2 (NMP2) that supports action on the twin crises, setting out planning policies on climate mitigation and adaptation, nature protection and enhancement, and sustainable use to guide decisions and activities in line with our ambitions for Scotland’s Seas.
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