Ensure that by 2030 every park, reserve or publicly owned green space has a management and maintenance plan that reflects the Open Space Strategy and Local Biodiversity Action Plan outcomes.
Objective 2: Protect nature on land and at sea, across and beyond Protected Areas
Priority Action 13. Enhance biodiversity in Scotland’s urban green and blue spaces
There is no published national dataset or reporting framework confirming that all publicly owned green spaces in Scotland have management and maintenance plans aligned with Open Space Strategies and Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs).
Open Space Strategies are in place across many local authorities, and LBAPs continue to guide biodiversity delivery at the local level. However, implementation is variable, and there is limited publicly available evidence demonstrating consistent alignment between site-level management plans and biodiversity outcomes.
Guidance such as the Open Space Strategy framework and LBAPs provides a policy basis for delivery, but there is no clear evidence of systematic monitoring or enforcement to ensure that all parks and green spaces are covered or that plans are ecologically robust and up to date.
There is evidence that local frameworks (Open Space Strategies and LBAPs) are in place and supporting biodiversity action in urban and peri-urban environments. However, the ecological effectiveness of this action remains uncertain due to inconsistent implementation and lack of comprehensive monitoring.
Evidence from Scotland’s biodiversity indicators shows that many species associated with urban and wider landscapes continue to decline, and habitat quality and connectivity remain key limiting factors. The absence of consistent, site-level management aligned to biodiversity outcomes reduces the likelihood of delivering meaningful improvements in ecological condition at scale.
In particular, without clear evidence that all publicly owned green spaces are being actively managed for biodiversity (e.g. habitat diversity, pollinator support, connectivity), it is unlikely that current delivery is sufficient to significantly improve biodiversity intactness or reverse species declines in urban ecosystems.
NatureScot – Open space audit and strategy – The OSS Hub
NatureScot – Local Biodiversity Partnerships
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