Ensure National Parks (NP), National Nature Reserves (NNR) and protected areas are exemplars in better delivery of biodiversity and provisioning outcomes.
Objective 2: Protect nature on land and at sea, across and beyond Protected Areas
Priority Action 9. Strengthen the role of National Parks and ensure they act as exemplars of biodiversity protection and recovery
National Parks, National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and wider protected areas are delivering a range of restoration projects and partnership initiatives, including peatland restoration, woodland expansion and species recovery. However, there is no consistent national framework, performance standard or reporting system in place to demonstrate that these areas are functioning as exemplars of biodiversity and provisioning outcomes. Monitoring remains largely reliant on Site Condition Monitoring and project-level reporting, with limited transparency on whole-site or landscape-scale ecological performance.
Evidence indicates that many protected areas remain in unfavourable condition due to pressures such as overgrazing, invasive non-native species and habitat fragmentation. This means that, while good practice exists in some locations, protected areas are not yet consistently delivering exemplar outcomes across the network.
Cairngorms National Park, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park and National Nature Reserves are delivering restoration work such as peatland recovery, woodland expansion and species recovery. However, there is no agreed national definition of “exemplar” status or consistent performance framework that demonstrates these sites are outperforming the wider landscape in biodiversity or ecosystem service terms. The main constraint is not activity but comparability and accountability, with limited system-wide reporting of ecological outcomes across protected areas as a group. Success would be demonstrated through clear, consistent evidence that protected areas are achieving higher habitat quality, stronger ecological connectivity and sustained improvement trends over time compared to surrounding land, supported by transparent national reporting.
NatureScot – National Nature Reserves overview
LINK report – Protecting 30% of Scotland’s land for nature – 2024 report
NatureScot – National Parks
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