Category:

One of the brilliant things about living in Scotland is that you’re never all that far from the sea. Those of us who feel the sea’s call – and who in Scotland doesn’t – can get our fix of it without travelling a great distance.

The seas around our jagged coastline are a place of enjoyment and inspiration. For me there’s a sense of wonder in the less seen things – from the anemones and crabs hidden in rockpools to the ocean food webs on which we all depend.

The sea is a source of livelihoods, especially for coastal communities that rely on fishing. It’s home to a mind-boggling variety of wildlife, from huge whales and basking sharks to seabed habitats like oyster beds, bright orange flame shell beds and pink maerl. Our seabird populations are of global significance, with five million breeding here every year.

The sea is also our strongest line of defense against climate change, as ocean habitats can absorb vast amounts of carbon and can help protect our coasts from the worst of the swell during storms.

In short, the sea really matters. So, you’d think looking after this invaluable resource would be a high priority – right? That’s what I thought when I started working in the Scottish marine policy field 12 years ago. Just four years earlier in 2010, the Scottish parliament had passed the Marine (Scotland) Act, which places significant duties on Scottish government ministers to protect and recover our seas. This ambitious legislation gave me and my colleagues hope that we would soon see the tide start to turn and Scotland’s seas start to return to health.

A decade and a half later, we’re still waiting.

Among the measures set out in the Act was that Scotland should create a network of marine protected areas – defined areas of the sea where some activities are regulated to protect wildlife. Crucially, certain types of fishing were to be restricted in these areas depending on the species and habitats in each one.

Well, we do now have a network of marine protected areas. But most are protected only in name, without the fishing restrictions needed to make them meaningful. Designating an area as protected does not in itself give it any actual protection.

There has been some progress offshore, with restrictions finally introduced last year in marine protected areas more than 12 nautical miles from the coast. These measures, while not as strong as they could be, will protect some of our precious habitats like cold water coral reefs from the damage inflicted by trawler fishing. Some of Scotland’s coral reefs are thought to be eight thousand years old, and provide food and shelter for a huge variety of wildlife including commercially important fish species.

But the waters closer to land remain largely unprotected. These ‘inshore’ waters are incredibly rich in marine life, and they include the spawning and nursery habitats that are vital for fish and shellfish stocks – and for fishing. This is where the majority of Scotland’s fishing fleet operates, as well as where people come to see wildlife and enjoy the coastal environment.

But without fishing restrictions, destructive industrial practices like bottom trawling and dredging are still allowed to sweep across many of our most sensitive seabed habitats, destroying precious marine life and the ecosystems that sustain it.  In turn, this means that Scotland’s small-scale, lower impact inshore fishing industry struggles to survive.

Without meaningful restrictions, our inshore marine protected areas can’t deliver real protection or outcomes. But when the right action is taken, life can bounce back in abundance. Earlier this year, a study found that seabed life had tripled after a bottom trawling ban in the South Arran marine protected area. A decade after protections were put in place, the recovery was clear evidence that marine ecosystems can heal when given breathing space.

We need to exclude bottom trawling and dredging from marine protected areas designated for seabed habitats. And in areas designated for other wildlife such as whales and dolphins, restrictions should be introduced based on scientific evidence and the level of risk to the species living there. Accidental capture in fishing gear and disturbance by vessels and noisy marine activities are major problems for marine mammals, and must be properly addressed in these areas to reduce their impact.

Strengthened protection does not mean closing marine protected areas to everyone. It means reducing the most damaging activities or changing how they operate so marine life can recover, while allowing small-scale, lower impact fishing to continue and support local jobs.

Protections for marine protected areas were originally supposed to be introduced in 2016. But in December last year the Scottish government delayed the public consultation required to implement the inshore measures for the fourth time. Cabinet Secretary Gillian Martin said that launching this consultation would be a high priority after the Holyrood election.

We’re still waiting. Coastal communities, fishing organisations and environment charities are geared up to respond to the consultation so that protections can finally be put in place. Meanwhile, the environmental destruction continues. The greater the damage to our precious ocean species and habitats, the harder it will be to help them recover and thrive.

Marine protected areas are not the whole answer to stopping the destruction and bringing our seas back to life. Ultimately, for the future of marine wildlife and of fishing, we need to manage all of Scotland’s seas in accordance with what their diverse ecosystems can sustain. But properly protecting these key areas is an essential first step.

Since I started working in this field, global scientific and public understanding of the urgent need to protect and restore our seas has deepened significantly. We know what we need to do. Scotland’s seas can’t afford any more delays. And I don’t want to wait any longer to see the sea I love start to recover.

Written by Esther Brooker  Scottish Environment LINK’s senior marine advocacy officer.

Published originally in The Herald.

Featured Image: Alison Moore | MCS

No comments yet

Scotland’s Environment Strategy (2026) lists integrated actions by which “Scotland’s society is transformed for the better by living sustainably”.  It aims to “empower and enable people across Scotland to experience the benefits of shifting towards healthy, sustainable lifestyles”.  This “whole of Scotland” approach requires that we understand how well we’re doing in progress towards greater sustainability. 

Ten years ago, I proposed an index of sustainable development (SD), published in The Ecologist.  The index satisfies the majority (Y/N) of criteria for a good metric under the  Bellagio Principles: 

• Consider the social/economic and environmental system as a whole, including governance (Y) 

• Able to monitor dynamical change, so authorities can make real-time decisions (Y) 

• Make clear where/how decisions should be made (N) 

• Have appropriate geographical scope (Y) 

• Have appropriate time horizons, short to long (Y) 

• Use standardised measurements allowing inter-comparability (Y) 

• Allow comparison with targets (Y) 

• Set baseline from which to monitor progress (Y) 

• Use data widely available publicly (Y) 

• Use data that are clear, simple, understandable, with good visualisation (Y) 

• Reflective of public views and priorities (Y) 

• Responsive to change and readily repeatable/reproduceable (Y) 

How many of the 137 indicators, tracked by LINK, from the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Delivery Plan 2024-2030, meet these criteria?  This is another plan, like the Environment Strategy, that expects “collective effort” across “the whole of society”.  It would certainly benefit from metrics that reflect the Bellagio Principles.  The same will be true of the binding targets in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026. 

About the SD Index itself – three elements usually figure in national/regional economic strategies: economic growth, unemployment, low-carbon economy.  These are ideally suited to formulating a measure of SD – encompassing economic, social and environmental status.  

GDP per head is a measure of economic efficiency in producing output for a given population; it reflects productivity and is often a short-hand for standard of living. Raising GDP is a Scottish Government target. 

National, or local, unemployment is related to a range of social ills including exclusion, restriction of choice, skills loss, ill health, reduced life expectancy, demotivation, undermining relationships, aggravated inequalities, increased crime, and psychological damage including helplessness, anxiety, and self-doubt.  So, unemployment is related to changes in social assets. 

Action on climate change is symptomatic of wider concern about environment.  The Environmental Performance Index compares countries globally and those that score well on climate also score well on other environmental actions. 

So, these expressions of economic efficiency (GDP per head), social inefficiency (%age unemployment) and environmental inefficiency (CO2eq per head) can readily be combined to generate: 

Index of SD = GDP per head, divided by %age unemployment and divided by CO2eq emissions per head 

(here the result is divided by 1000 and rounded to one decimal place) 

You may argue the Index doesn’t explicitly reflect the state of biodiversity or pollution across Scotland, or the proportion of GDP derived from ethical business.  You’re right.  A consequential challenge is to devise a better index satisfying the Bellagio Principles.  Maybe you can? 

The Ecologist article showed Scotland’s Index improved by over 3 times from 1998 to 2014, better than UK, USA, Canada, Sweden or Japan. This update suggests Scotland’s Index had, by 2024, improved 6.5 times over the 1998 value. 

That 6.5x is due to 25% increase in inflation-adjusted GDP per head, and more than halving of both the unemployment rate and CO2eq emissions per head.  All three elements are equally important – another sign of a balanced index. 

International comparisons are easy, as the components are routinely reported worldwide.  Scotland’s absolute sustainability is not great compared to other administrations.  In 2024, Scotland’s Index was 1.5, England was 2.3 (higher GDP, lower CO2eq), Northern Ireland was 1.6 (lower unemployment), and Wales was1.0 (lower GDP, higher CO2eq).  Internationally, USA was 1.1, Germany 1.0, Ireland 2.1, and Denmark 4.4 (high GDP, low CO2eq, low unemployment: let’s be Denmark!). 

Scotland’s rate of improvement is still encouraging.  Over the period 1998 to 2024, USA only improved by 2.2x, England by 3x, while for Germany it was by 6.6x. 

Another application of the Index is investigating community-level sustainability, using 2023 data from the UK regional data explorer.  

There’s one location matching Denmark: Edinburgh, with an Index of 4.9, due to higher GDP per head and slightly lower CO2eq per head than Denmark, offset partially by higher unemployment.  For comparison, London is 4.6 while Greater Manchester is 2.2.   

Selected Scottish rankings are: 

Edinburgh  4.9  

Glasgow 2.6 

Perth & Kinross 2.6

Lothian 2.1

Lanarkshire 2.0

Aberdeen 2.0 

Aberdeenshire 1.5

Ayrshire 1.4

Orkney 1.3 

Dundee 1.3  

Highland 1.2  

Borders 0.8 

Shetland 0.8  

Dumfries & Galloway 0.5  

Urban areas perform well, while some rural regions less so: likely due to relatively low GDP, combined with possible high CO2eq emissions related to increased personal transport, degrading peatland, and livestock emissions.   

Rural areas contribute substantially to renewable energy, which is then shared across the UK grid, and not locally rewarded in the SD Index.  They are also significant repositories of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Those ecosystem services will be undermined unless we control carbon emissions and have the financial resources to fund decent environmental management.   

So, no metric is perfect.  But, it’s important that we have simple ways of communicating messages to civic society on the scale and nature of challenge we face. 

No comments yet

In June 2026, Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) published an official investigation evaluating the Scottish Government’s performance in protecting the marine environment. The report concludes that Scotland has failed to meet its statutory target of achieving “Good Environmental Status” (GES) for the seabed—set for and missed in 2020—and identifies critical deficiencies in policy design, environmental monitoring, and interdepartmental governance.

Context

The Marine Strategy Regulations 2010 place a legally binding duty on Scottish Ministers to implement measures to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) in marine waters. GES is evaluated across 11 different environmental descriptors. This ESS analysis focuses on Descriptor 6: Seafloor Integrity, which requires that the structure and functions of ecosystems are safeguarded and benthic (relating to the bottom of the ocean, i.e., the seabed) habitats are not negatively affected.

The statutory target to achieve GES for seafloor integrity was set and missed in 2020. The ESS report confirms that the Scottish Government not only failed to meet this target but also currently lacks a credible pathway to achieve it.

Key Findings

1. Inadequacy of the Programme of Measures (PoM)

The legislative framework requires the Scottish Government to maintain an active Programme of Measures to safeguard the seabed. The ESS investigation identified significant flaws in both the 2015 and 2025 programmes:

• Absence of Gap Analysis: The government failed to conduct assessments to determine if existing policies were sufficient to achieve GES. Instead, the programmes primarily compiled pre-existing initiatives without evaluating their collective adequacy.
• Lack of Feasibility Assessments: Proposed measures were not systematically analysed for technical feasibility or cost-effectiveness.
• Speculative Projections: Rather than utilising quantitative data to model environmental outcomes, the programmes relied on qualitative assertions that policies would make a “positive contribution” to seabed health.

2. Deficiencies in Marine Monitoring Programs – statutory non-compliance

A robust marine monitoring programme is a statutory requirement to track environmental progress. The investigation highlighted a severe decline in outcome monitoring capability:

• Reduced Survey Activity: Marine monitoring efforts in Scottish waters have steadily declined since 2014.
• Data Deficits and Regional Gaps: Because critical offshore and coastal surveys were suspended, scientists advising the government were unable to gather the physical data required to evaluate the status of several Scottish marine regions.
• Failure to Measure Policy Effectiveness: Because baseline and follow-up data are missing, the government cannot assess whether localised management measures, such as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), are delivering actual ecological recovery.
• Feasibility of Better Tracking: In a supporting technical paper published in March 2026, ESS demonstrated that more advanced, spatially explicit quantitative modelling of MPAs is entirely feasible and would significantly resolve these evaluation blind spots.

3. Implementation Delays and Governance Failures

The report notes systemic failures in executing planned environmental protections:

• A decade of delays: Multiple seabed protection measures proposed in the 2015 plan remain incomplete or unimplemented over a decade later.
• Policy Siloing: Marine conservation objectives are poorly integrated into broader policy areas, such as aquaculture and offshore wind development.
• Lack of Accountability: The absence of coordinated oversight for seabed protection, split across multiple public authorities and lacking a centralised body to coordinate delivery or enforce deadlines, has allowed policy implementation to stall without corrective intervention or clear departmental accountability.

ESS Recommendations for the Scottish Government

ESS has issued five formal recommendations under Section 20 of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021, which empowers ESS to hold public authorities accountable to environmental standards post-Brexit. The Scottish Government is expected, and legally required, to respond and establish an implementation pathway within a 6-month period from the publishing of the report.

Featured image: Paul Naylor | marinephoto.co.uk

No comments yet

Few industries are as woven into Scotland’s coastal identity as fishing and few face a more complex management challenge. The variety of different fishing methods and patterns that make up the fleet in Scotland need to be managed in different ways to lessen their interactions and impacts on the marine environment and support sustainable opportunities and coastal livelihoods.  

In reality, the approach to management in Scottish seas plays out as a patchwork of policies delivered by different pieces of legislation and there are different rules depending on the fishing type, the health of the fish or shellfish stock, and the environmental conditions.  

On paper, these instruments ought to work together to deliver an ecosystem-based approach to marine management – meaning that fishing can operate alongside other marine industries and activities all while not harming the environment. In practice, there is a persistent and troubling tendency for fisheries policy to duck the hardest decisions, producing plans and strategies that describe the status quo rather than driving meaningful change. The most glaring omission is spatial management. 

Spatial management of fishing involves a system that specifies where, when and how fishing can take place. There are some rules in Scottish seas that implement spatial restrictions, but they tend to be insufficient and targeted to a single species, area or a particular gear type. 

The closest thing we have to a framework for spatial restrictions of fishing is actually Scotland’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network, where different types of fishing are restricted based on the species or habitats that are being protected. The MPA network is an essential foundation for nature conservation, but it was never designed to function as a comprehensive framework for fisheries spatial management. The process for implementing MPA fisheries measures has been delayed for over 10 years and, despite this, is still seemingly used as a scapegoat for fisheries policy actions where further spatial measures would be effective at achieving management goals.  

A recent damning report by environment watchdog Environmental Standards Scotland shows that Scottish Ministers have failed implement their legal requirements to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES), a measure of marine health. They highlight that despite the existing MPA protection measures in Scotland’s MPA network and the different types of fisheries management, their scale, implementation and integration have been insufficient to achieve GES for the seabed. Persistent gaps in spatial management, weak governance and lack of data have left the health of Scotland’s seafloor habitats in continued decline, making robust spatial management the highest priority and most under-addressed solution in current fisheries and conservation policy. 

What is needed is a broader spatial management framework that builds on the MPA network rather than hiding behind it, and that designates core recovery areas closed to damaging gear. There should also be linked buffer zones around protected habitats, established preferential access zones for lower-impact methods such as creel fishing, and defined areas where trawling can continue if sustainable use can be demonstrated.  

Such an approach to management of fishing would be hugely beneficial, particularly in Scotland’s inshore (the area of sea out to 12 nautical miles from the shore). It would mean fairer opportunities for lower impact fishing gear, lower risk to vulnerable marine habitats and species, less conflict between fishers targeting the same species with different gear, and more win-win outcomes for nature and people.  

However, it’s a potential approach that is consistently sidelined in Scottish Government decision-making in favour of options that have result in minimal change to the status quo. There are numerous examples where greater use of spatial management in policy development would address both environmental and economic needs, such as the recently consulted Nephrops (langoustine) Fisheries Management Plans. Across these policy processes, spatial management appears in the margins, acknowledged but never fully confronted. When it does appear, policymakers tend to point at the MPA network as if it were sufficient. Judging by Environmental Standards Scotland’s recent findings, it is not. 

Crucially, a spatial management framework must complement MPA management and be developed in active alignment with marine planning and licensing processes, such as offshore renewables. Scotland’s National Marine Plan and the regional marine planning process provide exactly the governance architecture needed to make spatial fisheries management coherent and durable.  

Fisheries management that ignores the marine planning framework risks creating contradictions and missed opportunities, such as reducing conflict for resources, better protecting key habitats (such as fish nurseries) and making more refined and environmentally appropriate decisions about use of space.  

Large-scale spatial management of fishing stands out as the single most powerful tool available to Scotland for achieving Good Environmental Status of seafloor habitats, without which the health of the marine environment will continue to be stalled regardless of other policy measures.   

The political difficulty of spatial management is real. Changing where fishing can take place affects livelihoods and communities, and those impacts must be taken seriously. But the costs of inaction and the slow erosion of ecosystems across Scottish seas, are larger, longer-lasting, more expensive to fix, and ultimately borne by the same communities. The harder decision is ultimately the better one.  

2 comments

On June 4th we joined our members and supporters outside the Scottish parliament to demand urgent action to restore Scotland’s nature.

Following our Scotland Loves Nature campaign the Natural Environment Act was passed into law this year, requiring the Scottish government to set legally binding nature recovery targets. This could be a game changer – but the new targets will be just the start. Helping nature recover will require political commitment, funding and sustained action. And communities across Scotland will need government support to restore their local environments.

Every MSP can make a difference, and with a new set of MSPs just elected, now is the time to show them how much nature matters to Scotland’s people. It was great to see MSPs from all of Scotland’s six political parties joining us outside parliament and pledging to stand up for nature.

RSPB Scotland’s puppets symbolised some of Scotland’s threatened bird species – swift, puffin and curlew. Speaking to the crowd, Paul Walton from RSPB reminded us that every living thing on earth has a common ancestor – and that the continued diversity of natural life is key to our own future on the planet.

The rain didn’t bother Lorna Farquhar, who spends much of her time in the sea restoring seagrass and native oysters to Loch Craignish in her work with Seawilding. A member of Young Sea Changers Scotland, Lorna urged Scotland’s leaders to protect Scotland’s seas for future generations.

Pictures of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s bumblebee and Bright Green Nature’s red squirrel made sure the demo got some press coverage.

Ross Paton, organic dairy farmer and member of the Soil Association Scotland’s organic producer board, talked about the vital role farming has to play in restoring nature, and the need for much better government support to help farmers and crofters to farm sustainably.

Our trio of fantastic musicians helped keep energy high despite the changeable weather.

Zach Billot, a young leader with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, told us his generation will need to ‘fix, redesign, reimagine what our future looks like’. He called on us all ‘to stand up for one another, to stand up for your neighbours and friends, animal or human. To Stand up for Nature!’

All photos by Colin Hattersley

No comments yet

By Dan Paris is director of policy and engagement at Scottish Environment LINK

Scotland and nature are in many ways inseparable: our landscapes, our wildlife, and our seas are all at the heart of our shared culture and identity, and people come here from all around the world to see the wonders we enjoy on our doorsteps.

But our natural environment is nowhere near healthy. We face enormous risks from climate change, from the dramatic impacts of wildfires and extreme storms to the slower but very real threats of habitat loss and species decline. These risks come on top of longer historic declines which have left Scotland one of the most ecologically degraded countries in the world. Nature in Scotland could be so much richer than it is right now.

The Natural Environment Act aims to change this. The next Scottish Government will be required to set legal targets to restore biodiversity, putting nature protection on the same priority status as tackling climate change. These targets are urgent: Ministers have said that they intend to stop biodiversity loss by 2030 and significantly restore nature by 2045. That is no simple task.

Despite those looming deadlines, in the heat of an election campaign, the future of the planet has been pretty low profile. The thinktank Future Economy Scotland’s assessment of party manifestos was lukewarm on climate and nature commitments. The political debate around climate has centred on oil and gas – and, to be frank, has felt completely detached from the reality of the current energy crisis and the global transition away from hydrocarbons.

Things have changed since the UN climate summit brought thousands to Glasgow’s streets and the moral case made by school strikers kept the environment at the top of the political agenda. War, political instability, and the cost of living have altered the political context. At this election, for the first time, we will have MSPs elected on an explicitly anti-Net Zero platform.

But the supposed end of political consensus on the environment has been massively overstated. Despite a well-funded and very deliberate attempt to turn climate change into a wedge issue, all evidence shows that the vast majority of people across Scotland and the UK remain concerned about its impact and want government to act.

Polling shows that this will be reflected in this week’s election, with parties committed to meeting climate and nature targets expected to make up the overwhelming majority of MSPs. Even among those parties who are hostile to Net Zero, it is wrong to assume their voters share their enthusiasm. Research conducted last year by Diffley Partnership found that both Reform and Conservative supporters support greater climate action by two to one.

Most of the public want to protect the planet, and most of the politicians they elect say they’ll do so.

The next Scottish Government needs to block out the noise and focus on delivering what matters – otherwise the impact of climate change and nature loss will become even more disruptive in coming years.

This article was first published in The National on the 6th of May, 2026.

No comments yet

Scottish voters will go to the polls next month in an election that will bring a massive turnover in elected representatives. As many as half of the MSPs being sworn in are likely to be fresh faces, and – regardless of the winning party – the Cabinet and Ministers will look very different. 

The 2021-26 parliament was a rollercoaster for environmental policy, with substantial progress in some areas alongside notable failures in others. The Bute House Agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Greens set the agenda for the next five years with a range of commitments on climate and nature, not all of which came to pass. 

New laws and policy wins 

The high point for Scottish Environment LINK was the introduction, after years of campaigning, of a requirement for the Scottish government to set legally binding targets on nature. 

The Natural Environment Act is a real win for environmental campaigners. As well as the new nature targets, the Act contains powers on issues like deer management and forestry which – if used effectively – could make a real difference. 

Of course, targets alone do not create success. Good policy and sufficient funding are essential. The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and its first delivery plan are the key documents outlining how the outgoing Scottish Government intends to meet its nature targets. 

This parliament was a busy one for environmental legislation. Alongside the Natural Environment Act, we had new legislation on agriculture, the circular economy, land reform, and wildlife and muirburn. The Circular Economy Act is another piece of legislation which follows years of campaigning by LINK and our members. 

One of the frustrations shared by many campaigners and politicians is that much of this is ‘framework legislation’ – providing the government with powers to act, or requiring strategies or targets, but containing little detail in the law itself. This flexibility is not always inherently bad, but it does limit the ability of parliament to influence outcomes. 

The environmental sector is not always good at recognising our successes. There is much to be proud of over the past five years: the establishment of the Nature Restoration Fund; the regulation of burning on grouse moors; the long overdue implementation of fisheries management measures in offshore marine protected areas. There is also much more to do. 

Room for improvement 

The most notable failure in this parliamentary term was on climate – with the government conceding it could not meet its annual emissions targets and being forced to legislate to change them. This experience has led us to increase our focus in the next parliament on successful delivery of Scotland’s nature targets, as outlined in our most recent report Hitting the targets. 

There were other failures: the collapse of the Deposit Return Scheme, the withdrawal of proposals to implement Highly Protected Marine Areas, and the failure to establish a new National Park were all high-profile issues that sucked up time and political capital. 

The wider pace of change on issues like agricultural reform and marine protection is too slow and ambition must be raised in the next parliament to meet the scale of the environmental crises we face. 

What to expect in the next parliament 

With 2030 acting as a milestone for ambitions to stop biodiversity loss, this parliament will be a crucial one for environmental policy. 

Most parties are yet to publish their manifestos, and those will give us a stronger idea of the political appetite for change over the next five years. 

LINK’s priorities for the coming term are set out in our manifesto. To deliver for nature the next Scottish Government must: 

• Introduce statutory nature targets as soon as possible 

• Meet the 30 by 30 objective of protecting 30% of our land and sea by 2030 by expanding the protected area network, increasing the level of monitoring, and making targeted interventions to improve the ecological condition of protected sites. 

• Deliver effective Nature Networks by supporting planning authorities to go beyond a “mapping” approach and to deliver change in communities across Scotland. 

• Protect our seas with the early introduction of inshore marine protected area fisheries management measures and the roll out of Regional Marine Plans. 

• Reform agricultural funding to support farmers and crofters to restore nature, reduce emissions, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

• Use new legal powers to tackle deer overpopulation and reform forestry funding to support biodiverse woodlands through increased support for natural regeneration and colonisation. 

• Deliver landscape scale nature restoration through effective action on the drivers of biodiversity loss 

With lots to be done in coming years, the LINK network of over 50 members will be working with all parties where we can find common ground to support good policymaking and hold the Scottish government to account on delivery. 

No comments yet

In June 2021, in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic, MSPs logged on to a Nature Champions webinar to begin their journeys as Nature Champions in the 6th Scottish Parliament. It’s hard to imagine that, in just under five years, so much has been achieved! 

Since then, more than 100 MSPs have become Nature Champions for some of Scotland’s extraordinary species and habitats, collectively supported by over twenty Scottish Environment LINK member organisations. More than 50 MSPs have visited their species or habitats in person and over half of MSPs have raised awareness of their species or habitats in Parliament or through public awareness-raising activities. 

Over this Parliament, Scottish Environment LINK members have led five different cross-party group site visits for Nature Champions, including to Scotland’s rainforest, a lowland peatland, a river restoration project, a marine boat trip to Bass Rock, and a World Bee Day visit to the University of Stirling. Together, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Nature Champions in 2023, with 23 different MSPs providing audio descriptions as part of a public exhibition, ‘A Voice for Nature’, which took place in front of the Scottish Parliament. Five MSPs have been awarded the coveted MSP Nature Champion of the Year award, and five more received awards at the ‘Celebrating Nature Champions’ Parliamentary Reception in 2025. To top it all off, 15 Nature Champions took part in a Members’ Business Debate on the Nature Champions Initiative just last month.  

Nature Champions have made a real difference in ensuring that Nature’s voice is heard in Parliament, which is vital given today’s climate and biodiversity crises. While most Scots take enormous pride in our natural environment, many people don’t realise just how close to the wind we are really sailing. Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and 1 in 9 of Scotland’s species are threatened with extinction. MSP Nature Champions have been, and will continue to be, vital in leading the recovery of Scotland’s natural environment. 

As we look forward to the next Parliament, we’re looking forward to working with the new cohort of MSPs when the initiative relaunches in May. For those MSPs standing down, however, we want to emphasise that being a Nature Champion is not just for Parliament!  

We hope that MSPs continue to champion their species and habitats outside of Holyrood – and LINK member organisations are always looking for volunteers if anyone is eager to get stuck in! 

Our sincere thanks, on behalf of everyone at Scottish Environment LINK, to all Nature Champions for being a voice for Scotland’s threatened species and habitats in the 6th Scottish Parliament. 

No comments yet

When independent government advisors have zero confidence in government policy, there’s something badly wrong. But zero confidence is what the Climate Change Committee says it has in the Scottish government’s policies for reducing farming emissions beyond 2030. 

The climate watchdog’s latest report examines Scotland’s progress in reducing emissions and analyses whether government policy will do what it needs to by 2040. It looks at the emissions reductions expected in each sector and explains whether the government’s policy is credible or not.   

The picture painted on farming policy is stark. From 2031 to 2040, the climate advisors say that we cannot credibly expect any fall in emissions from agriculture based on the government’s current plans. Instead, all of the necessary reductions in greenhouse gases are categorised under the diplomatic language of “significant risks” and “insufficient plans”.   

This matters. Currently, farming is a major driver of climate change and the decline of Scotland’s prized wildlife and natural habitats.  

It doesn’t have to be – we can produce food in ways that support nature and reduce emissions. Some farmers and crofters have already adopted more sustainable methods, and many more would like to. But those who’ve made the switch have done so despite government policy, often facing significant financial and administrative barriers. That’s not an option for everyone. 

Farmers and crofters need support and funding to help them farm sustainably. But just five percent of public funding for agriculture is spent directly on supporting nature and climate friendly farming. That’s not going to get us where we need to be to meet our climate targets. 

For years, farmers’ groups and environment charities have called for a new farm funding system that works for nature, climate and people. Farmers and crofters are themselves on the frontline of climate change, with extreme weather making food production harder and more unpredictable. At the same time, increasing consumer demand for sustainable food means Scottish producers are at risk of being left behind.  

Yet Scotland’s farming policy is stuck in the last century, with most of the funding allocated on the basis of how much land you farm rather than what you do with it. And the pace of change is glacial. 

In December I was one of several environmental representatives who resigned from the Scottish government’s farming policy group. We were frustrated by decisions that ignored the urgent need to help farmers and crofters tackle climate change and nature loss, and the clear evidence that farm funding requires a major overhaul. 

The Climate Change Committee’s report reinforces our point. We need to see credible plans, and urgent action, to help Scotland’s farmers and crofters adapt to the greatest challenges of our time.  

What will it take to make that happen? 

Article by Pete Ritchie originally published in The National on February 28th 2026.

No comments yet

Juliet Caldwell, Senior Advocacy Officer, Scottish Environment LINK

After over a decade of sustained pressure, Scotland will now have a Natural Environment Act on the statute book. Its passage marks a significant shift: nature recovery is no longer just a policy aspiration but a legal responsibility.

The Act strengthens accountability, embeds nature across public decision-making and provides new tools to tackle some of the most entrenched drivers of biodiversity loss. But passing legislation is not the same as restoring nature. If the Scottish Government is serious about halting biodiversity loss and restoring ecosystems by 2045, delivery must now be urgent, ambitious and relentless.

Turning ambition into law

For the first time, Scotland has a statutory framework for nature recovery targets. Ministers are required to set targets for habitats, species and wider environmental conditions, creating a clear legal duty to act rather than simply aspire.

Importantly, the Act allows flexibility to go further as evidence and ambition grow. Targets are explicitly linked to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, reinforcing Scotland’s international responsibilities and helping ensure domestic action matches global commitments.

The scope of species targets has also been widened from initial proposals. Rather than focusing only on species already designated as threatened, targets can now apply to any species, including those at risk of future decline. This shift towards prevention is critical if we are to avoid managing biodiversity loss as a permanent emergency.

Alongside targets, the long-standing biodiversity duty on public bodies has been strengthened. Public bodies must now act in the way best calculated to contribute to statutory targets, helping to embed nature recovery across government, agencies and local authorities.

Independent oversight has also been protected. Any alternative to Environmental Standards Scotland as an independent reviewer must be independent of Ministers, safeguarding scrutiny and public confidence.

Next steps on environmental protections

A key outcome of the Bill’s passage was the removal of proposals that would have allowed Ministers to amend habitats regulations and environmental impact assessment legislation with insufficient safeguards. Their removal prevents regression in environmental protections and avoids opening the door to damaging deregulation, though key issues around the flexibility of the Habitats Regulations that were aired during the Bill process remain unresolved.

At LINK’s urging and following proposals by Mark Ruskell MSP and Rhoda Grant MSP, the Scottish Government has committed to producing new guidance on the Habitats Regulations, supported by an independent working group. This should help improve clarity in how these vital protections are applied in practice.

National Parks fit for the future

Reforms to National Parks governance strengthen their role as places where nature recovery, climate action and community wellbeing come together.

The Act introduces a clear definition of cultural development, recognises the importance of community prosperity without prioritising individual economic gain over public benefit, and requires a National Parks policy statement to be published every ten years.

When new National Parks are proposed, Ministers must now seek expert advice on management needs and lay that advice before Parliament. This strengthens transparency and helps ensure future designations are driven by long-term environmental and social outcomes.

Deer management that enables nature recovery

The most transformative changes may be in deer management. New Nature Restoration Orders give NatureScot clear powers to intervene where deer impacts are preventing nature recovery, including in protected areas and priority habitats.

Statutory timescales for deer control orders should prevent prolonged environmental damage and ensure earlier action where it is needed. A new combined deer and venison programme will set out a strategic approach to deer management, with Ministers confirming that this includes delivering necessary population reductions.

Public engagement and transparency have also been strengthened. Any individual or organisation can now raise concerns about deer impacts and receive a formal response from NatureScot, and Ministers have committed to producing a national deer data dashboard.

Nature built into everyday decisions

The Act also embeds nature recovery into areas often overlooked. Ministers are now required to introduce regulations for integral swift nest boxes in new buildings over five metres, helping biodiversity enhancement become a routine part of development.

In Scotland’s seas, climate adaptation is now a mandatory consideration for Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas, ensuring marine management reflects the realities of a changing climate.

By 2030, we need to see clear evidence that the Act is delivering real change on the ground:

• Statutory nature targets set quickly, aligned with science and international commitments
• Public bodies actively using strengthened biodiversity duties in decision-making
• NatureScot using new powers early and decisively, particularly on deer management
• Transparent reporting, accessible data and clear public accountability
• Measurable improvements in habitat condition, species trends and ecosystem resilience

The Natural Environment Act provides Scotland with many of the tools needed to restore nature by 2045. What matters now is how they are used.

Targets must be ambitious, delivery must be properly resourced, and action must be taken early, not delayed until damage becomes irreversible. Nature recovery is not optional. It underpins climate resilience, public health, thriving communities and a sustainable economy.

This Act is a major win. Whether it becomes a turning point for nature depends entirely on what happens next.

Photo: Morag Wells

No comments yet