July 2nd, 2026 by olivia
Scottish Environment LINK has secured vital grant funding from The Naturesave Trust, which will help mobilise nationwide action to protect Scotland’s rapidly degrading marine environment. This crucial initiative will focus on mobilising public support for marine protected areas and applying coordinated pressure on the Scottish government to deliver a robust, well-managed and ecologically effective marine protected area network.
The funding arrives at a critical time for marine conservation in Scotland. Despite a commitment to protect 30% of our seas by 2030, many of Scotland’s marine protected areas have remained poorly managed, with no fishing restrictions in place more than a decade after they were designated to protect ocean wildlife.
Repeated government delays to put proper protections in place threaten the health of Scotland’s marine ecosystems along with the coastal communities that depend on them. This places vulnerable habitats at risk, including vital kelp forests, seagrass meadows, and fish nursery grounds, as well as species such as whales and basking sharks.
Scottish Environment LINK’s marine project aims to build greater public understanding of the marine environment and provide citizens with the knowledge and confidence to participate meaningfully in marine decision-making. The project will help to generate public pressure, amplify the voices of coastal communities, and advocate for marine protection to be elevated to a top parliamentary priority.
Deborah Long, Chief Executive of Scottish Environment LINK, said:
“This support from Naturesave will be a much needed boost for Scottish Environment LINK’s work advocating for Scotland’s seas. By helping us launch vital community and parliamentary initiatives, this funding will help us secure the healthy, well-managed seas that Scotland desperately needs, where wildlife and coastal communities flourish and ecosystems are protected, connected and thriving.”
The Naturesave Trust is funded by the activities of Naturesave Insurance, an award-winning broker with over 30 years’ experience in providing ethical and sustainable personal and commercial insurance.
June 5th, 2026 by Miriam Ross
Demonstrators gathered outside the Scottish parliament on Thursday 4 June to call on MSPs to act urgently to restore Scotland’s nature.
Campaigners wearing bumblebee, red squirrel and bat costumes and holding puffin, curlew and swift puppets were joined at the demonstration by MSPs from all the political parties represented at Holyrood.
One in nine species in Scotland are at risk of extinction, with almost half of species decreasing in number since the 1970s. Scotland ranks in the lowest 15% of countries globally for the overall health of its biodiversity.
But with Scotland’s new Natural Environment Act requiring government ministers to set legally binding targets to restore nature, campaigners have called the start of the new Scottish parliament a “moment of hope”.
Deborah Long, chief executive of Scottish Environment LINK which organised the demonstration, said:
“This is a real moment of hope for Scotland’s nature. By setting targets and acting urgently to meet them, we have the chance to stop the loss of the nature we all love and to bring it back to health.
“But to make that happen, we need our leaders to treat nature as a priority, not just a ‘nice to have’. That’s why we’re calling on every MSP in the Scottish parliament to stand up for nature.
“Our natural environment is incredibly important to Scotland’s people, and that depth of feeling was evident as we stood outside parliament. Scotland’s nature shapes our lives in so many ways, and it will shape our future too. Not least, it’s vital to the fight against climate change. If we help nature recover, it will sustain our lives for generations to come.”
The Natural Environment Act, passed in January, followed years of campaigning by Scottish Environment LINK, a coalition of more than 50 environment charities including WWF Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Soil Association Scotland, the Scottish Seabird Centre, the Woodland Trust Scotland, and many more.
May 25th, 2026 by olivia
Environmental charities have warned that Scotland’s flagship plan to restore nature is not yet delivering the change needed on the ground, as a new public tracker reveals that more than one in three actions set out in the plan are either delayed or have not been started.
The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Delivery Plan (2024–2030), published by the Scottish Government, sets out how Scotland aims to halt nature loss by the end of the decade, including restoring peatlands, improving the health of our rivers, protecting our seas and supporting wildlife conservation. But a new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Tracker, launched today by Scottish Environment LINK, shows a growing gap between promises and progress.
The tracker analyses all 136 actions in the plan and finds that around one in seven (18 actions) are complete, about half (69) are in progress, and more than a third are behind schedule (16 delayed and 33 not started).
Alongside delivery status, the tracker introduces a new nature recovery score, assessing how much specific actions could contribute to nature recovery. The results show that while activity is underway, it is not yet translating into meaningful large-scale recovery.
Scottish Environment LINK, a coalition of leading environment charities, launched the tracker to hold the Scottish Government and its agencies to account on nature restoration. The tracker will be updated regularly, with quarterly deep-dives into priority actions and a full annual review. The charities say the tracker will help identify delivery gaps early, strengthen scrutiny and pinpoint where more funding or stronger action is needed.
The findings come as Scotland enters a critical period for nature following the passing of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act, which will require the government to set legally binding targets to restore nature.
Bruce Wilson, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, one of the charities behind the tracker, said:
“We’re a nation of nature-lovers, and yet Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. The Scottish Government’s plan sets out what needs to happen but what matters now is action.
“What our tracker shows is that while there is a lot of activity, it’s not yet delivering the scale or speed of change needed to restore Scotland’s nature across our land and seas.
“The next few years are critical. This is when plans must turn into real action restoring habitats, protecting species, and tackling the causes of nature loss.
“The Scottish Government and its agencies share responsibility for making this work. Without faster progress Scotland risks missing its 2030 nature targets.”
Dr Paul Walton, Head of Habitats and Species at RSPB, also part of the coalition, said:
“Restoring Scotland’s nature is not a simple task, but it’s vital, and as a country we can do it. Scotland has the knowledge and expertise we need to stop the destruction of nature and to help it recover.
“The Scottish Government’s plan contains much that’s sensible, but a plan is only as good as its results. For it to work requires committed leadership and effective, sustained action. Our tracker is aimed at holding the Scottish Government and public bodies to account so that current and future generations can live in a country where nature and people can thrive.”
May 12th, 2026 by olivia
Scottish Environment LINK’s Scotland Loves Nature campaign has been named as a finalist for ‘campaign of the year’ in this year’s Scottish Charity Awards.
The awards are run annually by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). This year’s shortlist includes 35 individuals and organisations under nine distinct categories from charities and voluntary groups across the country. Winners will be announced on 11 June 2026 in a celebratory awards ceremony hosted by broadcaster Sally Magnusson at the Raddison Blu in Glasgow.
Scottish Environment LINK launched the Scotland Loves Nature campaign in 2024 to call for legally binding government targets to restore nature. One in nine species in Scotland is at risk of extinction, and almost half have decreased in number since the 1970s.
Thousands of people supported the campaign by writing to their MSPs, signing petitions, demonstrating outside parliament and sharing moving stories about what nature means to them.
The campaign achieved its goal in 2026 when the Natural Environment Act was passed into law, requiring Scottish government ministers to set legally binding nature recovery targets – giving restoring nature the same priority status as tackling climate change.
Deborah Long, chief executive of Scottish Environment LINK, said:
“We’re delighted that Scotland Loves Nature is a finalist at the Scottish Charity Awards. Restoring Scotland’s nature on land and at sea is an urgent priority, and the new nature targets secured by our campaign should galvanise action for nature across society. A huge number of people have added their voices to this campaign, and it’s lovely to see it celebrated alongside so much fantastic work across the charity sector.”
Anna Fowlie, chief executive of SCVO said:
“Across Scotland and beyond, voluntary organisations are making an extraordinary difference, and the breadth and depth of their impact never fails to inspire. Our 2026 finalists epitomise this.
“Our voluntary sector is truly essential to Scottish society – we see the positive impact organisations and individuals make in communities across the country every single day.
“Best of luck to all of our finalists, and I look forward to celebrating with them in June as we highlight the phenomenal work each and every one of them contributes to.”
View the full shortlist for 2026
April 1st, 2026 by olivia
Focused leadership, expert staffing and an ‘early warning system’ will be key to meeting Scotland’s targets to restore nature, according to a new report released today by Scottish Environment LINK.
The coalition of more than 50 environment charities calls on the Scottish government to set ambitious but achievable targets, and makes a series of recommendations on how to ensure these are met in its report, ‘Hitting the targets: Delivering Scotland’s nature ambitions’.
Nature is in crisis globally, and in Scotland one in nine species is threatened with extinction. The Natural Environment Act, which became law this year, requires Scottish government ministers to set legally binding targets to restore Scotland’s wildlife and habitats.
Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet, ranking 212th out of 240 countries and territories for how much of its biodiversity remains. Yet it is home to habitats and species of global ecological significance, including peatlands, temperate rainforest and seabirds.
The new report calls on the Scottish government to set targets without delay. Restoring nature, say the report’s authors, will require, ‘a step change in how government operates, with the natural environment recognised as a core outcome across portfolios.’ They call for clear leadership from the responsible government minister, and funding that reflects the scale of the task.
The report also recommends the Scottish government makes greater use of experts in its nature restoration work. And since goals such as the recovery of native woodlands can take decades to achieve, the report calls for an early warning system that would measure actions like reducing deer densities and tackling invasive Rhododendron ponticum to assess whether its wider goals are on track.
The report emphasises the need for rapid action and sets out priority actions for the 2026-2031 Scottish Parliament, including early introduction of fisheries restrictions in inshore marine protected areas, reform of agricultural funding to help farmers and crofters restore nature and reduce climate emissions, and reform of forestry funding to support the natural regeneration of biodiverse woodlands.
Photo by Danny Carden
Read the report in full here.
March 30th, 2026 by julietcaldwell
Scottish Environment LINK notes the publication of the new Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) Action Plan 2026–2032 by NatureScot.
The Plan is a step forward. It sets out the scale of the problem, the impacts on nature and the economy and the need for action at a landscape and catchment scale. We recognise the inclusion of the need for increased investment, including the potential role of private finance.
It is encouraging that the Scottish Government has signalled it is exploring key issues raised during the passage of the Natural Environment Bill, including the impacts of non-native gamebird releases and the spread of species such as Sitka spruce. These are important and complex challenges which will require further evidence and action.
However, to be effective, the Plan now needs to move from high-level ambition to clear delivery. There is a risk that, without further detail, the Plan will not drive the scale of change required.
In particular, we think the next stage should:
- Set out specific, measurable actions and timelines
- Clearly identify priority species and threats
- Show who is responsible for delivery
- Build in lessons from past work to avoid repeating mistakes
- Strengthen monitoring and accountability
We also note the upcoming work of Environmental Standards Scotland and expect this to help inform and strengthen delivery over time.
LINK’s report Invasive Non-native Species in Scotland: A Plan for Effective Action sets out practical recommendations and principles to support effective action. We look forward to working with NatureScot, the Scottish Government and partners to help turn this Plan into effective action on the ground.
Image credit: John Anderson
March 24th, 2026 by olivia
Responding to the publication of the Scottish Government’s Rural Support Plan, environmental groups have warned that the plan represents a “lost decade” to support farmers and crofters to meet Scotland’s climate and nature targets.
After Brexit, Scotland and other UK nations were required to develop new farm funding systems to replace the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. While England and Wales have moved at faster rates, Scotland has maintained the old system of direct payments with money disproportionately given to the largest landowners with few environmental conditions attached.
The new plan, published today, confirms that the Scottish Government intends to retain the status quo until 2030, when a modest proportion of the budget will be moved from the “Tier 1” direct payments into other funding envelopes. The plan does not specify how this money will be spent, though it could support increased investment in environmental measures.
The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 requires the Scottish Government to produce a plan every five years setting out how it will use farm support payments to deliver a range of outcomes which may include reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and improving the biodiversity of agricultural land. The first plan runs from 2026-2031.
Pete Ritchie, Convener of Scottish Environment LINK’s Food and Farming Group, said:
“Farming is on the frontline of climate impacts, with extreme weather and rising temperatures making it harder to produce food. We urgently need to help the industry to reduce emissions, restore nature, and become more resilient to a changing climate.
“The Rural Support Plan should set out a clear path for how the Scottish Government will help our farmers and crofters become both ecologically and economically sustainable, starting now.
“Instead, the plan will see Scotland maintaining an ineffective and unfair system of payments for a decade after the chance for reform, and only modest changes even then.
“We welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has finally sent a clear signal that the balance of funding will shift to support sustainable farming. But this plan kicks that change towards the end of the next parliament and still does not go far enough to outlining the concrete changes industry will be asked to make.
“For years, we – and many others – have been pressing Ministers to make faster progress and introduce more substantive changes to help farmers and crofters produce food more sustainably. The plan represents a lost decade of potential to reform farming policy to ensure it delivers for nature and climate. It is not fit for purpose and must be revisited immediately after the election.”
February 25th, 2026 by olivia
Environment charities have called on the Scottish government to urgently change track following a warning from climate advisors that Scotland does not have a clear pathway to reduce emissions from farming.
Today’s [Wednesday] progress report by the Climate Change Committee shows that the independent advisors do not have confidence that any of the government’s policies for reducing farming emissions from 2031 onwards are credible.
Instead the climate watchdog says that there are ‘significant risks’ in the government’s approach and ‘insufficient plans’ to meet the targets to reduce emissions from agriculture. Over the two carbon budget periods from 2031-35 and 2036-40, the Climate Change Committee does not categorise any of the plans to reduce agricultural emissions as credible.
The significant intervention from the Climate Change Committee follows the decision in December by representatives of leading environmental organisations to walk away from the government’s farming policy process, citing its failure to help farmers and crofters tackle climate change and nature loss.
Deborah Long, Chief Executive of Scottish Environment LINK, a coalition of more than 50 environment organisations, said today:
“Agriculture is a major driver of climate change and helping farmers and crofters to reduce their emissions is essential if Scotland is to hit our climate targets.
“Farmers and crofters are at the frontline of climate impacts, and the extreme weather of recent weeks is just the latest example of how a changing climate is making food production harder and more unpredictable.
“This significant intervention by the government’s own independent advisors adds to the chorus of voices urging a change in approach. Environmental groups have been clear that the government is failing to set out realistic plans for Scottish farming to get on the right track.
“Right now, just 5% 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. We need a funding system that enables farmers and crofters to make the shift to sustainable farming in the knowledge that the Scottish government has their backs.”
January 30th, 2026 by olivia
Environment charities have called Scotland’s Natural Environment Bill, passed into law by the Scottish parliament yesterday (29 January), a ‘game changer’ for nature.
The bill will require the Scottish government to set legally binding targets to restore Scotland’s nature, and to meet those targets.
Scotland ranks in the lowest 15% of countries globally for the overall health of its biodiversity, and since the 1970s almost half of its species have decreased in number. One in nine species are at risk of extinction in Scotland today.
Scottish Environment LINK, a coalition of 50 environment charities, launched the Scotland Loves Nature campaign in 2024 to call for legal nature targets through a Natural Environment Bill.
Deborah Long, chief executive of Scottish Environment LINK, said:
“Scotland’s people love Scotland’s nature, and the Natural Environment Bill is a victory for all of us. Nature can recover if we help it, and this new law shows that Scotland is ready to give our amazing nature the help it desperately needs.
“Legally binding targets will require our leaders to make nature a priority, putting action in place at every level of society. And crucially, we the public will be able to see whether the targets are being met, and hold government to account.
“Bringing our iconic wildlife and habitats back to health will need committed leadership, funding, and support for Scotland’s communities to restore their local environment. It’s hard to imagine a more vital task, and today gives me hope that together we can set that work in motion. This is a real game-changer.”
January 22nd, 2026 by olivia
A scheme that pairs politicians with threatened or iconic species or habitats will receive global attention at the World Economic Forum in Davos today – Thursday 22nd.
For over a decade, Nature Champions – pioneered in Scotland by environmental charity Scottish Environment LINK – has been encouraging parliamentarians to become a visible, accountable “champion” for their chosen species or habitat.
In this role, politicians work alongside conservation experts to understand real threats, policy barriers and practical solutions.
The award-winning initiative has been a huge success since its launch in 2013, with 80% of Members of the Scottish Parliament becoming Nature Champions for Scotland’s native wildlife – representing everything from the blue whale and bilberry bumblebee to the ash tree and ancient woodlands. It has also inspired similar programmes in the Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru) and the UK Parliament.
Today in Davos, Scottish Environment LINK and the University of Exeter’s Nature & Climate Impact Team (NCIT) are unveiling Nature Champions Worldwide – a project that will share this successful model with governments and civic institutions around the world.
Dr Deborah Long, Chief Officer at Scottish Environment LINK said: “The Nature Champions initiative has seen parliamentarians climb mountains in search of bees, wade across rivers for endangered mussels, attend night-time bat surveys and even abseil from trees in support of our extraordinary species and habitats. However, being a Nature Champion isn’t just about experiencing the treasures of our natural environment, it’s also about helping to raise awareness and promote action in Parliament. For more than a decade, Nature Champions have been helping to give nature a voice in Parliament – a voice that is so greatly needed in the context of both the nature and climate emergencies.”
The project will be showcased at a high-profile temporary venue in Davos called MonkeyRock: A Species Corner for Nature – which features an eight-metre-high sculpture of a great ape standing on a rock-like pavilion, conceived by artist Joep van Lieshout and Professor Gail Whiteman, who leads NCIT.
Today’s event at MonkeyRock will feature Cora Taylor, Research Impact Fellow at NCIT, and James Byrne, Head of Business Development at Plantlife International.
Taylor said:
“I’ve seen how easily nature gets lost in policy debates when it’s treated as an abstract issue. Nature Champions works because it changes that – it asks leaders to take responsibility for something real and living. When that happens, decisions change. The task now is taking this approach to scale, quickly.”
Byrne said:
“I worked on Nature Champions for ten years in Wales. I’ve seen how linking a politician to a species can transform the conversation – the politician gets to know that species, its habitats, and why it is at risk. When a leader becomes the champion for a particular creature, they inevitably become the champion for the entire habitat it depends on. This model creates powerful, personal advocacy that drives action for our most vulnerable species and ecosystems. Scaling this through Nature Champions is a game-changer for global conservation.”
Scottish Environment LINK and NCIT are currently seeking funding to support the development of Nature Champions Worldwide.
To find out more, please email NCITeam@exeter.ac.uk
