Scotlink/Our Work/Our Land/Wildlife

Wildlife

The Wildlife Group works to achieve its aim to ensure Scotland’s natural heritage, on land and sea, is complete in its diversity, composed of fully functioning ecosystems and resilient to accelerated environmental change.

Group Objectives

Ensuring the Natural Environment Act delivers strong, ambitious and measurable nature targets, through robust secondary legislation that drives real biodiversity recovery and accountability.
Maintaining a close focus on delivery of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS) and its Delivery Plan, ensuring progress is tracked and gaps in implementation are identified and addressed.
Strengthening action on Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS), focusing on effective implementation of the Scottish INNS Action Plan, improved coordination across agencies and adequate resourcing to reduce ecological impacts.
Delivering meaningful outcomes from 30×30, ensuring protected areas and Nature30 sites are effectively managed, monitored and contributing to real biodiversity gain rather than existing only on paper.
Advancing Nature Networks and landscape-scale restoration, ensuring these are properly funded and embedded in land use and planning decisions to improve habitat connectivity and resilience.
Supporting integrated approaches to wildlife policy across land and sea, ensuring biodiversity priorities are reflected in wider decision-making and delivered in practice.

Convener

Bruce Wilson (Scottish Wildlife Trust)

Vice Convener

Dr Paul Walton (RSPB Scotland)

Staff Liaison

Juliet Caldwell

Subgroups

INNS Subgroup – Focuses specifically on invasive non-native species policy. It develops shared LINK positions, coordinates engagement with NatureScot and Scottish Government and pushes for stronger implementation of the INNS Action Plan and better resourcing for prevention, control and eradication.
30×30 Subgroup – Works on Scotland’s commitment to protecting at least 30% of land and sea for nature. It focuses on engaging with NatureScot to ensure protected areas and Nature30 sites are effectively designated, properly managed and deliver genuine biodiversity outcomes, including through monitoring and implementation of Nature Networks.

The Wildlife Group also run the Nature Champion Initiative, which asks Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to lend political support to the protection of Scotland’s threatened wildlife and habitats by becoming ‘Nature Champions.’

Latest News

Nature protection scorecard launched to track Scottish government performance

28 Aug 2026

Scottish Environment LINK has today launched a new Nature Protection Scorecard to track the performance of the Scottish government and public bodies in protecting and restoring the natural environment. The scorecard collates a range of data to judge how well the Scottish government is performing and the extent to which public bodies are using their enforcement powers. While not intended to be comprehensive, the scorecard […]

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Scotland’s nature plan falling short with over one in three actions behind schedule

25 May 2026

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 […]

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How to hit Scotland’s nature targets – new report

01 Apr 2026

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 […]