« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
1 Background and Context
Native Scots Pine and Loch An Eilean: Image courtesy of SNH
Biodiversity
"Biodiversity" or "biological diversity" is the complete range and variety of all living things. Biodiversity is made up of many individual species of every kind, including humans - and the places or environments in which they live. It includes differences or diversity between species, diversity within individual species (at a genetic level), and diversity of habitats and ecosystems. And crucially, biodiversity also encompasses the complex and intricate web of connections and relationships between all life on our planet.
Why does biodiversity matter?
Biodiversity matters because people and societies depend on plants, animals and almost every other part of the living environment for their existence and livelihoods. Although many of us nowadays live in towns and cities, biodiversity still provides the raw materials for most of our food, clothing, medicines, fuel, materials for construction, recreation, tourism, and much more. Biodiversity also provides the essential functions - sometimes called "ecosystem services" - that are the basis of our lives, such as soil formation, nutrient cycling, climate and disease regulation, carbon recycling, pollination, and purifying water supplies. There are important links between ecosystem services and climate change - with climate change impacting on ecosystems, and biodiversity providing potential for adaptation. Many people also value and appreciate the natural world as an indispensable element of their quality of life, gaining pleasure, meaning, or a sense of well-being from the natural world.
Scotland's biodiversity
In Scotland we are lucky to have an enormously rich and varied biodiversity. Many of our plants and animals, the diversity of species and some of their genetic characteristics, are unique and distinctive. Many of them are internationally significant and important. A healthy and diverse natural environment is the essential foundation for our vision of a greener, stronger, healthier Scotland. We all depend on and benefit from Scotland's priceless biodiversity, and we have a responsibility and a duty to safeguard it.
The natural heritage of Scotland - its plants and animals, geology and landforms, natural beauty and amenity - is remarkably diverse. Scotland and its surrounding seas may support as many as 90,000 native species, from the largest mammal to a multitude of tiny organisms. We are only familiar with a very small proportion of this total.
As part of an island at a northerly latitude which was glaciated until around 10,000 years ago, Scotland and its biodiversity have much in common with Nordic countries at similar latitudes. Scotland does not have a particularly large variety of species compared to some other parts of the world, but it is nonetheless remarkable for its diverse mix of Atlantic, Arctic and Arctic-alpine environmental features. Many plants, particularly mosses and liverworts, have their European stronghold on Scotland's Atlantic and Western Isles coast. Around 30 species, including the Scottish crossbill and the Scottish primrose, occur nowhere else in the world.
Scotland's seas, positioned between sub-polar and sub-tropical influences, are among the most biologically productive in the world. They support fascinating communities of marine habitats and species, including spectacular and surprising features like cold-water corals. The international importance of Scotland's seas is emphasised by the very significant breeding populations of seabirds and grey seals that they support.
Scotland's unique biodiversity is important for its own sake and because it supports the lives of everyone who lives here. But our natural environment is also appreciated and valued far beyond Scotland's borders by the many visitors who come to Scotland every year to enjoy its wonderful nature and scenery, and by people across the world who relish the foods and other products that Scotland's natural environment provides. So Scotland's natural riches provide a basis for its vital tourist industry and high quality food, drink and clothing industries, supporting thousands of jobs across the country.
Working for a healthy planet
More than 150 countries, including the UK, have made a commitment to protecting biodiversity by signing the 1992 International Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD). 1 Scotland has an important part to play in this.
The UK Biodiversity Action Plan, which was launched in 1994, has given the impetus for vital work to protect wildlife and habitats. Partners across Scotland, from Government bodies to non-governmental organisation and local community initiatives, are engaged in its delivery, including safeguarding habitats and species to which Scotland is home.
Scotland is committed to playing its part in the European Union target to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. 2 This is a challenging target and calls for determined effort to achieve it - for ourselves, for generations to come, and for the future of the planet. This report features many successes that will contribute to that goal, and also highlights the key challenges we need to address over the years ahead.
Scottish Biodiversity Strategy
The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy It's In Your Hands, 3 published in 2004, presented a 25-year vision and framework for action to protect Scotland's biodiversity. The Strategy aims "to conserve biodiversity for the health, enjoyment and well being of the people of Scotland now and in the future", through five key objectives:
1. Species and habitats: To halt the loss of biodiversity and continue to reverse previous losses through targeted action for species and habitats.
2. People: To increase awareness, understanding and enjoyment of biodiversity, and engage many more people in its conservation and enhancement.
3. Landscapes and ecosystems: To restore and enhance biodiversity in all our urban, rural and marine environments through better planning, design and practice.
4. Integration and co-ordination: To develop an effective management framework that ensures biodiversity is taken into account in all decision making.
5. Knowledge: To ensure that the best new and existing knowledge on biodiversity is available to all policy makers and practitioners.
The Strategy focuses on the relationship between biodiversity and people, reflecting our dependence on the natural environment, and the potential damage we can cause it. The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 requires public bodies in Scotland to take biodiversity into account in their activities.
Reporting on progress
Scottish Ministers are required by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to report to the Parliament every three years on progress in implementing the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. 4 This is the first Report. It has been compiled by the Scottish Government in consultation with a wide range of partners, including members of the Scottish Biodiversity Committee and Scottish Natural Heritage.
Building on firm foundations
Legal protection of species in Scotland dates as far back as the Wild Birds Act 1880. Later legislation, including The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the European Birds and Habitats Directives 5 of the 1990s, reflects the importance of conserving biodiversity. Nationally and internationally important sites have been identified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSIs), Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation, and National Nature Reserves. The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 established a new framework for nature conservation in Scotland, building on these strong foundations.
The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy emphasises that we need to think more widely about how we protect and enhance biodiversity and safeguard our natural resources. Caring for the natural environment is not a matter just for specialists or conservationists, or something that belongs only to special areas. Each and every one of us relies on and uses natural resources in every part of our lives. Protecting biodiversity involves all of us. Put simply, we need to be aware of our dependence on the natural world, and to act responsibly in the way we live our lives and organise society. The Strategy provides a basis to do that.
Government has a vital role to play. As we think more broadly about protecting the natural world, it becomes apparent that some of the greatest gains are to be made by integrating it into work that is not solely about nature conservation. Over the past three years, biodiversity issues have been built into a range of policies delivered by the Scottish Government.
- Biodiversity Duty: the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 gives all public bodies in Scotland a duty to conserve biodiversity as they carry out their work. This duty complements the drive to improve the environmental performance of public bodies across Scotland, giving a clear signal that safeguarding biodiversity is not an optional extra but an essential aspect of how we live and work. There are examples throughout this report of how public bodies across Scotland are turning the biodiversity duty into real improvements in our environment.
- Supporting Agriculture: the new Scotland Rural Development Programme for 2007-2013 has been designed to give land managers across Scotland clear incentives to work in harmony with nature and conserve biodiversity on their land.
- Water Resources: the European Water Framework Directive 6 requires Scotland to manage all its water resources in streams, rivers and seas to ensure they are in the best environmental condition. The work to implement this new approach offers enormous opportunities to enhance biodiversity across Scotland while protecting our waters.
- Planning: the need to take full account of the impacts of development on the natural environment and to mitigate damage is being integrated into the modernised development planning and development management systems.
- Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA): Scotland has taken a positive decision in requiring that all major public plans, programmes and strategies (including policies) that are likely to result in significant environmental effects, if implemented, are fully assessed for their likely environmental impacts. The SEA approach includes, where relevant, an assessment of any significant impacts on biodiversity and the measures envisaged to prevent, reduce and offset as fully as possible any significant adverse effects.
- Education: the development of a new core Curriculum for Excellence for Scotland's schools provides a vital opportunity to ensure that our children and young people can learn about and learn from their natural environment.
 |  |
Mixed woodland and farmland, Strathtay, Perthshire:
Image courtesy of SNH | Vane Farm RSPB Reserve, Loch Leven:
Image courtesy of SNH |
 |  |
Portlethan Primary School pupils on a visit to SNH Nature Reserve at St Cyrus:
Image courtesy of SNH | Dingy Skipper Butterfly:
Image courtesy of SNH |
« Previous | Contents | Next »