The Government is developing the philosophy of sustainable development across all areas of its business to ensure every policy initiative recognises concern for the environment, economic growth and social progress.

Sustainable development will be an important consideration of the forthcoming integrated transport policy which will steer the way people, commodities and services are transported in the years ahead.

Some issues are capable of being addressed immediately to ensure that valuable guidance is available to those who continue to operate and maintain our transport networks.

Roads authorities in Scotland have been addressing their contribution to sustainable development in recent years through an initiative entitled Roads, Bridges and Traffic in the Countryside. The initiative was set into motion jointly by central and local government in Scotland and endorsed by HRH, The Prince of Wales in 1992. Here, The Scottish Office
has formulated and developed a policy that represents a distinctive approach to the design
and management of road landscape.

Cost Effective Landscape - Learning from Nature is an innovative procedure which will make a real and practical improvement in the sustainability of trunk road landscape design and management. The policy requires a questioning approach to every task and encourages the wise and imaginative use of resources and an appreciation of their environmental impacts. The objectives of the policy include improvements in value for money, aesthetics and biological diversity. The policy is aimed at harnessing the efficiency, power and beauty of nature. Application of the policy will question the value of standardised approaches and techniques when applied to individual sites and produce landscape that achieves clearly defined objectives. It will encourage the landscape designer's ability and innate desire to think laterally and creatively; to explore ideas and derive enjoyment from the design process and enable them to come closer to achieving their full potential.

Following considerable feedback from the consultation document "Working with Nature", this new document details a simple procedure to be followed, and with the help of illustrated examples, actively promotes an environmentally progressive attitude. It contains two appendices ­ one detailing the selection and procurement of native species and the other explaining the rationale behind the "Learning from Nature" philosophy.

This document forms part of the Roads, Bridges and Traffic in the Countryside suite of publications which together makes progress towards sustainable road transport. I commend this document and the adoption of the practical guidance it offers.