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FOREWORDBy Sarah Boyack MSP, Minister for
Transport and the Environment
It is 6 years since the UK Government signed up to the Convention on Biological Diversity, following the Rio Earth Summit. Today, work on biodiversity is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive. We have an opportunity to set out a distinctive Scottish approach for Scotland.
We are committed to making sustainable development central to our way of life in Scotland. Care for our natural resources is an essential part of that approach. We need to deal with the longer term issues and find ways to build biodiversity into policy across the range.
Scotland's natural heritage offers opportunities to us all. Better understanding of our biodiversity enables everyone to become involved in its care. But it also allows us all to enjoy the pleasures of the natural world while taking a responsible approach to the impacts our own behaviour may have. We know we care about the attractive species -like the corncrake and the Scots pine. But biodiversity means more than that - protecting species which may not be as pretty as some, but are key to the systems on which we depend. That is why biodiversity is vital.
The Scottish Biodiversity Group has already made great strides in Scotland. There are 226 species action plans and 41 habitat action plans relevant to Scotland and almost all our local authorities are working on Local Biodiversity Action Plans. This publication, Action for Scotland's Biodiversity, is part of the Group's programme to raise awareness of Scotland's natural resources.
I hope that everyone who reads it will find a relevance to their own lives. If we can understand better the value of the natural world, we are better equipped to care for it with respect and responsibility and, most importantly, to enjoy all it can offer to us. "Action for Scotland's Biodiversity" will take us further on that road.
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