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Introduction
The 226 published Species Action Plans and 41 Habitat Action Plans which apply to Scotland may appear to represent an overwhelming burden. Fortunately, action to help one group of species or a particular habitat is likely to benefit others, because much of our biodiversity is intricately linked. Looking across the plans it can be seen that there are common opportunities for action. This chapter highlights some of the key actions that should deliver considerable benefits for a range of species.
The Main Issues Affecting Biodiversity
Farming
Agriculture plays the major role in shaping our countryside and consequently its biodiversity. Many species and habitats rely on continuing farming and crofting practices to ensure their survival, though many other species and habitats have suffered as a result of more intensive agricultural practices. Throughout the action plans, practical ways are sought which enable farming to contribute to meeting biodiversity objectives without economic loss to the people who manage the land. Farmers, crofters and conservationists share the view that the way forward lies in properly targeting farming incentives, as well as providing better advice and support that will help our farmland wildlife. The coincidence of environmental and economic use of land is possibly greater in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe; hence co-operation is vital.
One of the main issues to address is the trend towards specialisation and more intensive management of crops and grazing pastures. These trends have led to declines in important habitats and reduced the value of much agricultural land to wildlife. Increasing intensity of production has resulted in losses of once common wild flowers of arable land, including such species as cornflower and corn cockle. More recently there has been a decline in farmland birds, probably due to the loss of crop rotations, winter stubbles and fallows, and a switch from hay to early cuts of silage. Grazed habitats, including heather moorland and native woodlands, are deteriorating through changes in livestock production, especially with the intensification of sheep grazing. Conversely, some grassland habitats and species can be affected adversely by too little grazing or the loss of cattle. The use of pesticides _ herbicides, fungicides and insecticides and fertilisers - affects arable weeds, the overall biomass of insects, farmland birds and wetland species due to pollution of water courses. Several species rely on important farmland features such as hedgerows, wetlands and copses. These traditional aspects of the farmed landscape have declined as farm structures have changed to accommodate modern technology.
There is an increasing recognition that farming must provide the nation's food and support rural communities, whilst at the same time supporting and enhancing biodiversity. Government grants and subsidies, especially under the agri-environment schemes, are becoming more targeted to help conserve and manage wildlife on farmed land. Technological solutions to help reduce the impacts of agriculture on wildlife are being developed by Scottish Natural Heritage in its TIBRE (Targeted Inputs for a Better Rural Environment) initiative. The increased consumer demand for farm produce derived from environmentally friendly sources has led to a number of marketing schemes which secondarily support biodiversity objectives.
Forestry
The 'semi-natural' or 'native' woodlands of Scotland are important habitats which support many of our rarest and most threatened species, for example the green shield moss, a moss only known from two decomposing logs in Scotland. Scotland has lost much of its natural tree cover and many of the species that depend on this habitat have declined and may continue to be declining. The priority is to protect the remnants of native woodland from further deterioration and to expand the cover of native tree species, particularly in areas adjacent
to or close to existing woodland sites; this should give some of the rare species a chance to enlarge their population sizes. Expansion of forest cover requires careful planning to avoid damaging open ground habitats that are also of conservation importance and the species that depend on non-forested land.
Virtually all woodlands, which are managed in a way that supports and enhances their biodiversity, can also be multi-purpose. They are capable of providing economic benefits (e.g. timber, employment) and social benefits (e.g. recreational opportunities, a better environment), thereby contributing considerably to local communities. The action plans recognise that sustainable use of timber from native woodlands can offer a practical way of encouraging the better management and expansion of these habitats.
On woodland sites of high nature conservation value, such as the native pinewood remnants or plantations supporting rare or endangered species, careful management is required to retain the habitat in favourable condition. In general this includes allowing the woodland to regenerate and if possible to expand naturally. Grazing by domestic livestock and deer is a major issue which is limiting the regeneration of trees. However, the use of fences to exclude deer can itself be a major problem because birds, such as black grouse and capercaillie fly into them and are killed. Deer Management Groups will have a crucial role to play in reducing and maintaining the deer population at suitable levels to allow woodland regeneration, whilst at the same time ensuring that the economic activity that is based on deer forest management continues.
Planted woodlands and forests, including those using non-native tree species, also have a role to play in conserving biodiversity. The restructuring of planted forests provides a suitable opportunity to protect open ground species, to help to restore sensitive habitats such as peatlands, and to improve the quality of water bodies, both rivers and lochs. Within all forest types, sympathetic management practices, such as careful management of the rides to foster food and nectaring plants for butterflies or judicious timing of certain forest operations, can support species and habitats of biodiversity importance. A number of grants and incentives is available to help forest managers maintain and enhance biodiversity. New planting is being directed by policies which aim to protect open ground species and habitats. Market demand for products derived from sustainably managed forests is now supported by a certification scheme that requires biodiversity objectives to be addressed in woodland management.
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The green shield moss is an extremely rare species |
The sustainable harvesting of marine species presents a major challenge |
Fisheries
The marine environment has a wealth of biodiversity, much of which is still poorly understood. The sustainable exploitation of some marine species presents a major challenge; not only can the marine biodiversity suffer but also the long-term livelihoods of those people who depend on the sea's resources may be at risk. Intensive, localised exploitation of a single species can affect other fish stocks and other wildlife that feeds on the species in question. An example is of the sandeel, where excessive exploitation can affect the breeding success of a number of species of sea birds as well as the sandeels themselves. Fishing gear can also have an impact through disturbance caused to sensitive seabed communities.
Fish should be recognised as an important part of the marine ecosystem and not simply as isolated populations of a few commercial species. Ways must be found to harvest fish in a sustainable manner rather than in the 'boom and bust' pattern of past decades. The fishing industry itself would benefit from this as stocks would be managed for the future. Other wildlife would also survive, including the many characteristic species which naturally share the sea's resources with us, thus supporting the long-term conservation of Scotland's marine biodiversity.
Greater local involvement in the management of inshore fisheries, including shellfish and sandeels, is starting to happen through the use of Regulating Orders. This will help to control activity in a way which is compatible with the needs of wildlife. For example, management of the sandeel fisheries around Shetland is now in its second year. Management partnerships around designated wildlife sites are also offering positive ways to secure the needs of both the fishing industry and wildlife.
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On Fair Isle, local people, fishermen and conservationists agree on the need for careful management of the marine environment |
Land Development
Development has a direct impact on biodiversity when it damages or destroys valuable wildlife habitats. Careful planning is required to ensure that development (including new housing, mineral extraction, industrial sites and renewable energy facilities) takes place in locations where, as far as is possible, it avoids conflict with wildlife interests. In some circumstances, new developments can be designed to enhance biodiversity (for example, providing wildlife habitats in the grounds of a new industrial complex). However, this should not be used as justification for damaging existing habitats of biodiversity importance.
The development of new opencast sites (e.g. coal, sand and gravel) needs to be planned so as to minimise loss of biodiversity. Some existing sites provide an opportunity to enhance biodiversity through restoration and aftercare techniques (e.g. constructing ponds and wetlands, planting woodlands). Ways of reducing the demand for minerals are required through, for example, the wiser use of existing minerals, recycling old material and, ultimately, finding less damaging alternatives.
Scotland's estuaries are of great importance to biodiversity. They provide some of Europe's most valuable feeding and roosting areas for migratory waterfowl, as well as supporting mammals such as dolphins and seals. The prolific marine plant and invertebrate life is an important source of food for many bird species. Several estuaries are also major industrial centres and there is considerable pressure on the biodiversity in these areas from landfill, waste disposal, coastal engineering projects such as sea defences, and from recreation and tourism-related development. Ways are being developed to integrate human activity with the protection of the estuarine environment and the species that use it.
The Government is helping to steer development in a way which avoids conflict with biodiversity through published planning guidance. On estuaries a number of partnership groups have been established to help to address the multi-use demands and to develop a strategic approach to land development which supports biodiversity. The key consideration is sustainability. The aim must be to ensure integrated economic prosperity and social benefits whilst at the same time securing the high quality of the environment on which much of Scotland's economic achievement is based.
Air Quality
Scotland has not escaped the major declines in air quality that have taken place throughout the United Kingdom (and indeed Europe) since the 1950s. Economic activity has given rise to increasing emissions of substances such as the oxides of nitrogen and sulphur; these affect our health as well as the survival of some species of plants and animals. The impacts vary from direct toxic effects when concentrations are high to less direct impacts such as those due to acid rain or climate change. The opportunities to tackle a reduction in these pollutants include industrial emissions, power generation and domestic burning of fuels. However, the most significant source of these pollutants is road traffic.
Acid rain is of particular concern. A number of habitats, especially those supporting acid-sensitive plants and invertebrates, have been harmed. Peatbogs, heaths and woodlands, as well as rivers and lochs, are among the most vulnerable habitats; the cryptogamic plants, especially the lichens, are the most sensitive species.
The possible effects of climate change on biodiversity are far from comprehensively quantified and the response of species and habitats is likely to be complex but potentially devastating. Upland and mountain areas contain species which are vulnerable to changes in temperature and which may become extinct in Scotland. Also potentially at risk are coastal habitats which could be lost as sea levels rise. However, a number of southern species may find conditions more favourable. The possibilities of species colonising new areas will be affected both by the fragmented nature of our countryside and by the rapidity of climatic change. Current actions include monitoring of air quality and acid deposition. Work is underway to reduce emissions with targets being set by local authorities.
Water Quality
The water quality in Scotland's rivers and lochs is generally good but there are circumstances where biodiversity losses are occurring. Lochs and rivers can be damaged by nutrients from intensive agricultural management practices, spillages of farm effluents, industrial and domestic pollution, and from pollutants deposited from the air. Afforestation within sensitive parts of a water catchment can lead to increased acidity and/or siltation in rivers and lochs unless suitable precautions are taken. At sea, especially in coastal waters, water quality is a major issue. The marine environment holds many vulnerable species and habitats, yet it is here that wastes have been, and continue to be, dumped. These pollutants can have both short-term and long-term impacts on marine life.
Management of water-courses, particularly by river engineering, can have significant impacts on biodiversity. Several aquatic species depend on river management which retains bankside vegetation to provide food and shelter. Water quantity may not be perceived as a problem, but in some of the eastern and southern parts of Scotland rainfall can be as low as in some of the drier parts of England. As a result, water abstraction can harm biodiversity. Low water flows in rivers also result in higher concentrations of pollutants and de-oxygenation of water, both of which can reach critical levels affecting fish and plant life. The hydro-power generating industry has an important role to ensure such sensitive species are catered for.
Transport
Pollution is only one of the impacts associated with transport. New roads result in increased demand for aggregates whose extraction can harm biodiversity. The routing of new roads needs careful planning so as to avoid destroying or disturbing important wildlife sites. The construction and design of new roads and their subsequent maintenance (winter ice treatment, for example) can also take account of biodiversity, for example through providing for plants and invertebrates on road verges. Habitat creation is also possible when planning new road systems. Ballast water discharges and hull fouling have been implicated in the introduction of non-native species to British waters.
Awareness, Education and Training
Education, awareness and training are part of almost all plans; it could not be otherwise. A major challenge for biodiversity conservation is to encourage the effective awareness of each individual plan, and to ensure that there is overarching biodiversity awareness at the same time. This is not going to be easy. Defining in detail who is to be informed, and what information they require, is a key to ensuring the success of the plans. Face-to-face meetings with individual land managers, training courses for individual foresters and advisory leaflets for all farmers are all examples of the different ways of providing information to the key people who can help the country to meet species and habitats objectives. Decision makers in industry and local government are also key players and ways must be found to help and to encourage them to incorporate biodiversity into their thinking, especially in the planning process. The representative bodies for these groups, which all have membership of the Scottish Biodiversity Group, have a vital role to play here.
But what of the bigger picture? Everyone shares the benefits of biodiversity. Everyone has a part to play. Education, through the formal systems of schools, colleges and universities, and informally through the media, will be the way that most people gain an understanding of biodiversity. Education, training and public awareness are complex issues, often with their own language, specialists and ways of doing things. Biodiversity conservation will only be truly successful when educators and trainers are fully engaged. Everyone needs a sound basic understanding of biodiversity; everyone should be able to access whatever information they require.
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Information on biodiversity conservation needs to be carefully focussed for different groups |
The Wider Countryside and Maritime Environment
All too frequently we think about nature reserves, protected areas or SSSIs. It is true that these all have a key role in helping us to achieve action for biodiversity. But, only a relatively small percentage of Scotland's land, freshwater and sea area can be designated, and hence support from managers of land and water in the general countryside is a key element.
The earlier part of this chapter explored various sectors - farming, forestry and fisheries being the 'big three' - but it is equally true that developers, industry and commerce in general, as well as private individuals, all have a part to play. It is probably true that some examples of every priority habitat, and that part of the population of every priority species, lives outwith designated areas. It is also true that many species of the wider terrestrial and maritime environments that our parents knew are now scarce or decreasing in abundance. Examples are farmland birds, the wild flowers associated with cornfields and many species of sea fish. It is important that we recognise that the majority of activity to safeguard and enhance Scotland's biodiversity will be away from protected areas, important as they are as the next section shows.
Conservation and Management of Important Areas
Protected areas are consistently identified in plans as one of the key tools in addressing species and habitat needs. By helping to identify particularly important areas, the designation of sites can steer damaging activity into areas of less conflict. Designated areas can also provide a focus for conservation activity where the returns are potentially of greatest benefit to biodiversity. Some of the rarer species exist and can be catered for almost solely within designated areas.
Effective protection of areas designated for their biodiversity value depends on partnership between those people who live and work in designated sites and those who can provide support and advice to enable the right management for biodiversity. Even in specially protected areas there is room for improvement in the quality of management. Where financial support is made available for people to manage land sensitively, such as in the Environmentally Sensitive Areas and the Peatland Management Schemes, there is often far greater co-operation. The designation process needs to foster greater understanding of the conservation objectives, ensuring that sites are managed so as to prevent neglect and deterioration.
Marine conservation presents special problems since there are few designations possible below the low water mark. European wildlife designations, stemming from the Birds Directive of 1979 and the Habitats Directive of 1992, have important roles to play in addressing marine conservation beyond the land boundary. Management groups for each of these important marine sites bring together all interested parties so as to foster a common understanding of the objectives for the site's biodiversity, leading to implementation of agreed actions. This pioneering approach in the marine and coastal environments may also be applicable to a variety of terrestrial and freshwater environments.
Species Protection
Direct human disturbance to species is primarily an issue where it involves deliberate persecution of protected species, public access in sensitive areas, or the collection of specimens such as rare plants or birds' eggs. Increased public awareness and sensitive development planning can help in steering people away from harming wildlife in sensitive areas or at vulnerable times of the year. The deliberate killing or taking of protected species requires some improvement to, and better enforcement of wildlife law, and better recording of wildlife crime. Enforcing the law is one thing; promoting an attitude of respect for the law is much more difficult.
Where very few individuals of a species remain, for example, pillwort or red kite, re-introduction to former sites is important. This assumes that the right habitat conditions already exist, or can be developed, so as to allow long term survival. For very rare plants, the maintenance of seed banks off-site helps as a stop gap whilst the right habitat conditions are being developed.
Research and Monitoring
Research and monitoring are a fundamental part of all the Species and Habitat Action Plans. In all cases knowledge derived from research and monitoring is a vital prerequisite. It establishes the current population size and range, as well as the ecological needs of a species or habitat before further action can be identified. For many species we know so little that research is required to understand their basic ecological requirements. For some species there is a need for information on their distributions and population sizes even before research can help to identify possible ways to address threats.
Much of the research can be focused on a theoretical model dealing with 'state', 'pressure' and 'response'. Wildlife survey work (or inventory) tells us the present state of that species or habitat, both in relation to its size and abundance, and its distribution across Scotland. Research can explore the pressures that are exerted on that species or habitat, explaining why observed trends have occurred. Modelling is usually required to predict how a species or habitat will respond to a different pressure, which may be a management activity aimed at biodiversity conservation. All this activity takes place in a dynamic, ever-changing context. We can never be entirely certain of the impacts of natural changes or of the future effects of human activities.
Because of this, monitoring is required to know whether species and habitats are responding to biodiversity action. Monitoring allows us to keep the state, the pressures, and the responses under constant surveillance, and hence to target actions for the priority species and habitats. This type of work is being carried out by the Breeding Bird Survey. Monitoring also enables progress towards reaching the species and habitat targets in the plans to be measured
This huge research and monitoring effort requires co-ordination and
co-operation between many interested people, including those in government departments, scientific institutions, statutory nature conservation agencies, local authorities, wildlife conservation charities, universities, natural history societies, local biological records centres and interested individuals. There is, in fact, a role for everyone in Scotland, residents and visitors alike, to take part in survey, monitoring and research activities.
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