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A Flying Start: Local Biodiversity Action Plans in Scotland

Foreword

Scotland's natural heritage is at the heart of our common wealth as a nation. This is the message which the Scottish Executive, set out in "The Nature of Scotland". We are the guardians of the environment and must care for it sustainably if its benefits are to be enjoyed by future generations in Scotland.

More than ever before Scottish people recognise that biodiversity is an important resource. It must be safeguarded and taken into account in all our plans for the future. It is the national foundation, which serves our rural communities and their social and economic well being. It is the national resource upon which agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism industries all depend. But our natural heritage, our wildlife, our biodiversity, is also just as important to the majority of Scotland's urban population, who rely on it for their quality of life and health.

Biodiversity is part of all our lives. We are recognising our national assets at local level and promoting their care. Throughout Scotland, local authorities are now playing a very important role in developing local biodiversity action plans. These plans have brought together wide partnerships. Public, private and voluntary co-operation is ensuring that Scotland's natural heritage is being recorded, identified and quantified.

This publication will interest all those concerned with our natural heritage. It demonstrates how Scottish local authorities have worked with energy and imagination to develop ways of supporting biodiversity in their local area.

I commend these exemplars of best practice to everyone who has a role to play in delivering sustainable development for Scotland's future.

Rhona Brankin MSP,
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development

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