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Well managed productive forestry plantations, along with native woodlands managed for habitat conservation, all provide environmental benefits. The Forestry Grant Scheme has committed £183.8m of support for woodland creation and sustainable forest management since 2021-22. £69.8m of this funding has supported solely native woodland creation and management, with the remaining £114m spent on activities supporting woodland creation and sustainable forest management across both native and productive woodlands. This includes sums on deer management, which takes place across both native and productive woodlands.

The Scottish Government provides funding and support to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (SMO) in recognition of its importance to Gaelic through its key role in adult and Gaelic learning and Gaelic medium teacher education. The duty on Scottish Ministers through the Scottish Languages Act to conduct a review of the status of SMO is welcomed as a way of informing further and future actions. It is the intention to commence the duty on Ministers to undertake a review of SMO in due course and before the end of the Parliamentary term, subject to the parliamentary process and timetable.

The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the safety of the people in Scotland under threat of being victims of transplant-related offences, including when those offences take place in other countries. The Human Tissue (Supply of Information about Transplants) (Scotland) Regulations 2025, which came into force on 1 July 2025, place a duty on all clinicians in Scotland to report to the UK Human Tissue Authority (1) suspicions about transplant-related crimes, that arise in the course of the clinician’s profession; and (2) information about overseas transplants. The duty applies to doctors and nurses practising in transplant and non-transplant centres across Scotland to ensure that the duty applies to all clinicians who may come across these patients.

The Regulations, which are in line with the arrangements that are in place in the rest of the UK, give clarity to clinicians in Scotland around when, and to whom, they should report relevant suspected offences in the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 or the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. Guidance has been issued to clinicians about the implementation of the Regulations. The Regulations have been brought to the attention of NHS Boards and others in Scotland. Any reports that the Human Tissue Authority receives will be considered and, where relevant, findings will be passed on to Police Scotland for further investigation.

We are working to overcome a number of complex issues that currently impede peatland restoration on common grazings. The Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill will address a number of legal barriers, giving crofters and grazing committees greater control over how their land is used. In addition, we are working to address complexities around the long-term monitoring and funding of peatland restoration projects to encourage wider uptake of peatland restoration on crofting land across Scotland. This includes working with Peatland Action to develop incentives and tackle any barriers we identify when taking forward peatland restoration projects on common grazings on the Scottish Ministers’ estates.

NatureScot will also be trialling a new approach to support crofting and community demonstration projects this year.

We considered recommendation 12 of the Deer Working Group (DWG), noting the importance of a balanced approach to statutory rights to preventing damage by deer and how best to balance the needs of occupiers with the rights of landowners. We have taken forward recommendations made by the DWG to improve the rights of occupiers in specific circumstances. Officials are due to meet with the Scottish Tenant Farming Association (STFA) to discuss this further, and will then provide further advice on the options available. This could include broadening the land on which tenant farmers can cull deer.

The Scottish Government commissioned a study to support understanding of the challenges facing less favoured areas and to support future decision making in this area. This forms part of the evidence base that will inform on-going work within Agricultural Reform.

We have committed that in future LFA support will sit within Tier 2 to ensure that we continue to support those in constrained areas to deliver more for climate and nature.

The changes to legislation proposed in the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill, in relation to undertaking environmental projects on common grazings, will strengthen the role of grazings committees and encourage crofters and their communities to have a greater say in how their land is used. By introducing these changes we hope to ensure access for common grazings to future funding schemes that incentivise environmental uses.

Peatland restoration is delivered by Peatland ACTION - a partnership of five public sector Delivery Partners – NatureScot (NS), Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) and Scottish Water (SW). Operational and delivery aspects of the programme, such as vetting of individual applications seeking funding for their projects, are a matter for each respective Peatland ACTION Delivery Partner.

This year, NatureScot will be trialling a new approach to support crofting and community demonstration projects. Through the Crofting Bill and engagement with Peatland ACTION, we will use the findings of our work on the Scottish Minister’s crofting estate to develop incentives and tackle barriers to wider uptake of peatland restoration on crofting land across Scotland.

Scotland’s Natural Capital Market Framework sets out our principles for responsible investment in natural capital. These include the principles that investment should deliver public, private and community benefit, and that investment should support diverse and productive ownership. The Framework includes public sector actions to implement the principles, however, the apportionment of any financial benefits arising from investment in carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services is negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

We want to encourage productive use of common land, whether that is led by the grazing committee and crofters, the landowner, or through a joint venture. Environmental uses of common grazings are a key priority. Current legislation puts a number of barriers in the way of crofters, and the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill (“the Bill”) will make it easier to take forward such projects.

The Bill will broaden the provisions in existing legislation for crofter-led and joint venture forestry projects, so that they apply to any initiative on the common grazing which has an environmental purpose, including peatland restoration, habitat creation and restoration, and water management. This will encourage crofters and their communities to have a greater say in how land in their area is used.