Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-34151 on 13 January 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As stated by the then Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, Mairi Gougeon, in her letter of 8 June 2020 to the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, the Scottish Government originally anticipated that a taskforce to consider the role of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in relation to the investigation of wildlife crime would be convened in summer 2020. However, the Minister also stated that this timeline may be subject to change because of the need to focus on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – a health crisis which has created an economic crisis – and preparations for EU exit.

We now expect the taskforce to be established later this year and will provide further details in due course.

Priority Project 8 is concerned with ensuring protected nature sites are in good condition. Many protected sites focus on priority species but information about these sites is not organised as set out in the question. Priority Project 9 relates specifically to priority wildlife species and a file providing the information requested as it relates to Priority Project 9 projects has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 62139). The Scottish Government does not directly grant fund projects delivered under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and its Route map but provides funding through NatureScot’s and other public bodies’ core and supplementary funding (including the Biodiversity Challenge Fund) to support delivery by a range of partners set out in the file.

It is worth noting that, while funding is an important measure, substantial engagement and consultation with stakeholders was devoted to developing more sophisticated, outcome-focused indicators and methods for assessing the success of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, as are reported in the triennial report to Parliament.

I announced on 23 December that we will be re-opening the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) for a targeted range of options in 2021. This will focus on designated sites, organics, management supporting farmland waders, corn buntings and corncrakes, slurry stores and improving public access. This will support farmers and crofters to undertake important action for the environment, help fight climate change and will also promote public wellbeing through providing infrastructure for recreational activities such as walking and cycling.

As has happened since AECS opened in 2015, the budget available will be dependent on future Spending Reviews as approvals for the forthcoming round would usually be made in late 2021 once the draft budget for 2022/23 is known. However, the rural funding announced by the Chancellor in the Spending Review on 25 November is not sufficient to replace EU funding levels lost to Scotland. Scotland stands to lose out on £170 million of funding between now and 2024-25 and the shift from a multi-year settlement to a single year has also created significant planning uncertainties. To minimise the risk of farmers and crofters putting in effort to apply and risk there not being sufficient budget, the decision has been taken to focus on the priority areas.

Alongside this, the farmer-led groups that I recently announced are considering how to cut emissions and tackle climate change as well as wider environmental outcomes and this will contribute to our longer term consideration for agri-environment support.

The Route Map target of 80% of natural features in favourable or recovering condition was achieved in January 2016 and formally reported through the 2016 release of the Condition of Protected Nature Sites Official Statistic, available at the following link: https://www.nature.scot/information-hub/official-statistics/official-statistics-protected-sites .

At that time 80.4% of features were in favourable/recovering status.

Since meeting the Route Map target, the proportion of features in favourable/recovering status has seen a slow decline to its current level of 78.8% (as reported in the 2020 release of the Condition of Protected Nature Sites Official Statistic, also available at the above link). This decline is mainly due to new unfavourable assessments where no on-site action is possible to improve condition – most notably for seabirds where the key driver of population decline is climate change, rather than the nesting areas on land which are protected areas.

NatureScot continues to work with partners to improve the condition of natural features in protected areas with the aim of re-establishing in excess of 80% of features in favourable condition.

A file containing this information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 62136).

A file containing this information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 62137).

Priority Project 10 of 'Scotland’s biodiversity: a route map to 2020' aims to improve ecological connectivity and build on previous habitat restoration work. This on-going work will remain a focus, as set out in our Programme for Government, the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Post-2020: A Statement of Intent and the Update to the Climate Change Plan 2018–2032.

Relevant commitments include restoring over 250,000 hectares of peatland with £250 million of investment over 10 years and increasing the planting rate for woodland to 18,000 hectares per year by 2024-25. The prioritisation of these nature-based solutions and restoration projects will deliver multiple benefits, not only in terms of carbon sequestration but also enhanced biodiversity, improved air and water quality, and landscapes and ecosystems that are more resilient to climate change.

We do not have a precise figure for the extent of habitat restoration work undertaken under project 10 as much of this work is associated with other priorities.

The suite of protected nature sites forms an important component of ecological connectivity in Scotland and NatureScot has invested £5.26 million since 2015 in maintaining and restoring these sites. In addition, there are a number of prominent habitat restoration programmes that are delivering connectivity across Scotland. Since 2012 to the end of March 2020, we have invested £30 million in our peatland restoration programme involving NatureScot, our national parks, Forestry and Land Scotland and a number of partners in the private and third sectors, securing 25,000 hectares under restoration management. Further works in this financial year are underway and will be reported after the close of the financial year 2020-21.

Woodland restoration and expansion since 2015 has been delivered primarily through Scotland’s Rural Development Programme, with 12,004 hectares of new native woodland created since 2017. The Biodiversity Challenge Fund and the Green Infrastructure Fund, both administered by NatureScot, also support native woodland planting in both rural and urban settings. Many of the projects funded through the Biodiversity Challenge Fund deliver habitat restoration and connectivity at landscape scale and across multiple habitats.

NatureScot has also developed a habitat connectivity indicator for Scotland, setting out how we can measure connectivity across a number of habitat types. The £2.3m EcoCoLIFE project led by NatureScot is a good example of how habitat connectivity can be achieved across a diverse peri-urban landscape, and Cairngorms Connect, a partnership between Wildlands, RSPB, Forestry and Land Scotland and NatureScot includes an ambitious 200-year vision to enhance ecological processes, including connectivity, in the Cairngorms National Park.

There are many partners involved in delivering habitat connectivity in Scotland, including small community groups, land managers, non-government organisations NGOs and a number of government agencies and public bodies.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the European Commission’s LIFE programme in delivering environmental outcomes for certain areas not covered by other EU mechanisms or domestic funds. While existing Scottish LIFE projects already awarded funding (and those successful under the 2020 call) will continue to be funded by the European Commission for their agreed duration, from the 2021 call onwards Scottish bodies will no longer be eligible to apply for new funding.

We are engaging with stakeholders and the UK Government to seek to establish adequate replacements across the full range of EU funding mechanisms.

EU Exit was not Scotland’s choice and, on 23 November 2020, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to highlight our serious concerns at the lack of clarity around plans for the replacement of funding previously available to Scotland under the European Commission’s LIFE programme. Thus far, there is no evidence that the UK Government is committed to replacing EU funding in full. We have been clear and consistent in our position that we expect full replacement of EU funds from the end of December 2020 to ensure no detriment to Scotland’s finances and the outcomes which we seek to achieve. This is in line with promises made during, and following, the EU referendum campaign that Scotland would not be worse off as a result of EU Exit.

Land Management Orders (LMOs) and Nature Conservation Orders (NCOs) can be made by the Scottish Ministers in order to conserve or restore features of protected areas. No LMOs have been made. The NCOs in force in Scotland have been made to protect features of certain designated sites and not to address feature condition.

Restoration Orders can be made by the Courts when a person has been convicted of illegally damaging a protected natural feature. No Restoration Orders have been made in Scotland.