Seòmar agus comataidhean

Anyone who wishes to control mountain hares must apply to NatureScot for the appropriate licence.

The Scottish Government does not expect all persons or businesses conducting peatland restoration work will be required to control mountain hares, therefore, in these instances, an application to NatureScot for a licence would not be required.

Guidance on Mountain Hare licensing, which includes licensable purposes, is published on NatureScot’s website at Mountain hare licensing - Guidance for applicants | NatureScot

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.

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.

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.

Thriving businesses are key to Scotland’s prosperity, and their success is critical to delivering the First Minister’s priorities.

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.

The statistics for Scotland’s gross domestic product (GDP) cannot be split precisely into separate contributions from the public and private sectors. This is because they are produced using data classified by industry and there are public sector bodies in many part of the economy. As an approximation, the contribution to GDP growth over the last two years from the public sector dominated industries of public administration and defence, education, health and social work is presented in the following table. Note that there are some public sector bodies in the rest of the economy, and the education, health and social work industries also contain private sector businesses and organisations. These contributions are calculated using the latest quarterly GDP statistics available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/first-estimate-of-gdp-2025-q2/.

a) In the past three years the Scottish Government has spent the following on peatland restoration. Figures below include capital and resource:

• 2022-23: £17.3m
• 2023-24: £26.2m
• 2024-25: £24.6m

b) The Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to support full implementation of its wildfire strategy this year. SFRS continues to invest significantly in equipment, vehicles, and training to strengthen its response to wildfires, particularly in rural areas. Over the past three years, planned spend of around £1.6 million has supported the roll-out of the Service’s wildfire strategy, including:

• Specialist wildfire PPE (400 sets): £300,000;
• 10 All-terrain Vehicles (ATVs) with specialist firefighting fogging units: £334,500;
• 10 ATV trailers: £76,700;
• 10 4x4 towing vehicles for ATVs: £440,500;
• 4 dedicated 4x4 wildfire support vans: £318,800;
• Specialist wildfire equipment: £134,190; and
• This is also supplemented by the creation of 14 wildfire tactical advisor roles around Scotland.

Alongside this, SFRS has delivered a comprehensive programme of specialist training to ensure crews are fully prepared to tackle wildfires safely and effectively. This includes:

• Tiered wildfire training through Learning Content Management System (LCMS), classroom sessions, and practical instruction;
• Specialist equipment training covering ATVs, fogging units, suppression tools, leaf blowers and brush cutters;
• Driver and operator training for 4x4 support units, trailers, and ATVs;
• Prescribed burning training provided by external partners (approx. £180 per person); and
• Wildfire tactical advisor training delivered in collaboration with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (Level 3 and 4 courses, approx. £2,000 per person).

We continue to take forward work to protect, promote and improve gender equality in Scotland, working with the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG). The Scottish Government accepted the NACWG’s 21 recommendations for systemic change and has begun implementing them, including publishing the first annual statement on gender policy coherence.

Intersectional gender equality considerations will continue to be recognised in the Scottish Government’s policy and practice, including our forthcoming high-level action plan in response to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Right’s recent Concluding Observations. This plan will serve as an important milestone in our work to strengthen transparency and accountability around the implementation of human rights and we intend to publish our response later this year.

Beyond this, our draft mainstreaming strategy will intend to set out an ambitious and progressive agenda to further embed equality and human rights in all we do.

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.