Award of RESAS/018/22 - Scottish Biodiversity Strategy – Consultation Analysis

Background and context5. Scotland’s existing Biodiversity Strategy is made up of two parts. Scotland’s Biodiversity: It’s in Your Hands which was published in 2004, this sets out a strategy for conserving Scotland’s biodiversity up to 2030. And secondly, the 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity which was published in June 2013. This document showed how the Scottish Government, its public agencies, Scottish business and others could contribute to the Strategy's aims as well as supporting sustainable economic growth.6. Given the very urgent nature of the ongoing twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change that the world faces, Scotland must develop a new Biodiversity Strategy which safeguards and enhances ecological functions. This work is time sensitive and must begin immediately. The Scottish Government is committed to publishing a new Biodiversity Strategy by the end of 2022. The new strategy will be a scientific, evidence based document that reflects the failing state of Scotland’s biodiversity and the need for urgent action.7. A 12 week consultation period launched 20 June 2022. This consultation forms part of an engagement process with a wide range of stakeholders who have an interest in Scotland’s biodiversity, including land managers, environmental organisations, local authorities and other partners. We held a series of workshops to scope out the detail of the strategy, develop ideas and test concepts. We now want to hear the views of a wider range of organisations and individuals to test and further develop our ideas.