Chamber and committees

Thank you, convener, and thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the outcomes from COP15 and how we are integrating them into our biodiversity strategy. I know that you have already heard overwhelming evidence about the extent of the biodiversity crisis that we are facing here in Scotland and across the world, and about the importance of taking action now to tackle the decline in nature.

You have also heard about the historic Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework, which was agreed at the end of last year. That framework builds on a vision, which I hope you share, of a world that is living in harmony with nature and where, by 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, through maintaining ecosystem services.

As you are aware, I was honoured to attend COP15 with a small Scottish delegation, which culminated in our presenting the Edinburgh declaration to that conference’s high-level segment, on behalf of subnational bodies. As well as calling for a high-ambition outcome from the meeting in Montreal, the Edinburgh declaration also called for the critical role that subnational bodies play in addressing the biodiversity crisis to be recognised and allocated the necessary resources and powers to help to tackle it. I am delighted that the declaration was adopted at the conference and now forms part of the new global biodiversity framework.

The Scottish Government led the Edinburgh process at the request of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s secretariat, and I am very proud of the work that was done to promote it and to garner support for it. That work is demonstrated by the fact that, at the final count, the declaration had been signed by more than 300 subnational bodies from around the world.

Our draft biodiversity strategy was published to coincide with COP15, but it remained in draft form to allow us to take into account the new global biodiversity framework, thereby ensuring that we are meeting the global ambition. The strategy is where we set out our high-level vision for a nature-positive Scotland and our ambition to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and reverse declines by 2045. I have often wondered whether that is ambitious enough; although there has been a huge amount of really positive activity across Scotland in recent years—for example our scaling up of peatland restoration and our groundbreaking nature restoration fund—it is clear that there is still a huge amount of work to do. The type of change that we need takes time, which is why it is even more important that we start taking action now.

We are currently refining the strategy and are now very much focused on developing the delivery plans that will sit underneath it. Those plans will be where we will set out how we are going to achieve our high-level vision and outcomes.

I was very grateful to the committee for the careful and detailed consideration that it gave to the draft biodiversity strategy last year. Your comments formed an important part of our consideration in developing the strategy and, as I set out when I wrote to the committee in December 2022, many of those points were incorporated in the final draft.

We are also starting to explore with our subnational partners the next steps on implementing the Edinburgh declaration and how best we can work together to really deliver on the new global framework. I welcome this discussion today and I appreciate the attention that the committee is giving to this important matter.

We will have to wait and see what the gateway review comes up with. For example, previous reviews have given us a steer towards streamlining the exemption process. That was a bit of advice that came to us straight out of a gateway review, which we were then able to implement along with our guidance. Such reviews are constructive and detailed in saying where we have challenges, what is going well and what we can work on. That enables us to take points away, which, as I said, we have done following previous reviews. We all look forward to seeing the results of the review, and we hope that the panel will have constructive input for us.

Absolutely. On the second point, regional land use partnerships and the national parks incorporate that approach of having different land managers under different business and ownership models working together on nature restoration and land management. The best example of that is the globally recognised Cairngorms Connect, which covers a mix of public and private land and involves people working together to achieve regeneration in the national park.

The member is right that land reform is part of the toolkit for addressing ownership patterns, which is part of the Scottish Government’s policy. Some good work is being done, as we move towards our land reform bill, on how it can work for nature. I went with Ms McAllan on her road show on the land reform bill, so I got to hear from stakeholders at first hand about land reform and about their hopes and dreams in supporting biodiversity. The purpose of the land reform bill is to help land go into community ownership where there is a public interest, particularly where it is for the common good and the benefit of nature.

The key aspect is the land management plans, which I hope we can use as a tool to ensure that land is managed well. Biodiversity is absolutely intended to be part of that, so that we can help to move the dial toward responsible land ownership around the country. There are already some really good examples of that.

As Liam Kerr knows, implementing that commitment to a 50 per cent shift and the conditionality around it is on-going work in agricultural reform. I believe that the cabinet secretary made an initial announcement on the direction of travel a couple of weeks ago to the national annual meeting of the NFUS. However, it is a matter of on-going consultation with stakeholders to make sure that we get it right.

The number 1 priority is to make sure that that 50 per cent is not only delivering for biodiversity but is practical, workable and accessible for farmers and land managers, so that they can get that money in a way that supports their business models.

What I said we are doing—

That is no problem. I will tackle both of Jackie Dunbar’s questions.

The Scottish biodiversity strategy ties in with other strategies. It is essential that biodiversity considerations are mainstreamed in all our policy development, and that is one of our key aims. Given the breadth of matters that the Government deals with, there is a wide range of strategies and plans to address issues in particular sectors. The biodiversity strategy provides a clear vision and set of outcomes that all of our policies must help to achieve. The environment strategy for Scotland presents a whole-of-Government approach to tackling the climate and nature crises by creating an overarching framework for Scotland as well as strategies and plans on the environment and climate change, and by strengthening the connections between environmental policies and policies across Government. It helps us to identify priorities and opportunities and to drive the transformative change that we need.

We know that healthy biodiversity underpins our prosperity, wellbeing and ability to reach net zero. I know that all the committee members are aware, because of the evidence that you have taken, that we need to mainstream this piece. Tackling biodiversity cannot be done in a silo; it needs to be done across all of society.

Specifically on wild salmon, they are an indicator species, so things that we do to protect wild salmon will also protect other species that have similar life cycles or share their natural environment, such as those that Jackie Dunbar mentioned.

As members will know, wild salmon are in decline. In response to the decline of those populations, in January 2022 we published Scotland’s wild salmon strategy, which is a collective vision for flourishing populations of wild Atlantic salmon. In that, we set a high level of ambition and a direction of travel. We followed up the strategy with an implementation plan, which was published last month, and which sets out more than 60 actions that we will take over the next five years to protect and restore salmon populations. The strategy and plan were developed in close collaboration with stakeholder groups, including representatives from Government, NGOs and agencies. We are clear that positive outcomes can be achieved only through a co-ordinated and collaborative approach.

I have been lucky enough to visit some of the nature restoration work that is being done along some of the rivers, such as removing weirs and, where the weirs cannot be removed, putting in passes to allow the salmon past, and of course those will apply to other species as well.

I want to mention another great river restoration project. One problem that some rivers in Scotland have is that they are too clean—there are no trees along the banks, there is nothing in the water, and they run too fast, too clear and too hot, because the sun shines on them all the time. This particular project takes fallen trees and embeds them in the riverbed. That not only slows the water but creates shaded spots and eddies where fish can spawn and invertebrates can breed. That is the kind of practical on-the-ground action on which the nature restoration fund is having an impact and that specifically targets those important species.

The strategy will be finalised first and the delivery plan will come after it. Matthew Bird might have timelines for that.

The member is quite right. Globally, there seems to be—and has been for a long time—a good understanding of the climate crisis with regard to carbon emissions and reaching net zero, but people might have been slower to grasp that the nature crisis goes hand in hand with that and, indeed, is part of how we are going to tackle it. The Scottish Government has made some really good progress in understanding how biodiversity and natural capital fit in across the piece.

Indeed, you can see that not only in the things that I have outlined already with regard to the national strategy for economic transformation, our national planning framework and the vision for Scottish agriculture but in our circular economy bill and the other work that we are doing in that respect. Of course, much of that is the answer to the how question, but what if your problem is the plastics in your oceans? Last week, I met a stakeholder who said that they had evidence that the otter kits in the Water of Leith consume plastics with their first ever meal, because the food has plastic in it. If that is your problem, your solution is to take that plastic waste out of the environment and make things more circular.

In everything that we are doing, from the deposit return scheme right through to our national planning framework, we are considering biodiversity, and I am really pleased that we are taking those steps. I think that we are going in the right direction but, as minister for biodiversity, I will always say that we can do more.

Yes, absolutely. Our land is such a mosaic that there is not one solution that would be suitable everywhere. Cairngorms Connect is a very successful project, but it is only one project. Of course, private land is owned for many uses, including farming, forestry and all the businesses that we have in Scotland, which is why we need to look at solutions across the piece.

We are looking at how agriculture subsidies can be reformed to support agriculture. We are looking at minor adjustments to grouse moor legislation to ensure that that land is managed well. We are looking at how we can improve public transport. We are looking at all the pieces across the board. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for managing land. It is about ensuring that each individual farmer, crofter and land manager has the tools available to them, so that they know how to apply for the right grants and support in order that they can manage their land in the way that is right for it.

Landowners know what they need and what to do, so I see our role as facilitating and signposting people by saying, for example, “Here’s the nature restoration fund. Here’s how you get the agricultural subsidies that will allow you to do what you need to do. Here’s how you apply for forestry grant schemes.” All those things together incentivise land use for biodiversity. They also mean that land managers have those choices, so they can look at their land and decide what is best for them and what will work for them.

Biodiversity colleagues are feeding in to that process. The process of agricultural reform is on-going and addressing biodiversity is one part of it. We are feeding in to that, and officials and NGOs in that area are feeding in to that process, but, of course, other stakeholders in that space, such as farming stakeholders, are working together as part of the on-going process to define what that 50 per cent is and how that will work for farmers.