Award of RESAS/013/22: Scottish Biodiversity Strategy - Strategic Environmental Assessment

Tender description

Background & Context Scottish Biodiversity Strategy 4. 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. 5. 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 and Delivery plan which safeguards and enhances ecological functions. The strategy and the delivery plan are in effect parts 1 and 2 of the same framework: Part 1 is “What does good look like?” and Part 2 is “How do we get there?”. The Scottish Government consulted on a new biodiversity strategy in June 2022 and is committed to publishing a new Biodiversity Strategy in draft around CoP15 (7 – 19 December 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. There will then be a further opportunity for stakeholders to consider the strategy alongside the consultation on the delivery plan and the associated environment report which we anticipate will be launched in spring 2023. This will also allow for any further amendments that may be required once the global framework for biodiversity is finalised following CoP15. Once we have consulted on both the strategy, the delivery plan and the ER we will publish final document (parts 1 and 2) in summer 2023.