Scotland's Biodiversity - It's in Your Hands
A strategy for the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in Scotland
Draft Research Strategy
Prepared by the Action Plan and Science Group of the Scottish Biodiversity Forum
May 2004
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The Scottish Biodiversity Forum
The Scottish Biodiversity Forum (SBF) is a broad based, working partnership of Government, its agencies ( SNH and SEPA), local authorities, voluntary bodies, farmers, fishermen, foresters, business and scientists.
The Forum has an open membership allowing all who enjoy, manage and value our biodiversity to contribute to its future. An annual conference allows all members to meet and feed into the work of the Forum and Working Groups take this work forward.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Purpose of the strategy
Research needs
Research related to monitoring and surveillance
Research related to BAP-specific issues
Cross-cutting research
Working together and knowledge transfer
Review of the strategy
Bibliography
CONTACT
Further copies of this paper are available:
SBF Secretariat
Scottish Executive Environment & Rural Affairs Department
Mail Point 14
Area 1-J (South)
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Email: biodiversity@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
INTRODUCTION
1. The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 reaffirmed the commitment of nations across the globe, to take urgent action to secure the future of the Earth's resources, including biodiversity. In Scotland the Scottish Executive has placed sustainable development, the combining of economic progress with social and environmental justice, at the heart of its policies. ( Meeting the Needs…Priorities, Actions and Targets for Sustainable development in Scotland (2002) Scottish Executive paper 2002/14). Strengthening of statutory protection for biodiversity is also at the heart of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill announced by the Scottish Executive in October 2003.
2. The importance of promoting biodiversity, and viewing it as a key component of sustainable development, is recognised in the European Union 6 th Environmental Action Programme (2001-2010) which identifies "Nature and Biodiversity" as one of its four priority areas for action. The EU Strategy for Sustainable Development identifies "Management of Natural Resources", including biodiversity specifically, as one of the six key challenges requiring progress. Furthermore the EU has a Biodiversity Strategy which aims to anticipate, prevent and attack the causes of significant reduction or loss of biodiversity at the source. These goals of biodiversity conservation are enforced by obligatory EU Environmental legislation, in particular the Birds Directive, Habitat Directive and Water Framework Directive.
3. In Scotland, one important element of the Sustainable Development policy is the evolution and implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS), Scotland's Biodiversity - It's In Your Hands. A strategy for the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in Scotland (Scottish Executive, 2004). The SBS sets out a 25-year vision in which Scotland is a nation where the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity underpins decision making and practice to ensure the environment is sustained for its people. Its general aim is to conserve biodiversity for the health, enjoyment and well-being of the people of Scotland now and in the future
4. The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS) aims to do more than reverse previous losses of biodiversity through targeted action for species and habitats - its obligations under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The SBS seeks to raise awareness and engage the public at large, as well as Scottish institutions and organizations, in concerted action to restore and enhance biodiversity in a wide range of ecosystems and landscapes, including urban, rural and marine environments. This can be achieved through better planning, design and practice, improved understanding and knowledge transfer and more effective management through closer integration and coordination. Successful biodiversity conservation policy and action requires co-operation between government departments, the research community and conservationists. ( What on Earth? The threat to the science underpinning conservation. House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology 3 rd Report. (2002)) .
5. The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy recognises that our understanding of biodiversity remains very limited. Consequently, Knowledge: gathering, sharing and using the best biodiversity research, is one of five key objectives. Within this objective the need for stronger mechanisms to identify and fill critical gaps in understanding and the need for an enhanced skills base, particularly in some fields of taxonomy, is a priority. ( House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology 2002) . Expertise in marine biodiversity, invertebrates, fungi, lichens and bryophytes is sparse; yet Scotland has rich, internationally important, communities of lichens and bryophytes.
6. Maintaining a strong research base, and the necessary knowledge transfer to raise awareness among people, are both partly dependent on adequate funding. Our aspirations for biodiversity research reflect the Scottish Science Advisory Committee recommendation that the optimisation of the science base should be a principal component in the development of government policies and strategies in Scotland ( Science Matters: making the right connections for Scotland. First Report of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee, January 2004).
PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH STRATEGY
7. The research strategy is focused on underpinning three of the five objectives of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.
Species & Habitats:To halt the decline in biodiversity and continue to reverse previous losses through targeted action for specific species and habitats .
Landscapes & Ecosystems: To restore and enhance biodiversity in all our urban, rural and marine environments through better planning, design and practice.
Knowledge: To ensure that the best new and existing knowledge on biodiversity is available to all policy makers and practitioners.
In order to inform the other two objectives
People:To increase awareness, understanding and enjoyment of biodiversity, and engage many more people in conservation and enhancement.
Integration and Co-ordination: To develop an effective management framework that ensures biodiversity is taken into account in all decision making.
8. Not only does the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy need to be underpinned by excellent and relevant natural science research but also it needs to be integrated with the insights of economic and social science on the changing threats to, and value of, biodiversity associated from trends in economic prosperity and social progress. The need for novel interdisciplinary research between environmental, economic and social science, as well as the engagement of stakeholders and policy makers is considered later.
9. The UK has a long and respected tradition of innovative research in the natural sciences in their broadest sense. It is recognised, however, that there is still only limited understanding of the reasons for the degradation of certain key habitats and for the decline of certain species populations. Less still is known of the most effective ways of reversing the decline and cost-effectively reinstating a sustainable diversity of flora and fauna ( Measuring Biodiversity for Conservation, Royal Society Policy document 11/03, August 2003).
10. The purpose of this Research Strategy is to set out the broad areas where the Scottish Biodiversity Forum (SBF) believes that available knowledge requires improvement and extension so that biodiversity in Scotland can safely be maintained and enhanced for future generations. Clearly, therefore, the strategy also needs to aid the interaction of natural, social and economic science research. The strategy also needs to ensure that important UK and European aspects are integrated, both in scientific terms, since Scotland's biodiversity is a unique contribution to the European picture, and in terms of the available research funding sources which Scottish researchers already seek actively to attract and which offer great potential (e.g. DG Research, Sixth Framework Programme (FP6)).
11. The Research Strategy identifies gaps in current knowledge relevant to biodiversity conservation. Although it focuses particularly on Scottish issues, and attempts to underpin the SBS implementation plans, many of these are generic problems identified at the UK level ( Science in Action, Biodiversity Research Working Group 2001) and also promoted as important areas of research by the UK Biodiversity Research Advisory Group (UKBRAG). It is intended the Research Strategy provide a useful reference to help organisations prioritise their own internal research activities, promote and facilitate collaborative exercises, and support bids for external funding from other sources.
RESEARCH NEEDS
12. A considerable amount of research has been carried out on the biodiversity resource in Scotland but there are still some significant gaps in our knowledge, which potentially compromises our ability to deliver targeted action to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity, particularly in the marine environment ( Jones 2004, Analysis of the 2002 UK Biodiversity Lead Partners Reports, Draft Final Report, SEERAD Agriculture and Biological Research Group). Even less is known about genetic variability and the potential to adapt to environmental change.
13. There are many ways in which research needs can be categorised. The SBF believes that it is appropriate to define three generic levels of research and, within each level, to identify thematic areas, which are relevant to biodiversity in Scotland.
i. Research which supports surveillance and monitoring, where surveillance refers to repeated field survey work to identify trends, and monitoring refers to repeated survey work which is designed to test against pre-set targets. These activities require long-term commitment.
ii. Research which is BAP-specific and addresses the needs identified in action plans.
iii. Research which is cross-cutting and tackles issues and ecological processes which are common to many or all the BAPs, and may often be directed at conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity at the ecosystem level. Within the cross-cutting research needs are two subsets of issues. First, issues that deal with specific, technical elements of natural science, such as climate change. These issues may be sufficiently strategic that national and research council funding may be appropriate. Second, issues that are centered on human relationships with biodiversity, and therefore require social and economic science, integrated with research in the natural sciences.
RESEARCH RELATED TO MONITORING AND SURVEILLANCE
14. Biodiversity is one of the 24 indicators chosen by the Scottish Executive to measure the success of its Sustainable Development Strategy ( Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland Scottish Executive Paper 2003/3). It is measured as the proportion of Biodiversity Action Plan species and habitats which are identified as stable or increasing. A more comprehensive set of indicators of biodiversity state, as well as indicators of awareness of, and engagement with, biodiversity conservation by the people of Scotland, has been published as a companion paper to the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy ( Scotland's Biodiversity - It's in Your Hands. A strategy for the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in Scotland: Developing an Indicator Set Scottish Biodiversity Forum, 2004)
15. The well known Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model highlights the critical value of field survey work.
State: BAP research begins with the survey of a species' range or abundance, or a habitat's quality or extent that establishes that habitat or species as a BAP priority. Subsequent surveillance can identify trends in space or time.
Impact: More formal hypothesis-driven research then follows to determine the nature and causes of decline, and subsequently, to identify potential conservation and management solutions.
The Response is designed to change the Drivers (policy) and related Pressures (activity) on the species or habitat.
Monitoring of State then becomes a critical research tool once again in order to evaluate species or habitat response to the preferred remedial action - perhaps as a relatively small-scale field experiment - together with longer-term surveillance of recovery once the management is implemented more widely. Surveillance and monitoring are therefore critical to both the initial prioritisation and the subsequent evaluation of BAP actions.
16. For relatively well-studied taxa such as birds, long-term surveillance of range and population size has provided a firm basis for the categorisation of species in terms of priority for conservation action at both UK and European scales. This in turn has helped to determine the list of priority species and habitats within the BAP process. However, even for birds, data remain sparse within individual countries with a smaller observer base, including Scotland. Across all current Biodiversity Action Plans in Scotland Lead Partners have identified lack of adequate surveillance data to assess current status and trends as a significant limitation in around one third of plans ( Jones, 2004).
17. In some cases, proven surveillance and monitoring methods simply need to be implemented, being limited either by a lack of relevant taxonomic expertise or poor knowledge of habitat associations. In other cases, work is required to establish a valid monitoring method. Amongst the species plans, this problem applies particularly to fish and cetaceans, whilst many priority habitats await the development of an adequate method to assess quality. In the latter case, research work must also consider what constitutes meaningful measures of quality, and to identify the individual habitat variables that must be measured in order to derive an index of quality.
RESEARCH RELATED TO BAP SPECIFIC ISSUES
18. The recent analysis of the UK Biodiversity Lead Partners Reports for the 41 Habitat Action Plans (HAPs) and the 186 Species Action Plans (SAPs) in Scotland suggest that only 10% of HAPs and 17% of SAPs currently have sufficient knowledge to deliver BAP targets ( Jones 2004). The need for research was listed in around two thirds of both HAPs and SAPs, though in some cases it was clear this included survey work. Not surprisingly Lead Partners of marine BAPs were less confident of their knowledge than those in other sectors. Overall Scottish BAPs, lack of knowledge of the basic species' ecology (autecology), management of habitats and ecosystems, and the development of best practice guidance ecosystem were the three most frequently listed knowledge gaps by Lead Partners.
Management of habitats and ecosystems, including best practice guidance on habitat restoration and re-creation
19. In Scotland it has been estimated that inappropriate habitat management is a constraint on the objectives of around one third of both HAPs and SAPs (Jones 2004). Research is required for the identification of specific best practice guidance for management, restoration and re-creation of habitats in order to help meet targets published in the UKBAP action plan volumes.
Re-introductions and genetic conservation
20. A small number of Lead Partners appear to have considered ex-situ conservation and reintroduction in SAPs for Scotland (Jones 2004). These translocation plans involve (a) the reintroduction of organisms to sites where they have become extinct, (b) the augmentation of populations that are in danger of extinction, (c) the establishment of populations at new sites.
21. Research is required to guide the choice of the most appropriate donor populations for such translocations, and to evaluate the relative importance of ecological, genetic, historical and geographical data in making such decisions. Potential conflicts exist as to which criteria to employ. In some cases it may be appropriate to introduce material from a diverse set of populations; in others a single local source may be more appropriate. Following translocations, monitoring (including genetic studies) is required to provide hard data on the success/failure rates of different donor strategies.
Impact of pollution
22. Water quality and air pollution are both noted as significant threats in around 15% of Scottish Biodiversity Action Plans (Jones 2004).
23. Much is known of the ecotoxicological effects of various pollutants on a limited range of aquatic species and appropriate pollution control mechanisms have been developed to address some of the species and habitat impacts arising from the disposal and dispersal of persistent or highly toxic contaminants. There is still, however, little understanding of the impact of chronic low-level pollution on population numbers or on the dynamics of plant and animal communities. Also, there is only a poor understanding of the critical limits of short-term exposure to pollutants which may arise through accident or spills. In general, there is a need for improved knowledge of the pathways and effects of air-borne pollutants on sensitive habitats and species, and of the mediation role played by soils.
CROSS-CUTTING RESEARCH
24. The following list has been developed by the SBF and one of its working groups, the Action Plan & Science Group, through scrutiny of previous studies, through assessment of the output of the UK Biodiversity Research Working Group ( Science in Action, Defra 2001), through consultation with Scottish stakeholders, and through expert judgment on issues, which are particularly relevant to the Scottish situation. The nine topics are grouped into:
a) those broad interdisciplinary areas requiring high levels of interdisciplinary research between economic, social and natural science (the Ecosystem Approach), as well as the engagement of stakeholders and policy makers:
Understanding public perceptions of, beliefs about, attitudes towards, and values for biodiversity, and its role in supporting human activity and wellbeing.
Developing methods to evaluate the contribution of biodiversity to ecosystem goods and services, including, but not limited to, attempting to derive economic value estimates.
Modification of the planning and management system, including tools to incorporate measures and values of biodiversity in policy making and resource management.
Landscape ecology and land use change, including fragmentation and critical size of habitat.
b) specialist investigations within natural science, including:
Understanding of public perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and values
25. The Scottish Biodiversity Forum has placed people at the centre of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy recognising that to be successful there needs to be a more inclusive and integrated approach to biodiversity conservation and enhancement ultimately requiring a collective change in the priority and value of natural resources. Not only does this require a better understanding of the nature of, and reasons for, existing management practices affecting biodiversity, but also new research to investigate and enhance public, commercial and institutional awareness of the importance of biodiversity. Only then through improved understanding of the efficacy of education and awareness-raising tools will it be possible to identify appropriate mechanisms to stimulate behavioural change and fuller participation across all sectors of society. While this strategic research is going on there also needs to be parallel work on the development of procedures for identifying, predicting and resolving conflicts related to biodiversity management. Collectively these approaches are necessary to gain widespread commitment and support for a changing lifestyle essential to ensuring sustainable conservation goals.
Methods to evaluate the contribution of biodiversity to ecosystem goods and services
26. Traditional tools for economic evaluation typically under-represent or even ignore the economic value of the environmental capital or ecosystem services delivered by Scotland's natural environment, including biodiversity. This leads to biased outputs from traditional cost/benefit assessments, for example for new developments. Novel methods are required to permit both more accurate estimation of the economic value of biodiversity and the assessment of value in non-monetary terms. Realistic expectations are required: precise monetary estimates are likely to remain elusive. Therefore it is also essential to develop and improve policy support and evaluation tools in order that they may account for the wide ranges of values expressed in both monetary and non-monetary terms. Such tools should be developed in close collaboration with end-users to ensure that they are capable of making a genuine contribution to decision-making.
Modification of the planning and management system
27. The Town and Country Planning system is one of the most important regimes governing land use change in Scotland, and an area in which particular attention to improved decision support is required. Planning strategies and individual decisions affect biodiversity interests. Habitat loss due to development and habitat degradation due to site damage by extractive industries or environmental engineering for flood control were each noted as concern in about 10% of all Scottish Biodiversity Action Plans (Jones, 2004). Research is required into the effects of novel and multiple land-use management on biodiversity at local and regional scales. Research is also required into how land-use management can simulate natural habitat mosaics for the benefit of biodiversity in ways that are both ecologically and socio-economically sustainable (see below). Analysis of the impacts of public sector policy in these areas is also required.
28. Equally, research is required to identify effective planning and management schemes and methodologies for freshwater and marine systems. For example, the effectiveness of non-statutory partnerships in promoting and protecting biodiversity and the management requirements of the Water Framework Directive need to be established. An immediate priority, across terrestrial and marine systems, is to understand the biodiversity impacts of the widespread development of renewable energy generation from wind and wave power across our uplands and off our coasts.
Landscape ecology and land use change, including fragmentation and critical size of habitat
29. Destruction and fragmentation of habitats is the greatest contributor to the loss of biodiversity in the world. Understanding of the processes is extremely limited. Some habitats appear more resilient than others with few species being lost during the initial stages of fragmentation. There is currently no way of predicting which habitats are more robust and which are more sensitive. Species exhibit varying habitat requirements and connectivity between suitable patches of habitat that influence meta-population dynamics. Improved knowledge is urgently required on the ecological significance of the scales, distributions and variations of habitat.
Ecosystem function and habitat degradation
30. Defining the functional health of an ecosystem and what characteristics make ecosystems resilient or vulnerable to change urgently requires concerted research action. Habitats of plants and animals are not only degraded by pollution but also by land and water management practices. For example, repeated trawling of the sea bed can damage a variety of species and benthic habitats, recreational use of freshwaters can disturb many species especially during sensitive life cycle stages, and agricultural practices have an impact on traditionally common bird and weed species. There is little understanding of the sustainable levels of disturbance to habitats and the relationships between habitat degradation and species population dynamics.
Impacts of non-native and invasive species
31. Although there at least 992 non-native species occurring in Scotland (Welch et al., 2001), the majority of these are non-invasive and have limited ecological consequence. A small percentage of these species are, however, a cause for concern, with potential for major ecological effects, some of these with potentially significant economic consequences. More research is required on the actual, as opposed to perceived, impacts of non-native species and scientists need to be among a range of stakeholders participating in evidence-based policy development (see Review of policy on on-native species Defra 2003: )
32. Research is required into many aspects of the impacts, control and management of non-native and invasive species. With the possible exception of the headline-grabbing removal of hedgehogs, predators of ground nesting birds in the Outer Isles, priorities for dealing with existing or potential alien and invasive species in Scotland at present tend to focus on those which pose human health risks (e.g. giant hogweed) or which may have major economic implications (e.g. grey squirrel, bonamia). Research is required into criteria to produce priorities for intervention based on the ecological consequences of the presence of non-native or invasive species of plants, animals and microbes in Scotland. Little is known, for example, about the possible effects of non-native disease organisms on wildlife in Scotland (e.g. the effects of Dutch elm disease, or of the phocine distemper virus on the common seal). Research is also required into the public policy framework for alien/invasive species control, which is presently piecemeal and sectoral in nature.
Climate change impacts
33. Little is known about the impact of climate change on even the best studied species of animals and plants. More autecological studies are needed to identify the impact of annual variation in weather on recruitment, survival and hence abundance. Also evidence of selection on phenotypes and/or genotypes in relation to climate variation is required to understand the potential for adaptation ( Interlinkages between Biological Diversity and Climate Change, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD Technical Series No. 10).
34. Climate change over the next century may affect most habitats and species across Scotland. However, based on current understanding of autecology and ecosystem dynamics, several predictions have been made of the direction, degree and likelihood of effect (Hossell et al., 2000). However, in many cases knowledge of the relationship with climate is poor and can lead to opposing views of impact. There is, therefore, a need to obtain baseline data on the relationship between a species and climate, including indirect effects exerted through other species.
35. SNH has completed baseline data of the BAP Priority habitat distributions. However, further research is needed to identify where species compositions might be altered with southerly species arriving and/or northerly species retreating for some ecosystems/habitats. Models are required that can confidently predict new locations for vegetative habitats, and that can indicate new locations for habitat re-creation and species relocation (Harrison et al 2001).
36. At a more pragmatic level, research is needed to understand to what extent climate change impacts might be mitigated by management within species' existing ranges, and to what extent impacts of climate change may be indirect, acting primarily via effects of human land-use and land management patterns ( Interlinkages between Biological Diversity and Climate Change, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD Technical Series No. 10).
37. Even using the output from modelled changes of individual populations, there is a need to monitor the actual rates and directions of change in order to provide validation, and to better understand the influence of factors not considered by existing modelling frameworks. A framework is required for the monitoring of sensitive and/or vulnerable habitats and species (see Just Ecology 2003, Review of UK and Scottish Surveillance & Monitoring Schemes for the Detection of Climate-induced Changes in Biodiversity, see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/environment/climatereview.pdf).
Species diversity
38. Scotland contains endemic species, globally threatened species, nationally threatened species and ecologically important species. Many of Scotland's high-conservation priority species are in groups whose taxonomy is complicated by active diversification and recent speciation. Many other species of high conservation importance are in poorly studied groups where a lack of trained personnel hampers efforts to assess conservation status and requirements. Taxonomic research is required to clarify the distinctness and distributions of species in complex groups, and to assess the species diversity in poorly studied groups. For those species with clear cut taxonomies, ecological research is also required to facilitate the development of management strategies to maximise their survival and recovery prospects.
Genetic diversity
39. Species do not exist as uniform entities with their genetic diversity distributed evenly across their ranges. Species exist in populations and these populations show varying levels of diversity and differentiation. Species and habitat research needs to consider optimal strategies for conserving this genetic diversity, and monitoring trends, at least for a few key taxa where genetic markers have been well-studied. Intra-specific genetic variability is the raw material for the evolutionary potential of species and their ability to adapt to a changing environment. Also, it is important to consider the conservation of genetic traits in rare breeds of animals and varieties of plants, as a potential source for traits threatened in their wild counterparts. Research is required to assess the effects of habitat perturbations on the maintenance of population genetic variability, and the fitness consequences associated with any genetic diversity loss.
WORKING TOGETHER AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
40. Success in ensuring the long-term conservation and enhancement of biodiversity - a central tenet of sustainable development - requires the engagement of a wide range of people. The importance of integrated collaboration for effective biodiversity action and the need for innovative underpinning research has given the topic strategic importance. Consequently, the science of conserving species, habitats and ecosystems is no longer the domain of voluntary sector, NGOs, and conservation agencies. Now Government Departments, including SEERAD, and the UK Research Councils have placed biodiversity issues high on their agendas.
41. Many of the sponsors of research have recognised that effective solutions to the threats to biodiversity require the integration of natural science with social and economic research. However, enabling the research institutes and universities to deliver greater research collaboration and science integration requires the substantial resources invested in joint thematic programmes. (e.g. the BBSRC, ESRC, NERC, SEERAD funded programme Rural Economies and Land Use).
42. Across Europe, the EU Framework Programmes have facilitated greater interdisciplinary research, and concerted action involving stakeholders. In the current EU FP6, Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence in the Biodiversity and Ecosystems theme are the basis for significant funding to develop a better understanding of marine and terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and mitigating the deleterious impacts of human activities.
43. The benefits of better integration across the international research community, coupled with closer collaboration between a wider range of national stakeholders, particularly those organisations who are Lead Partners, should facilitate more greater knowledge transfer. Effective communication of the outputs of strategic research should be a priority to enable progress towards Biodiversity Action Plan targets.
44. Closer cooperation between stakeholders is also important at regional levels where the Local BAP process is a mechanism that seeks to ensure nationally important species and habitats are conserved and enhanced in a given area through focused local action. Functions of the LBAP process include: stimulating effective local working partnerships ensuring programmes for biodiversity conservation are developed and maintained; raising awareness of the need and responsibility for biodiversity conservation and enhancement in the local context; providing a local basis for monitoring progress in biodiversity conservation.
REVIEW OF THE STRATEGY
45. The Research Strategy will be reviewed every three years by Action Plan and Science Group (APSG) of the Scottish Biodiversity Forum to ensure that it adequately reflects developing priorities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Biodiversity Research Working Group (2001) Science in Action for Biodiversity. Dept. for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2003): Review of policy on on-native species
Hossell, J.E., Briggs, B. and Hepburn, I.R. (2000) Climate change and UK Nature Conservation: A review of the impact of climate change on UK species and habitats conservation policy. DETR.
Jones A.T. (2004)Analysis of the 2002 UK Biodiversity Lead Partners Reports, Draft Final Report, SEERAD Agriculture and Biological Research Group
Just Ecology (2003) Review of UK and Scottish Surveillance & Monitoring Schemes for the Detection of Climate-induced Changes in Biodiversity (see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ library5/environment/climatereview.pdf).
House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology (2002) What on Earth? The threat to the science underpinning conservation. 3 rd Report.
Mitchell, R., Welch, D., Marquiss, M., Bull, J., and Watt, A. (2000) A complete review of research needs in Scotland arising from the Biodiversity Action Plans. Scottish Natural Heritage Review No. 133.
Royal Society (2003) Measuring Biodiversity for Conservation. Policy document 11/03.
Scottish Biodiversity Forum (2004) Scotland's Biodiversity - It's in Your Hands. A strategy for the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in Scotland: Developing an Indicator Set. Scottish Biodiversity Forum
Scottish Executive (2002) Meeting the Needs…Priorities, Actions and Targets for Sustainable development in Scotland. Paper 2002/14.
Scottish Executive (2003) Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland Paper 2003/3
Scottish Executive (2004) In Your Hands: a strategy for the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in Scotland.
Scottish Science Advisory Committee (2004) Science Matters: making the right connections for Scotland. First Report.
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2003) Interlinkages between Biological Diversity and Climate Change, CBD Technical Series No. 10
UK Biodiversity Group (2001) " Sustaining the Variety of Life: 5 years of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan", DETR.
Welch, D., Carss, D.N., Gornall, J., Manchester, S.J., Marquiss, M., Preston, C.D., Telfer, M.G., Arnold, H. and Holbrook, J. (2001) An audit of alien species in Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage Review No. 139.
Small changes in the way we perform everyday tasks can have huge impacts on Scotland's environment.
Walking short distances rather than using the car, or being careful not to overfill the kettle are just two positive steps we can all take.
This butterfly represents the beauty and fragility of Scotland's environment. The motif will be utilised extensively by the Scottish Executive and its partners in their efforts to persuade people they can do a little to change a lot.