Scottish Government

2. BACKGROUND

2.1 WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY?

'Biodiversity' is shorthand for 'biological diversity', meaning the range and variety of all living organisms, and the places they live and of which they are a part (habitats and ecosystems). The term biodiversity therefore covers diversity within species (at a genetic level), diversity between species, and diversity of habitats and ecosystems. At each of these levels biodiversity can be measured by its variety, quantity and distribution (for example, the number of different species, and the abundance and geographical spread of individual species).

2.2 WHY DOES BIODIVERSITY MATTER?

People and societies depend on plants, animals, micro-organisms, fungi and almost every other part of the living environment for their existence and livelihoods. Biodiversity is used for purposes as diverse as food, clothing, medicine, fuel, construction, recreation and manufacture. Biodiversity is a highly complex web of interconnections between all forms of life, including humans. We cannot hope to understand how all parts of the web depend on each other, or what the impact would be if species or habitats are lost. When species or habitats disappear locally the loss may be difficult to reverse; it is impossible if they disappear globally.

Biodiversity also provides essential functions or 'ecosystem services' such as soil formation, nutrient cycling, climate and disease regulation, carbon recycling, pollination, and purifying water supplies. Put simply, we rely upon the ecosystem services that the natural world provides for life, livelihood and enjoyment.

Biodiversity is not simply of utilitarian value, however. Just as importantly, many people value and appreciate the natural world and its species and habitats, as a key element of their quality of life. This may be because of the pleasure, meaning, or sense of well-being they derive from the natural world, or because of its cultural significance.

In Scotland, many of the plants and animals around us, their diversity of species and the natural groupings they live in, and some of their genetic characteristics, are distinctive. In many cases they are internationally significant and important. The natural world and wildlife are highly valued both by the people of Scotland, and by visitors to Scotland. A sustainable Scotland has to be founded on a clean and healthy environment, in order to support a vibrant and sustainable economy. We all depend on and benefit from Scotland's biodiversity, and in turn we have a duty to help to safeguard it for ourselves and for the generations to follow.

2.3 WHAT ARE BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS?

Biodiversity indicators describe change over time in the variety, quantity or distribution of aspects of the natural world. Inevitably, the full complexity of biodiversity at genetic, species and ecosystem scales defies simple measurement. Indicators are surrogates for this and are best treated as indicative of the general state and trends of biodiversity. They provide high-level insights, 'headline messages', and factual evidence to support objectives and policies for biodiversity. They provide evidence of progress towards policy objectives and provide a reality-check on what is actually happening in the world around us. The most useful indicators are those which are:

• based on reliable and repeatable quantitative data that can be measured over both small ( e.g. regional) and large ( e.g. international) scales
• relevant to current policies influencing biodiversity and likely to be responsive to policy change
• easily communicated and understood, with strong public resonance
• comparable with similar measures at a larger geographical scale.

Indicators may be measures of the pressures that biodiversity is experiencing ( e.g. pollution), the current state of biodiversity ( e.g. measures of species diversity, abundance or range), or policy responses to biodiversity change ( e.g. areas of land under conservation management, or public participation in biodiversity conservation). This 'pressure-state-response' model is now widely accepted as a basis for indicator development.

2.4 PURPOSE OF THE 'BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS FOR SCOTLAND' REPORT

This report presents for the first time a suite or set of indicators (Table 1) describing trends in the state of Scotland's biodiversity, and in the engagement of Scotland's people with its conservation and enhancement. Relevant pressure and response indicators affecting Scotland's biodiversity and people's engagement with biodiversity and the natural world are summarised in other documents. These include Sustainable Development Strategy Indicator Set¹ and Key Scottish Environmental Statistics² publications.

The indicators may be used in a range of ways to learn about and understand the natural world. They provide a consistent basis for Government and others to monitor, assess and describe the effectiveness of policies and actions over time. They tell us about the world around us and our influence upon it. Overall, they point to collective performance - by government, business and citizens - in contributing to the preservation and protection of Scotland's native wildlife and, they also illustrate the remarkable natural world we inhabit.

The indicators in this report have been developed following consultation with a wide range of partner agencies and other stakeholders in response to consultation documents issued by the Scottish Biodiversity Forum Developing Candidate Indicators of the State of Scotland's Biodiversity³ and Developing an Indicator Set⁴. The indicators have been peer-reviewed as an independent check on their clarity and rigour.

A key principle in selecting the indicators was to make better use of existing data to improve the presentation and understanding of biodiversity change in Scotland. Some indicators show a series of information over a period of time, while others establish a benchmark for assessing future change. The indicator set is not exhaustive, but presents important examples of the state of Scotland's biodiversity.

TABLE 1: SCOTTISH BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS

2.5 SCOTTISH BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY

The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy "It's In Your Hands" ⁵ was published by the Scottish Executive in 2004. The Strategy sets out a 25-year vision and framework for action for Scotland's biodiversity, strongly focussed round the relationship between biodiversity and people. The Strategy provides a foundation for Scotland's contribution to the United Kingdom's obligations under the international Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD) ⁶, as well as the Scottish Executive's commitment to sustainable development, and the statutory duty on public bodies in Scotland to conserve biodiversity under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 ⁷.

The aim of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy is " to conserve biodiversity for the health, enjoyment and well being of the people of Scotland now and in the future". The Strategy identifies five key objectives:

1. Species and habitats: To halt the loss of biodiversity and continue to reverse previous losses through targeted action for species and habitats.

2. People: To increase awareness, understanding and enjoyment of biodiversity, and engage many more people in its conservation and enhancement.

3. Landscapes and ecosystems: To restore and enhance biodiversity in all our urban, rural and marine environments through better planning, design and practice.

4. Integration and co-ordination: To develop an effective management framework that ensures biodiversity is taken into account in all decision making.

5. Knowledge: To ensure that the best new and existing knowledge on biodiversity is available to all policy makers and practitioners.

The Scottish biodiversity indicators in this report will provide key information to assess progress towards the achievement of the objectives of Scotland's Biodiversity Strategy. This set of indicators will contribute directly to measurement of progress towards the first three of these objectives. It is recognised that further development of this indicator set may be needed over time to enable progress towards objectives 4 and 5 to be measured, though the existence of this indicator set in itself can be seen as an initial contribution to the delivery of objectives 4 and 5.

2.6 LINKS WITH OTHER INDICATORS

This first set of Scottish biodiversity indicators provides an assessment of aspects of Scotland's biodiversity, and the engagement of people in Scotland with nature. Consistent with the aim of producing indicators capable of comparison with those reported elsewhere, many Scottish biodiversity indicators have close counterparts in other indicator sets reported at Scotland, UK and European scales. However, they are not necessarily presented identically, over the same time periods, or with exactly the same source data. The UK biodiversity indicators set ⁸ will provide a basis for assessing progress towards the European and international targets of halting the loss of biodiversity by the year 2010 ⁹.

The most important related indicator sets and their inter-relationships with the Scottish biodiversity indicators are summarised in Table 2 (below). Biodiversity in Scotland is a component of the indicators at UK and European levels. It is important to be able to identify Scotland's contribution to the European goal of halting biodiversity loss. The capability to do this should improve over time as the indicator sets and the consistency between them develop.

There is already a clear correlation between many elements of the indicator sets, reflecting a shared purpose but differing levels of data availability. Some gaps are being addressed elsewhere; for example, habitat connectivity and spring index are part of a broader set of natural heritage indicators for Scotland ¹⁰. Other sets of indicators which also reflect on biodiversity, include those supporting the Scottish Sustainable Development Strategy and the Scottish Rural Development Programme.

TABLE 2: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCOTTISH, UK AND EUROPEAN BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS