Ministerial Foreword
Mike Russell
Biodiversity is the rich variety of life which surrounds us and including its relationships with ourselves. Biodiversity provides the essential resources and services that we depend on for our lives and livelihoods, directly and indirectly: food, materials, medicines, pollination, recycling of carbon, water cleansing, and flood control, to mention a few. Our life depends on continuing to safeguard a diverse and healthy biodiversity.
The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Scotland's Biodiversity: It's In Your Hands, published in 2004, was a landmark strategy for Scotland. It sets out the vision for the future health of our biodiversity, and maps out a 25-year framework for action to conserve and enhance biodiversity for the health, enjoyment and well-being of all the people of Scotland. It makes clear that safeguarding Scotland's natural environment requires the commitment of each and every one of us.
Much has changed since 2004 when the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy was launched. But safeguarding Scotland's biodiversity remains at the heart of the Scottish Government's agenda. We have set out our commitment to build a greener Scotland, and the sustainable use and protection of our precious natural environment is at the heart of that. Our goal must be to achieve a fair and sustainable relationship between the needs of people and the natural environment - not just because caring for our environment is the right thing to do, but also because the quality of our environment is critical to our quality of life, our prosperity and our well-being.
This Report to the Parliament fulfils the requirement set out in the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 and highlights achievements over the first three years of the Strategy by a wide range of organisations and individuals, each of whom has risen to the challenge of taking responsibility for Scotland's biodiversity and natural environment. The report shows how much has been achieved by a huge number of people to safeguard, enhance, understand and enjoy Scotland's biodiversity over the past three years.
The lessons that have been learned over these past three years will help steer our collective efforts in the years leading to 2010. That is an important date because of the European and international commitment to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Scotland is playing its part energetically through implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and through its participation, along with the other devolved administrations, in the UK Biodiversity Action Programme.
By its nature, biodiversity is diverse and complex; inevitably it takes time to see the impact of changes in our actions and behaviour. We need to be realistic and patient, yet also determined in our efforts to safeguard and enhance our natural environment, and to commit ourselves to the long haul. While there is still much to achieve for our biodiversity, there is much to celebrate as we enjoy and value the wonderful biodiversity of Scotland around us.
Mike Russell
Scottish Government
Minister for Environment