Scotland’s leading conservation charity, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, has welcomed the Scottish Government’s new Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery Plans. However, they have also warned that despite some good ambitions, the Government must go further to meet its own stated targets, calling for more action and funding to support work on the ground by local government, charities and communities.

Recent collaborative work that Edinburgh University and the Scottish Wildlife Trust carried out showed that there is real urgency required in tackling the biodiversity crisis and that acting early enhances resilience, whereas failure to invest in nature now will only cost us more in the long run. Simply put: by acting now for nature, we minimise long-term costs and keep our options open for future decisions.