Scotland's Biodiversity

The 2020 Challenge for Scotland's Biodiversity  is an ambitious strategy to protect and restore Scotland's Biodiversity.

It is a supplement to the existing strategy Scotland's Biodiversity - It's in your hands (2004) which was revised in light of international agreements in 2010 and subsequent EU Biodiversity Strategy in 2011.

Both documents together now comprise the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS).

The SBS clearly identifies that landscape scale, or an ecosystem approach to, biodiversity conservation is necessary. This requires the involvement of a wide range of organisations, government departments and businesses. A focus on tackling the drivers of biodiversity change such as climate change, invasive non-native species and habitat fragmentation, will enable Scotland to meet the 2020 Challenge.

SNH has a key role to play in delivering this.

SNH and Biodiversity

SNH has a lead role in delivering biodiversity action in Scotland.

An Ecosystems Approach

Nature provides us with many benefits which are not always obvious to us. Find out more about them in this section.