Chamber and committees

Expenditure on biodiversity-related activity is not allocated in the manner outlined and thus the information requested is not held centrally.

Biodiversity-related work in Scotland is funded by a range of public, private and third sector sources. These include:

• £209 million has been committed since 2015 through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) under the Scottish Rural Development Programme and extension of the current contracts is likely to ensure a further £6 million is invested next year. This will allow environmentally friendly agricultural practices to continue on around 180,000 hectares. It will also allow over 200 AECS contracts benefitting designated sites to be maintained which is critical for vulnerable priority species.
• AECS Commitments for the 2020 claim year in islands and remote rural areas totalled £11,000,742, just over a quarter of the total for Scotland, comprising £1,874,405 capital and £9,126,337 revenue funding.
• Our 2018 Programme for Government introduced a new Biodiversity Challenge Fund administered by Scottish Natural Heritage with funding from the Scottish Government, which helps enable targeted action for priority habitats and species, to accelerate our efforts to meet international biodiversity commitments. Information on spend will be available at the end of 2020-21, taking into account the impacts of Covid-19 on projects.
• Peatland restoration, which locks up carbon and also benefits biodiversity, is being supported by a commitment to spend £250 million over the next 10 years. Information on expenditure this year will be available at the end of 2020-21, taking into account the impact of Covid-19.
• The Forestry Grant Scheme budget within the SRDP includes £20 million in 2020-2021 for woodland creation and management, which benefits biodiversity.
• The Water Environment Fund provides a further £5 million annually to improve the physical condition of water bodies.
• External sources of funding include EU LIFE, Interreg and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Since 2012, SNH has leveraged more than £40 million in additional funding for nature and biodiversity projects through these funds and other project partners

The Budget 2020-21 and Level 4 budget information published alongside it provide an overview of how the Scottish Government’s resource and capital budgets are allocated. Significant amounts of the Budget are allocated through the formula basis for funding NHS Boards and local authority services and information about these budgets is also publicly available. Providing a complete picture of all capital and revenue expenditure would require detailed analysis at the level of individual programmes.

The National Islands Plan provides an overview of the programmes that have an impact in island and remote rural areas. The National Islands Plan and The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 will continue to play an integral role in ensuring that our islands do not fall behind and miss the opportunity to adjust to a new post COVID world. The four principles of the Plan – fairness, integration, environmental protection and inclusiveness – will be central to how we plan to ensure islands are more resilient in the future.