Question reference: S5W-30315
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 30 June 2020
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Current status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 July 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management report, Guidance on Ecological Survey and Assessment in the UK During the Covid-19 Outbreak, will apply to Phase 2 of its route map to allow non-essential outdoor workplaces with physical distancing to resume once relevant guidance is agreed, or whether Scotland-specific information will now be provided for environmental monitoring.
Answer
The Scottish Government published guidance on 21 May to support safe outdoor working for the forestry sector and for a range of environmental management activity in Scotland, as part of supporting the restart of outdoor non-essential workplaces under Phase 1 of Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis.
The guidance, which is available at the following link https://forestry.gov.scot/covid-19 sets out information and advice that can be used to protect workers carrying out outdoor work such as peatland restoration, wildlife and nature reserve management, and ecological surveys and research, under the broad heading of environmental management.
The section in the guidance that identifies sources of further information includes a reference to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) section of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) Covid-19 website https://cieem.net/i-am/covid-19/ ). This advises members in Scotland to follow the safe working guidance and other guidelines set out by the Scottish Government.