Question reference: S6W-02669
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 16 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Biodiversity Intactness Index, and whether it will publish any such assessment.
Answer
The Biodiversity Intactness Index is one of several indices devised to assess the current state of nature, with attribution to a range of drivers. The Biodiversity Intactness Index focuses on nature in the past, and the many pressures in the past over which we now have no control. The index is predicated on the history of land use in each country, with the UK having a long history of deforestation and agricultural intensification which resulted in a lower score relative to other countries.
We have committed to introduce a new Environment Bill which will include targets for nature restoration that cover land and sea based on an overarching goal of preventing any further extinctions of wildlife and halting declines by 2030, and making significant progress in restoring Scotland’s natural environment by 2045.
In December 2020, we published our Statement of Intent on biodiversity, which sets out our ambitions for biodiversity and announces our new biodiversity strategy, which will be published in autumn 2022. We will continue to consider the best mix of targets and indicators to measure success as we develop our strategy and response to the global post-2020 biodiversity framework.