Chamber and committees

There is no specific annual budget set for improving the condition of natural features on protected areas due to the voluntary approach taken to encouraging management change through applications for funding to the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) or Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Management Agreements.

Within any particular year, the Delivering Favourable Condition Action Plan prioritises the unfavourable natural features which require remedial management and allows the lead organisation to plan staff time required to engage with land managers and for non-SRDP funding to be budgeted.

Since 2012, the Scottish Government has committed the following funding to support management works on protected areas required to either maintain or improve condition:

*This figure does not include 2016 management payments under SRDP Agri-Environment Climate, which are detailed in the following table

Agri-environment Climate Scheme (AECS) Committed spend on designated sites;

The above figures are considered to represent a slight underestimation of the actual spend and commitment, as they do not include the Forestry Grant Scheme funding, and that of the Peatland Action project; a portion of each will undoubtedly benefit the condition of protected areas. However these figures are not currently available, as the expenditure on protected areas is not routinely recorded.

Our Inshore Fisheries Strategy recognises the importance of fishing to Scotland and is helping to provide a more sustainable, profitable and well-managed inshore sector. This year we have introduced a range of measures to improve inshore fisheries management, including changes to closed areas around the Outer Hebrides, new controls on the king scallop sector and introducing daily catch limits on what hobby fishermen can take from the sea. On the 25^th May I announced new inshore fisheries pilot schemes to look at innovative approaches to fisheries management and whether a more local approach to fisheries management and spatial separation of different methods of fishing can deliver benefits.

A range of initiatives are in place to deliver the three-pillar approach to marine nature conservation. A programme to deliver the necessary fisheries management measures to protect the rest of the MPA network is currently on-going, following the measures implemented in 2016. The provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 effectively prohibit a basking shark fishery. In early 2017 the European Union prohibited demersal trawling in water depths greater than 800 metres, to complement existing restrictions on gill net fisheries. In combination these measures provide considerable protection to some of the most vulnerable species in Scotland’s Seas.

Each Autumn, the Scottish Government participates in the suite of international negotiations that set fishing levels for quota stocks for the coming year. The Government's negotiating position is underpinned by a set of long-standing guiding principles that include following the best available scientific advice, supporting a progressive move towards 'Maximum Sustainable Yield' fishing levels for all stocks, and maintaining stocks above safe biological limits and in good reproductive health.

As a result of this approach, Scottish sea fisheries are now more sustainable than they were in 2007. For 2016, of 19 key Scottish stocks, 13 (70%) were fished at or very close to being fished at the appropriate MSY rate, compared to 40% in 2007. Biomass is also steadily improving with 14 of these stocks (74%) currently above defined biomass safety levels.

This improving management means that more fish can be landed, with 19 per cent more landed in 2015 as compared to 2007. This has clear economic and social benefits for the fishing industry and the communities that depend on it.

Marine Scotland is currently developing an MPA monitoring strategy that will ensure the necessary information is collected from the MPA network to underpin assessment and reporting obligations. The data collected from implementing this strategy together with continued monitoring of the environmental status of Scotland’s Seas, will allow us to assess impacts on marine ecosystem health. However, it will take several years to collect sufficient data to make a valid assessment.

In February 2017 Scottish Natural Heritage published a report on blue carbon that estimated that the amount of carbon stored within Scotland’s inshore MPA network is equivalent to four years of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The report can be found here: http://www.snh.gov.uk/publications-data-and-research/publications/search-the-catalogue/publication-detail/?id=2453. We are currently considering further opportunities to expand this valuable and remarkable research to better understand the role and significance of blue carbon in climate change resilience.

The 2016 Scottish Marine Protected Areas Socioeconomic Monitoring report provides an assessment of emerging evidence on the socio-economic impacts of Scotland’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), that includes some cultural and social considerations, such as behavioural change, compliance and displacement. The 2016 report can be found here: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/03/5018

Marine Scotland will continue to monitor the socioeconomic impacts of MPAs and will take forward another evaluation of the socioeconomic impacts of MPAs once sufficient time has passed to allow various marine sectors to adapt to the measures.

The exact timescales are still being determined because the review will require a Strategic Environmental Assessment. It is envisaged that stakeholder engagement will begin after summer recess with a view to public consultation around the end of 2017. The Scottish Government website will be updated with details as they become known.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and partner organisations are working with land managers across Scotland to address the causes of designated features being in unfavourable condition. When a designated feature in unfavourable condition is identified, SNH seeks to work with the relevant land manager to alter the management to improve condition.

This is often achieved by encouraging land managers to sign up to voluntary management agreements, such as Agri-Environment Climate scheme contracts under the Scottish Rural Development Programme.

There are no plans to change site condition monitoring.

The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Protected Areas Working Group (whose membership includes the Scottish Government, Forestry Commission Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage) is considering the wider role that protected areas could play in contributing to the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. There also is a UK-wide review of Common Standards Monitoring, which aims to refresh and update the rationale for protected areas monitoring.

Scotland’s protected areas have been recognised and designated as nationally important for nature conservation. As such, they play a key role in delivering our international and national commitments to protecting, enhancing and restoring Scotland’s biodiversity.

The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Route Map to 2020 has a specific target for protected areas, which is to increase the proportion of features in favourable or recovering condition to 80%. This target was achieved early in 2016.