Ecosystem service responses to rewilding

Abstract Rewilding as a conservation strategy is gaining increasing scientific, political and public attention, yet empirical evaluations of its impacts remain scarce, especially with regards to ecosystem services. We provide evidence of the change in three ecosystem services (timber [provisioning], pollination [regulating], and aesthetics [cultural]) from up to 27 years of a moorland rewilding strategy in the Scottish Highlands using

Scottish Forum organises a consultation for the Environment Strategy for Scotland

Last month on behalf of the Scottish Government, we at the Scottish Forum on Natural Capital organised a consultation to allow our members to feed into the Environment Strategy for Scotland. The session, which brought together over 20 representatives from business, science, academia and conservation, was held at Scotland’s Rural College in Edinburgh and was chaired by Ian Jardine, National

Natural capital report for Stirling

City deals and City Region Deals are a major opportunity to look at investment decisions through a new lens, bringing greater social, environmental and economic benefits over the longer term. This report is an analysis of two proposals: a River Project aiming to put the river back at the heart of Stirling life, and a new city park. We hope that

Importance of natural assets included in the Scottish Government’s new Economic Action Plan

Today, the Scottish Government released their new Economic Action Plan, which sets out a number of new and existing actions which they believe will “work together to build a strong, vibrant and diverse economy that promotes wellbeing and attracts investment.” Within this new plan, it is recognised that Scotland’s high-quality natural assets, such as water, soil and nature, “are the

‘Why invest in nature?’ Short Film Competition launches for 2019

The Scottish Forum on Natural Capital and Scottish Natural Heritage have joined forces with business, education and the arts industry to offer young people the opportunity to share work inspired by Scotland’s nature.   The short film competition is seeking entries that combine passion and creative talent with the latest facts to make a powerful case for why businesses should

Natural Capital Accounts for Scotland released

Today, the Scottish Government released the first set of Ecosystem Service Accounts for Scotland. These accounts, produced by the Office for National Statistics, provide the first comprehensive assessment of Scotland’s natural capital and includes information on 10 ecosystem services: Agricultural biomass  Fish capture Timber Water abstraction Mineral production Oil and gas production Renewable energy generation Carbon sequestration Air pollutant removal Recreation

Updates from 2018 Public Sector Roundtable – Scottish Government

In March the first set of Scottish Natural Capital accounts was launched by SG. The accounts provide information on the physical flows and asset value for ten ecosystem services, outlined on the website. The accounts also contain estimates of the total asset value of the stock. This showed that the partial asset value of Scottish natural capital was £273 billion

Updates from 2018 Public Sector Roundtable – Scottish Natural Heritage

The Natural Capital Asset Index (NCAI) was updated in April with the most recent results showing that overall the potential of Scotland’s environment to improve wellbeing is increasing. Heath and peatland habitats continue to show signs of recovery since lows in 2012. This year a Story Map was launched that presents the latest results in a more user-friendly and accessible

Updates from 2018 Public Sector Roundtable – Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Authority

The Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Authority are looking to build on previous activities that have supported community-led action planning and stakeholder engagement on land use within the Strathard area of the National Park. Later on this year, they are looking to engage a range of stakeholders to produce a shared vision and consensus, forming a masterplan and

David Watt appointed as Chair of Steering Group

The Scottish Forum on Natural Capital is pleased to announce that David Watt, Executive Director of IoD Scotland, has been selected to Chair its Steering Group. The Scottish Forum on Natural Capital brings together a growing number of public, private and voluntary sector organisations to protect and rebuild Scotland’s natural capital. To date, there are over 100 member organisations. The