Guidance Note - Biodiversity Duty Explained

Under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, public bodies in Scotland have a duty to further the conservation of biodiversity when carrying out their responsibilities.  Every public body in Scotland is also required to produce a publicly available report on compliance with the Biodiversity Duty.

This guidance provides advice on how public bodies can contribute to the aims of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and address the loss of nature more widely, and it suggests ways to report on actions taken.  It includes links to reporting templates and information on how reporting on your Biodiversity Duty contributes to national and international targets.

Published: 2020
Revised: 2026

What is the Biodiversity Duty?

The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 places a statutory duty on all public bodies in Scotland to further the conservation of biodiversity.  Section 1 of the 2004 Act states that

Section 2 of the 2004 Act states that a public body must prepare and publish a biodiversity report on the actions taken by the body in pursuance of its duty under Section 1.  The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 requires public bodies in Scotland to provide a publicly available report every three years on the actions that they have taken to meet their biodiversity duty.

The Biodiversity Duty is not only about protecting biodiversity by managing specific sites, habitats and species.  It also aims to:

• Increase the level of understanding and connection between people and nature.
• Promote consideration of all our impacts on the natural world through our actions and decisions, including through procurement and use of resources.
• Encourage staff, partners and customers to engage with, understand and consider biodiversity.

Why biodiversity is important to public bodies in Scotland

Biodiversity is the variety of all living things and the ecosystems where they live (on land or in water).  It is the living networks (the ecosystems) that provide us all with a healthy environment and a regulated climate. Nature is essential to our survival as a species, our economy, jobs, health and wellbeing.

Biodiversity provides many vital services that enrich our lives and that we depend on.  Biodiversity underpins much of our food and drink production through maintaining healthy soils and pollination, it captures carbon and helps to clean and cool the air, it protects us against flooding, and it regulates our supply of fresh water. All organisations, even those that don’t manage or regulate the use of land, rely on healthy biodiversity for the goods and services essential to life and the wellbeing of staff, customers and users.

Human activity is causing biodiversity to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate.  These losses can be irreversible, impoverish us all and damage the life systems we all rely on.  Biodiversity loss and the climate emergency are inextricably linked.  Climate change increases the pressures on biodiversity, while the living world can help us to find Nature-based Solutions to confront many of the impacts of climate change, such as increased rainfall, raised sea levels and higher temperatures especially in our towns and cities.

The public sector plays a key role in leading by example and it can make a real contribution to Scotland’s efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity and implement our international commitments, such as those to deliver the Global Biodiversity Framework 

The purpose of Biodiversity Duty reporting

• to comply with a statutory requirement
• provide feedback on performance and support benchmarking
• demonstrate the role public bodies have in contributing to the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy

How you are contributing to national and international targets

We all have a role to play in halting nature loss by 2030 and restoring nature by 2045.  Biodiversity Duty Reporting provides an opportunity for you to capture and report on your contributions to this national and global effort.

Biodiversity Duty reporting provides public bodies with the opportunity to highlight and report on actions they have taken to contribute directly to Scotland’s national targets and outcomes as set out in Scotland’s Biodiversity Framework.  This includes the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery Plan as well as the statutory targets in the Natural Environment Act (2026), and international biodiversity targets.  While completing your Biodiversity Duty Report, please consider your activities in the light of the outcomes, objectives and actions of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045 and Delivery Plan to 2030. 

By contributing to Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy, you will also be contributing to Scotland meeting its international targets, feeding into the UK’s reporting on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Framework.

What do Public Bodies need to do?

Every public body is different, but each can contribute to protecting and enhancing biodiversity and raising public awareness about restoring nature in some way.  There are various circumstances where the biodiversity duty applies to public bodies, such as when:

• Managing the estate or building
• Developing policies and strategies.
• Making decisions on applications (such as planning, permitting and licensing applications).
• Deciding what materials and supplies to purchase (procurement policies).
• Planning and carrying out construction works, or other forms of infrastructure and development.
• Working in partnerships to develop Nature-based Solutions and increase access to nature in and around settlements to the benefit of public health and wellbeing.

Each Biodiversity Duty report should aim to include information on:

• Your public body, its role and purpose, including any particular environmental responsibilities.
• Actions your organisation has undertaken alone or as part of a partnership, such as a Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) or Regional Adaptation Partnership such as Climate Ready Regions.
• Mainstreaming Biodiversity - any steps your organisation has taken to embed biodiversity measures into its wider policies.
• Nature and adapting to Climate Change – actions taken to support the contribution nature makes to increase resilience and adapt to climate change, such as by mapping and incorporating local nature networks in Local Development Plans. To minimise repetition of reporting carried out for your Annual Climate Change Duties Report, actions you report under this heading should only include those that help to halt the loss of biodiversity. 
• Public Engagement and workforce development – including with schools, on developing nature-based skills, engaging with communities and the public.
• Research and monitoring – surveys to increase our knowledge and understanding of biodiversity and to monitor and evaluate the impacts of actions for nature.
• Any achievements you would like to highlight or future challenges you anticipate.

Selecting a reporting template

Below sets out guidance for selecting a template to assist in compiling your Biodiversity Duty report.  The templates guide you on what, and how much, information is needed in your report including pointers to consider how your activities contribute to delivering on the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Answering yes or no to the following questions will indicate which of the reporting templates is best for your public body.  The templates are proportionate to the likely level of information that you may wish to provide, dependent upon your organisation’s role and remit.  They incorporate the key elements on which you may wish to report.  They are not exhaustive and it is likely that there will be a range of additional work that your organisation has carried out in support of biodiversity on which you may also wish to report.

Question 1: Does your public body own or manage land, regulate land use, or is one of your main responsibilities linked to biodiversity?

If yes, your public body has the opportunity to implement a wide range of activities for biodiversity. To report, consider using the Level One Template.

If no, move onto question two.

Question 2: Do you work to inform or engage directly or indirectly with communities, young people or the public?

If yes, your public body has the opportunity to implement a moderate range of activities for biodiversity. To report, consider using the Level Two template.

If no, your public body has the opportunity to implement a smaller set of activities for biodiversity. To report consider using the Level Three Template.

If you have any questions, or require further assistance in completing your report, please contact the Scottish Government at [email protected].