Biodiversity Duty

What is the Biodiversity Duty?

Under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, all public bodies in Scotland have a duty to further the conservation of biodiversity when carrying out their responsibilities. This biodiversity duty is about taking care of nature all around us, not just in specific protected sites and for particular species.

Fulfilling your Biodiversity Duty can help address wider outcomes such as:

• Helping Scotland halt biodiversity loss and address the climate emergency, and contributing to a green recovery and a net zero future.
• Ensuring compliance with the legislation and helping Scotland to meet its national and international biodiversity targets.
• Contributing to sustainable development and the quality of life in Scotland.
• Demonstrating you are working in a socially responsible and ethical way, by safeguarding biodiversity and environmental assets for future generations.

Read Biodiversity Duty Explained for advice and guidance on what actions you could take to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity.

Reporting on the Biodiversity Duty

As outlined in the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 (commonly known as the WANE Act), every public body in Scotland is required to produce a publicly available report, on compliance with the Biodiversity Duty. This must be completed once every three years. Your next report is due by the end of December 2023.

To report on what you have done, please look at Biodiversity Duty Explained, which provides advice on the sorts of actions you can take for biodiversity and how you might report on them. It will help you to select a template to assist in the drafting of your biodiversity duty report based on the functions of your public body.

Each report should aim to include information on:

• Your public body, its role and purpose, including any particular environmental responsibilities.
• Any actions your organisation has undertaken alone or as part of a partnership to benefit biodiversity directly or achieve wider outcomes for nature and people.
• Mainstreaming Biodiversity - any steps your organisation has taken to incorporate biodiversity measures into its wider policies.
• Nature based solutions and climate change – any steps to support the contribution biodiversity can make to build resilience and mitigate and adapt to climate change.
• Public Engagement and workforce development – including education and engaging with communities, young people and the public.
• Research and monitoring – actions to increase understanding of nature and biodiversity both internally and externally and to measure the impacts of the actions you have.

To submit your Biodiversity Duty Report, publish it online and email a link to [email protected]. If you have any queries about the reporting or submission process, please contact [email protected].