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Land reform in Scotland has been driven by key periods of land access claims and dispossession, and discussions of the 'land question' remain sensitive. The Scottish Government has been pursuing land reform over the past 20 years to modernize property law, fiscal systems, and increase diversity of landownership types and scale, improve accountability and transparency, and rebalance rights of private landownership with responsibility.

Land reform in Scotland addresses the adverse effects of concentrated private landownership, promote a wider variety of landownership types with larger scale landholdings, enhance accountability and transparency in landownership, and restore balance between the rights of private landownership and corresponding responsibilities.

With the aim of becoming a net-zero society by 2045, there is a growing need for significant changes in land use and management practices, including woodland expansion and restoration of peatlands as carbon sinks. Consequently, there has been a recent increase in interest from companies and individuals seeking to purchase land in Scotland to benefit from its 'offsetting' potential.

The rural economy is undergoing rapid changes, with profound impacts on communities and organisations. These include the ongoing implications of the Covid-19 pandemic, EU Exit and new trade deals, and the demands of achieving ‘net zero’. Demographic changes, evolving work practices and ways of delivering services, and emerging lifestyle preferences are shifting the links between rural areas and cities. However, the benefits of economic development have not been distributed evenly across Scotland, and there is a consensus on the need to address regional inequality and ensure a just transition. Some sparsely populated areas have lost population, and the socio-economic costs of ‘places left behind’ are large. Past regional and rural development schemes appear to have had a mixed record of success.

Rural and island communities have experienced long-standing issues relating to population and demographic change, sustainable rural development, public service delivery, equalities and socioeconomic opportunities. The key policy drivers include: rural depopulation, employment, education and skills, housing and infrastructure, community empowerment and ensuring that island and rural priorities are accounted for throughout government’s policy and legislation.

Water utility companies have a legal regulatory requirement to test their drinking water for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts and only test their water supply for the presence of Giardia cysts when there is a potential outbreak or contamination. Cryptosporidiosis and Giardiasis are the most diagnosed parasitic diseases in humans in Scotland and drinking water has been implicated in their transmission. However, they do not test for Toxoplasma oocysts within their water supply. Previous research has detected Toxoplasma gondii DNA in some Scottish public water supplies. Humans can become infected with Toxoplasma by ingesting oocysts in water contaminated with infected cat faeces. Unlike Cryptosporidium and Giardia, Toxoplasma was not previously considered to be a significant waterborne pathogen; however, following the occurrence of large human outbreaks, linked to Toxoplasma oocyst contamination of water supplies, it has emerged as an important transmission route.

The screening protocols used by the water utility companies are:

• Labour intensive
• Time-consuming
• Involve microscopy, which requires high levels of expertise
• Prone to operator error due to subjectivity of oocyst identification during microscopy, especially in dirty water samples
• Time-limited as microscopy operators are limited by a maximum of 4 hrs per day due to Health and Safety guidance
• There are currently no commercial and validated tests for the detection of Toxoplasma oocysts in water samples
• Microscopy cannot distinguish between human infectious/non-infectious species/assemblages of parasite
• Standard fluorescent microscopy cannot distinguish between live and dead parasite oocysts/cysts

Nitrogen is an essential element for life, but human creation of reactive nitrogen far exceeds that occurring by natural processes. A high proportion of anthropogenically created nitrogen compounds fail to remain with their intended target, instead being lost to the environment and impact on natural ecosystems. Pollution is one of the five main direct drivers of reductions in biodiversity and ecosystem services over the last 50 years. The perturbation of the nitrogen cycle has been identified as one of the main ways in which humanity is pushing the earth's system beyond its safe operating space.

Reactive nitrogen released into the environment reduces air quality and may affect organisms directly in gaseous form or be deposited onto vegetation and soils as particulates or in rainfall. Deposited nitrogen accumulates in soils and vegetation where enhanced nitrogen supply alters interactions between species and negatively impacts biodiversity. Deposition of nitrogen also impacts ecosystem functioning via changes in plant productivity and decomposition of organic materials in the soil altering both carbon and nitrogen cycling, with implications for carbon sequestration and emissions of greenhouse gases. When nitrogen inputs exceed an ecosystem’s capacity to retain them, nitrogen escapes into surface waters, impacting aquatic ecosystems and water quality.

While emissions of nitrogen from industry and transport have declined in recent years, emissions from agriculture remain high. In Scotland, nitrogen deposition is impacting widely on natural ecosystems, with 30% of sensitive habitats and 80% of the land within Special Areas of Conservation receiving excess nitrogen. These natural ecosystems are also subject to the impacts of climate change and other drivers. Climate change has the potential to exacerbate the negative effects of nitrogen deposition on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, both through climate-enhanced nitrogen emissions from agriculture and via interactive effects of climatic stressors and nitrogen deposition on organisms and processes. In turn, nitrogen deposition has the potential to feedback on climate change through its effects on the carbon balance of natural ecosystems.

Scottish natural ecosystems supply essential goods and services upon which our society and economy depend. Effective safeguarding of natural capital and ecosystem service supply in Scotland in the face of continuing nitrogen deposition and increasing impacts of climate change requires a thorough understanding of how these two drivers impact biodiversity and ecosystem processes and their potential interactions, across a wide range of natural ecosystems.

Transformational change is needed now to mitigate climate and biodiversity emergencies and to adapt to current and future water-related environmental pressures. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have been promoted to help address these emergencies and support Scotland’s Green Recovery. NBS are defined as “solutions to societal challenges that are inspired and supported by nature”. NBS are central to global debates about sustainable natural resource management. They have been identified as one solution to many water-related environmental pressures and are being considered more by many policy, industry, and practice sectors. However, the widespread rollout of NBS is slow to address the pressing emergencies and mitigate water-related pressure. Scientific evidence and guidance are needed to support implementation through the Scottish Government’s ‘Green Recovery.’

Coupled with this, greater focus must be given so that these solutions can provide many more ecosystem services and there are potential ways to maximise these benefits further in managed landscapes. We must also assess the conditions of some of our core land units and look at ways to protect these systems. Also, consideration of the wider benefits, how to value these and promote these to catchment planners, industry, and practice is required. However, getting beyond small-scale pilots and isolated best practices rarely occurs; we need to explore how to work at scales and across sectors to deliver NBS that make a significant contribution to meeting society’s needs.

Protecting and enhancing soil health - particularly in peatlands given that they store nearly 50% of all Scotland’s soil carbon - is key to reaching Scotland’s net zero targets by 2045. Peatland health, or condition, is dependent on physical, hydrological, and ecological factors that influence each other in various self-regulating feedbacks to produce resilience to climate changes over millennial timescales.

Much of Scotland’s peatland area has been damaged to such a degree that this self-regulation no longer functions. In net terms, the degraded peatlands lose so much carbon that they completely offset the entire forest carbon sink in Scotland as well as having lost other vital ecosystem functions, such as water filtration and storage. The realisation of the scale of this issue has led to the inclusion of peatland restoration targets (250,000 hectares restored by 2030). As the majority of Scotland’s approximately 2.4 million hectares of peat is degraded, targeting the most cost-effective sites for restoration is necessary. Wider than just restoration issues, we also still do not have clear estimates of how degraded our peatlands are or how to cost-effectively monitor the overall health or condition of our 2.4 million hectares of peatland.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) concluded that addressing biodiversity loss requires economies and governance systems to urgently transform the way they operate. This was echoed by the Edinburgh Declaration, and signed by the Scottish Government, calling on parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity to ‘take strong and bold actions to bring about transformative change... in order to halt biodiversity losses.' Forthcoming policies and commissioned reviews by the Scottish Government and agencies reflect the urgency of this change. They provide strategic directions which focus on greater inclusivity in the conversations around the uses of land, supporting a well-being economy and the first national review of the role of indirect drivers on biodiversity loss.

Transformative change is fundamental if we are to address the limitations of finite growth and move towards values, structures and institutions that promote a “good life” with a focus on ecological and social well-being. Bringing together diverse knowledge and fostering greater democracy has long been recognised within sustainability concepts. These concepts recognise the importance of public and civil society knowledge creation alongside academic, economic, and political knowledge systems. This is supported by evidence that increasingly suggests that conservation and biodiversity measures succeed best when a plurality of voices and diverse forms of knowledge can be engaged in the co-development of management solutions. Further developments propose that sustainability will be best achieved when new knowledge and know-how are in balance with nature. This supports the need to transform how nature and the economy are currently framed and measured and thus lead to more just and sustainable ways of living with our natural world.

Worldwide biodiversity is in decline. It is crucial that it is conserved and restored to ensure that the world’s natural capital is still available for human use in the long term as well as for its intrinsic value. The UK and Scotland have committed to global agreements, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity in response. Whilst Scotland is no longer part of the European Union, the legal frameworks surrounding the Birds Directive and Habitats Directive have been incorporated into law and stand alongside other legislation. These commitments have been brought together and operationalised as the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

To deliver on the targets of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy there is a necessity to have accurate and current information on the status and trends of species in Scotland. This encompasses the basic question of what biodiversity Scotland has and which components Scotland has global responsibility for. It also requires an understanding of what is driving changes in biodiversity so that policies can be targeted appropriately to reduce pressures. This understanding must apply at a range of scales; a national focus is necessary to get an overall picture of trends, but more detailed work is also necessary to understand the specific issues associated with the conservation of habitats and species.

The increasing number of companies and organizations that are committing to reducing their carbon emissions is leading to a greater demand for investment in restoring woodland habitats. This is because these habitats can help absorb carbon and offset the emissions that organizations still produce. However, it's not always easy or without risk to get the most carbon-absorbing benefits from restoring woodland in Scotland. There needs to be a better understanding of how to do this in a way that also brings other benefits to society and reduces the risk of failure.

Climate change will also affect the ability of trees to absorb carbon, and different restoration investors may have different goals and levels of uncertainty, which can impact the outcome of these projects. It's important to carefully consider these factors and assess any potential unintended consequences.

In Scotland, a common land management practice is called "muirburn," which involves prescribed burning on moorlands where grouse shooting is a major land use. However, there is still a lot of debate and uncertainty around the effects of muirburn on biodiversity and how it interacts with wildfires.

Scotland's Atlantic Oakwoods are an important habitat for a variety of species, but there is limited knowledge about how these ecosystems work and how to best protect and restore them. This includes a lack of understanding of the diversity of the soil biota, which is critical for developing effective management strategies.

The government is taking steps to reverse the loss of biodiversity by encouraging more environmentally friendly land use practices and habitat restoration. However, to be effective, it's important to know where to focus these efforts and how to measure the success of these efforts.

The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, an intergovernmental group of 60 countries, champions a global deal for nature and people and has the central goal of protecting at least 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030. The 30x30 target aims to halt the accelerating loss of species, address the biodiversity crisis, and protect vital ecosystems. Scotland is committed to this target and has 17% of its land currently protected and 37% of its seas in Marine Protected areas (MPAs). However, in both environments, this does not mean that damaging activities have ceased.

Climate change is a threat to biodiversity. The magnitude of that threat depends in part on the extent to which a species’ climatic niche will shrink or shift spatially. The magnitude of the threat of climate change is measured in bioclimatic models with a granularity of 1 kilometre. However, many species often respond to microclimates at much smaller scales, down to metres, or even centimetres. Therefore, certain landscapes may offer refugia – local microclimates that remain suitable even as the large-scale climate continues to change – allowing the chance for individual species to survive climate change. Such refugia can be especially important for dispersal-limited species since they provide continued niche availability at local scales.

The choice of which areas of land and sea to prioritise for conservation protection is complex. Setting targets for the coverage of protected areas is only useful if we know what type of protection should be implemented and where, and whether this protection is successful. We must select sites which maximise the effectiveness of biodiversity protection and deliver the most benefits. Understanding the factors which influence the distribution of species across a landscape is an essential step to identifying optimal locations for protection.

Protection areas need to be positioned within the wider landscape/seascape to provide maximum connectivity to enable species movement and to provide a buffer from the drivers of biodiversity loss occurring outside protected areas. In addition, the protected area network needs to be flexible with respect to climate change. Specifically, it needs to cope with changes in species distributions due to a changing climate while at the same time providing refugia for species with limited dispersal abilities.

We need to know how to best measure the condition or success of a protected area. Current monitoring of protected areas is based on the aim of conserving the “status quo” of the biodiversity when the site was first protected. This approach ignores the ecologically dynamic nature of species and ecosystems. We urgently need to develop a method to monitor ‘success’ that can cope with changes in species distributions due to a changing climate while at the same time ensuring that refugia are maintained for species with limited dispersal abilities.