Scotland's biodiversity: a route map to 2020

Measuring and reporting on progress

The 2020 Challenge sets out how Scotland will contribute to the global Aichi targets. Tracking work being done towards 2020 can provide assurance of progress, highlight concerns and inform action. Annex 1 illustrates how the Scotland and UK biodiversity indicator sets measure progress towards the Aichi targets.

Scotland's biodiversity indicators

Scotland's Biodiversity Indicators have been developed to monitor changes in our nature and landscapes. They provide evidence of progress towards policy objectives and demonstrate what is actually happening.

Scotland's indicators include a set which link to the 2020 Challenge, these are known as Scotland's biodiversity strategy indicators. These are divided into two sets:

• Scotland's Biodiversity State Indicators and
• Scotland's Biodiversity Engagement Indicators.

Scotland's National Performance Framework also provides a measure of biodiversity through the following indicators:

• Visits to the outdoors - Increase people's use of Scotland's outdoors
• Conditions of Protected Sites - Improve the condition of protected nature sites
• Breeding Birds - Biodiversity: increase the index of abundance of terrestrial breeding birds

Together these provide the evidence that illustrates Scotland's contribution to the global objectives set out in the Aichi targets.

UK Biodiversity Indicators

The UK Biodiversity Indicators also provide a measure of Scotland's contribution to global targets. Many of the indicators can be disaggregated to Scotland level. The overall indicator set has been developed to measure the UK's progress towards the Aichi targets. These are also set out in Annex 1 .

Scotland Rural Development Programme and CAP Greening

The recently launched SRDP contributes to the delivery and aims of the 2020 Challenge and global biodiversity targets. Projects to measure the impact of SRDP agri-environment measures and CAP greening requirements are currently being developed.

Measuring the contribution of 2020 Challenge Priority Projects

Priority projects described in the Route Map highlight vital, collaborative and practical targeted action, for which discrete output/outcome measures will be specified. We will track progress under the auspices of the Delivery and Monitoring Group.

Ecosystem Health Indicators

A set of Ecosystem Health Indicators is currently under development to characterise conditions relevant to regional and local-scale delivery, such as at the catchment scale. These will also inform our contribution to some of the global Aichi targets.

In addition to the indicators, and projects detailed above, the growing contribution to knowledge from SEWeb, the National Biodiversity Network ( NBN) and Biodiversity Action Reporting System ( BARS) will help to monitor progress. Much of this draws on research and survey work by organisations such as the JHI, SRUC, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, our universities, and NGOs with a strong research and survey base such as the British Trust for Ornithology, RSPB Scotland, Butterfly Conservation, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, and Plant Life Scotland.

Scotland's 2010 assessment concluded that very considerable progress had been made by many people and organisations in caring for and enjoying nature. We have begun work to prepare an annual 2020 Challenge: state of nature report, which will provide a stock-take on how nature is faring.  This will incorporate the results of survey, monitoring and analyses set out under Annex 1. It will draw on a wide range of inputs from those delivering the Route Map, and will provide a one-stop account of progress being made.

This Route Map will guide the collaborative work which will help meet the aims of the 2020 Challenge and the Aichi targets over the next five years.