Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) research strategy 2027-2032: consultation

Consultation on 2027-32 Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Research Strategy August 2025

Foreword by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands

Scotland’s natural environment is at the heart of our national identity, our wellbeing, and our economy. Our landscapes, ecosystems, and natural resources are vital, not only for our prosperity, health and wellbeing, but also for our ability to adapt to the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Our Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture research programme plays a pivotal role in shaping evidence-based responses to these challenges. This investment reflects our deep commitment to building climate resilience, restoring ecosystems, increasing biodiversity, and supporting rural livelihoods.

The research funded through this programme is already delivering impact, informing key policy decisions across government, including on priority areas such as climate change, agricultural reform, peatland restoration, and environmental protection. It is also supporting sustainable economic growth in rural and island communities.

This strategy outlines our future research priorities, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable land use, biodiversity and ecosystem restoration, rural and island economic resilience, plant and animal health, and the management of water resources and flood risk. We are also extending our research into new areas, including improving Scotland’s wildfire risk assessment and efforts to enhance the resilience of Scotland’s food system by identifying key strengths and vulnerabilities and fostering innovation.

The focus of this strategy is to ensure that the research we fund has real world impact not only for our environment but also for communities. We are also keen to ensure that research outputs are enabled through a network of living labs across Scotland; real-world testbeds where communities, researchers, and land managers collaborate to trial and scale up innovative solutions to support adaptive land and water management, biodiversity restoration, and climate-smart practices tailored to local needs.

Foreword by Prof Mathew Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser-ENRA

Environmental and agricultural research is vital for Scotland’s people and rural economy. Scottish Government’s main way of funding research on this area is via the ENRA Research Programme. This research is primarily delivered via Scottish organisations which have been informing debate and shaping policy in this area for over a century - back to 1899 for Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), 1913 for the Rowett Institute, 1920 for the Moredun Institute, and 1930 for the Macaulay Institute (now James Hutton Institute, JHI). These institutes and others have pioneered a transformation in land management, food supply, and environmental stewardship in Scotland. For instance, work at the Rowett informed UK food policy during wartime in the 1940s and continues to do so; JHI has bred virtually all British-grown blackcurrants and mapped Scotland’s soils; SRUC has improved the efficiency of UK beef and dairy production; Moredun has created key vaccines for livestock, Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS) provided expertise to assist with wastewater monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many other examples of impact that are detailed within this document.

Now, more than ever, investment in research and development is critical for

Scotland. There are great opportunities for innovation using new technology, to allow Scotland to grow its land-based economy sustainably. Scotland has world-class strengths in breeding new varieties of plants and animals to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Its institutes and researchers have built relationships with farmers to develop sustainable operations. Our Centres of Expertise (CoE) have linked researchers to government, finding ways to accelerate progress to net zero, to manage water excess and drought, and to respond to animal and plant health emergencies. Climate change, global political uncertainty, and loss of biodiversity increasingly threaten Scotland’s people, land and economy. Scientific research allows us to develop effective actions to resolve these threats.

This document lays out a strategy for investment in research for environment, natural resources and agriculture, for 2027-2032. The strategy has been developed by the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser ENRA and Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS), the division of Scottish Government responsible for ENRA research delivery. The process of development has included (i) feedback from our Scientific Advisory Board, based on scrutiny of the current programme of ENRA research; (ii) consultation with Scottish Government, particularly the

Directorates of Agriculture and Rural Economy, Environment and Forestry, and Energy and Climate Change; (iii) discussions with scientists and other key stakeholders. This consultation is intended to widen participation and draw in feedback from other users of ENRA research, including organisation with an interest in Scotland’s land and rural economy.

There are several key refinements in our strategy. We now focus on missions, whereby all research delivers against key government priorities. Research will be commissioned for its capacity to deliver impact by co-working with policy teams, farmers, or entrepreneurs to meet key challenges for missions. Research will be organised to support systems thinking, recognising that the challenges we face are interconnected, and that Scotland has a finite land resource that is subject to many demands. Research needs to be efficient, sharing data and knowledge widely. And research needs to take advantage of Scottish Government investments such as the Land Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Programme.

I am excited to share this research strategy. I thank those who have contributed their time to supporting this strategy so far. We will look carefully at all responses to develop the final strategy.