Measuring the impacts of Scotland's agricultural support – a national level monitoring framework
The monitoring framework for Scotland’s agricultural support
Strategic outcome 4: Nature restoration
The Scottish Government is committed to addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, to create a fairer and greener Scotland.
There is currently no single metric of biodiversity in the same way that CO2 equivalent is used in assessments of greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Biodiversity is a complex phenomenon and deciding on the most appropriate measure of biodiversity is therefore context dependent, often requires compromise, and is more closely related to the outcome to be achieved (e.g. species, habitat, ecosystem, genetic focused etc).
The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS) and Delivery Plan were published in November 2024, which included a high-level approach to monitoring and evaluation. Ensuring a robust monitoring and evaluation framework is one of the four essential conditions for achieving the Strategy’s ambition, and detailed development work has been progressing since publication. In addition, under the recently passed Natural Environment (Scotland) Act, there is a duty to set legally-binding targets for nature restoration and biodiversity.
For agriculture, we are measuring nature restoration at landscape and holding levels, as well as through air, water and soil quality, as demonstrated in Figure 5 below.
Indicators for baseline
- Farmland bird populations (increasing)
- Grassland butterflies populations (increasing)
- Land managed under AECS contracts (increasing)
- Land managed under Ecological Focus Areas (increasing)
- Ammonia emissions (decreasing)
- Particulate matter emissions (decreasing)
- Condition of the water environment (increasing)
- Proportion of water bodies impacted by rural diffuse pollution (decreasing)
- Living roots coverage on agricultural land (increasing)
- Percentage of Scheduled Monuments on agricultural land that are in an optimal or satisfactory condition (increasing)
Sub-outcomes
- Nature rich habitat (landscape)
- Nature rich habitat (holding)
- Air and water quality
- Soil health
- Historic environment
Strategic Outcome
- There will be substantial regeneration in, and maintenance of, biodiversity, ecosystem, and soil health on agricultural land. This will developed in a way which works both for people and nature, while being integrated with sustainable food production.
Sub-outcome 4a: Nature rich habitat (landscape)
Manage farmland as nature rich habitat contributing nature rich habitat at landscape scale
Nature rich habitat refers to areas on agricultural land that are carefully managed or intentionally created to enhance biodiversity and support wildlife. A key benefit of nature rich habitats is their support for ecological function, for example by providing food and shelter for pollinators and birds or supporting the restoration of natural ecosystems. Importantly, nature rich habitat does not include land used for crop production including arable grassland management, where the primary purpose is, as these activities are driven by agricultural output rather than biodiversity outcomes. However, some nature rich habitats rely on sympathetic livestock grazing to maintain the biodiversity interest and which can also contribute to the farm’s agricultural output. Both of the indicators tracking progress for this sub-outcome are included in the SBS, and are used across Europe as part of Nature Restoration Regulations reporting.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Farmland bird populations |
Increasing |
This indicator tracks the abundance of terrestrial breeding birds on farmland. |
Birds are often used as indicators of environmental change because they respond quickly to habitat changes and are common across the country. |
|
Grassland butterflies populations (NatureScot Butterfly Monitoring Scheme) |
Increasing |
This indicator tracks the abundance of grassland butterflies. |
This indicator is well-used and robust, aligning with UK and European monitoring. Butterflies are sensitive to environmental change and a good indicator of the health of the environment. |
Sub-outcome 4b: Nature rich habitat (holding)
Manage a proportion of each farm/croft holding as nature rich habitat
Measuring the effectiveness of on farm action for improving biodiversity is challenging. Agri-environment schemes have historically used the delivery of actions as the metric rather than an outcome focused metric. This is simpler to undertake but is not always translatable to actual biodiversity improvements, making the evaluation of biodiversity actions challenging.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Land managed under AECS contracts (Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division) |
Increasing |
This tracks hectares of agricultural land managed under AECS. |
This is an activity indicator for a competitive grant scheme, being used as a proxy for outcome due to the lack of 2025 baseline data for biodiversity at farm levels. Land managed under AECS in a particular year is subject to change as contracts can be withdrawn by businesses or subject to amendments. |
|
Land managed under Ecological Focus Areas (Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division) |
Increasing |
This tracks hectares of agricultural land managed under the Greening scheme as Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs). |
This is an activity indicator, being used as a proxy for outcome due to the lack of 2025 baseline data for biodiversity at farm levels. |
Sub-outcome 4c: Air and water quality
Improve air and water quality
Water bodies support diverse species and habitats while providing essential resources for activities such as recreation and irrigation. Enhancing water quality not only benefits biodiversity but also improves animal and human health.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ammonia emissions |
Decreasing |
This indicator tracks emissions of ammonia from agricultural activities in Scotland, as reported in the UK’s Air Pollutant Inventories. |
Emissions are primarily from livestock housing, manure management, and fertiliser application. Emissions are modelled, not measured, and rely on estimates of agricultural practices. |
|
Particulate matter emissions |
Decreasing |
This indicator tracks annual emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and coarse particulate matter (PM10) from agricultural activities in Scotland, based on estimates from the UK’s air pollutant inventories. |
Emissions related to agriculture include direct particles from soil and manure management, as well as secondary particles formed from ammonia. Emissions are modelled, not measured, and rely on estimates of agricultural practices. The emissions dataset for PM2.5 is very limited, and the indicative uncertainty rating for both PM10 and PM2.5 is “High”. |
|
Condition of the water environment |
Increasing |
This indicator reflects the ecological and chemical condition of rivers and other waterbodies in Scotland, based on assessments by SEPA under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It includes waterbody classifications such as ‘good’ or ‘poor’ status. |
The most recent data from SEPA is 2024, however water condition takes time to change in response to some environmental pressures, so there is limited reduction in indicator sensitivity |
|
Proportion of water bodies impacted by rural diffuse pollution |
Decreasing |
This indicator reflects the number of water bodies that have been identified as having a rural diffuse pollution pressure. |
SEPA assess what is causing downgrades in each water body, and have metrics around proportion of water bodies impacted by each pressure |
Sub-outcome 4d: Soil health
Manage all soils to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem health, and minimise loss and degradation
Healthy soils in Scotland are critical for food production, supporting biodiversity, and mitigating climate change and adaptation. Maintaining soil cover over the winter may reduce soil erosion and the loss of particulate pollutants in addition to contributing to the amount of organic matter in the soil.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Living roots coverage on agricultural land |
Increasing |
This indicator tracks the proportion of cropping land covered by living roots during the autumn and winter periods. |
The most recent data on winter cover is from 2023, as this was a module question included in the 2023 Scottish Agricultural Census. |
Sub-outcome 4e: Historic environment
Whilst advancing nature restoration, manage historic sites sympathetically, aiming where appropriate to maintain or improve condition
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Percentage of Scheduled Monuments on agricultural land that are in an optimal or satisfactory condition (Historic Environment Scotland’s Historic Environment Audit) |
Increasing |
This indicator tracks the percentage of scheduled monuments assessed as being in optimal or satisfactory condition, that are on agricultural land. |
This data is from scheduled monument condition monitoring visits by Historic Environment Scotland Field Officers. It shows marginal improvements in the condition of scheduled monuments over the past few years. |
Contact
Email: socialresearch@gov.scot