A new report has underscored the significant role of natural capital in the Scottish economy, contributing over £40 billion and supporting 260,000 jobs. However, concerns have been raised about the Scottish Government's commitment to investing in wildlife and habitat restoration.

Scottish Land & Estates welcomed the recognition of the economic value of land, sea, and air stewardship by estates and farms. However, the organisation expressed disappointment over recent funding cuts, such as the £5 million reduction to the Nature Restoration Fund.

The Scottish Government's launch of the Scottish Natural Capital Market Framework, aimed at attracting private investment, was seen as a positive step. Minister for Employment and Investment, Tom Arthur, unveiled the plan at the Nature Finance UK 2024 conference.

Eleanor Kay, Senior Policy Adviser – Agriculture & Climate Change at Scottish Land & Estates, said: "Scotland undoubtedly leads the way in the United Kingdom in terms of the contribution it can make to maintaining and enhancing natural capital resources domestically.

"With a value of more than £40billion and supporting more than a quarter of a million jobs, it is vital that government, landowners and managers, as well as business and conservation groups, work collaboratively to enhance this contribution as we look towards 2045 and beyond.

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"We're pleased by the launch of the Scottish Natural Capital Market Framework which provides much needed guidance to help all parties seeking to provide or utilise private finance for the purpose of restoring nature or halting biodiversity loss. This framework not only sets out the actions stakeholders can take to ensure responsible investment but also emphasises the importance of community benefits as essential to a fair and functional nature market. Land-based businesses and land managers firmly welcome the goal of expanding high-integrity voluntary carbon markets and the opportunity this presents for biodiversity recovery in Scotland.

"It comes at a time when we have been on record with both the Scottish and the UK Governments that Scotland has greater opportunities than other parts of the UK to support that recovery effort and that in order to gain the best outcome from investment, funding should be targeted towards farmers and land managers here.

"A key part of that is achieving projects at scale, whether it be restoring peatland and other habitats, managing or creating woodlands and forestry and implementing sustainable practices such as responsible deer management. For example, our own research found large-scale peatland restoration projects of more than 200ha – such as those carried out on rural estates – account for 57% of the 42,300ha of peatland that has been restored since 2013. Only 25% of the target has been achieved through small-scale projects of less than 100ha.

"The Scottish Government needs to be cognisant that extolling the benefits of natural capital does not tally with their recent £5million cut to the Nature Restoration Fund or the reduction in the woodland creation funding. The First Minister said tackling the climate emergency was one of his four key priorities but when budget cuts needed to be made, the fund was one of the first targets despite its record in both supporting habitat and biodiversity improvement as well as supporting rural jobs. It is a cut we still believe the Scottish Government should reverse."