The MASTS Marine Planning & Governance Forum is excited to host a free Open Forum Session on “Policy approaches to enhancing the marine and coastal environment”. The session will take place on the 18th November, 1 – 2.30 pm via Microsoft Teams.
Register Here!
In this session, presentations will share insights from developing policy and guidance which is taking forward new approaches to conserving, restoring and enhancing biodiversity. We will hear from a range of examples – the development of a biodiversity metric to support the delivery of National Planning Framework 4; the work of Scottish Government’s Marine Nature Enhancement Programme; and from Natural England on evidence projects which are contributing to understanding how biodiversity net gain can be applied to the marine environment.
Coordinated by the MASTS Marine Planning and Governance Forum, the aim of this session is to facilitate shared understanding of different approaches emerging, consider the connectivity between terrestrial and marine methodologies and explore challenges around implementation and other aspects.
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Marine Nature Enhancement in Scotland
Speaker: Janelle Braithwaite, Marine Nature Enhancement Programme, Marine Directorate, Scottish Government
“Scottish Government have set a clear ambition in the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to be Nature Positive by 2030 and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity by 2045. Alongside this, Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision is for shared stewardship of our marine environment that supports ecosystem health, improved livelihoods, economic prosperity, social includes and wellbeing. Here, I will provide an overview of the work we are doing in the marine nature enhancement programme in the Marine Directorate to stimulate nature positive actions towards our biodiversity goals and promoting shared stewardship of our marine space.”
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A Biodiversity Metric for Scotland’s Planning System
Speaker: Paul Taylor, Scottish Biodiversity Metric Officer at NatureScot
“NatureScot has been commissioned by the Scottish Government to develop a biodiversity metric for Scotland’s planning system. This is specifically to support delivery of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) Policy 3b, with a focus on adapting the existing English statutory biodiversity metric to produce a tool that is suitable for use in Scotland. The metric will only apply to development on land (including intertidal habitats), and not the marine environment. In this talk, we will introduce the work we are doing to develop a Scottish biodiversity metric and highlight some of the identified challenges that will need to be considered, particularly in relation to intertidal habitats.”
Images: Unsplash
