Back in February, the Natural Environment Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament, and with it a legal duty on Minsters to set targets to improve biodiversity. We, along with others across the environment sector, have long advocated for this. But for this legislation to come alive, there needs be the funding and cross-departmental drive to make it happen – two things the outgoing Chief Executive of NatureScot recently claimed are in short supply.   

In a candid interview about the lacklustre pace and scale of action on nature, former NatureScot Chief Executive Francesca Osowska claimed that the Scottish Government are ‘resting on their laurels’ and that this inaction threatens their ability to meet commitments to restore nature by 2030. Farm funding needs to be directed towards hitting the nature target, she argued, and the pace of change needs to be picked up.   

It’s hard to see how the 2030 nature restoration commitments can be met. But the Scottish public want more support for nature, politicians need their votes, and farmers and crofters are no longer protected by seven-year funding allocations via the CAP. They now need to fight for their share of the budget, as never before. Could it be time for a new alliance between farmers, crofters and environmentalists?  

The ‘new deal for agriculture’ announced on 7 February by the First Minister includes £20 million capital support this year and £26 million next year. This sounds good, and it sounds new. Whilst the optics are clever, it can’t authentically be called a ‘new deal’. The £46 million offered up is not new money for farmers and crofters; it is money being given back which was taken away by the Scottish Government from agriculture in 2022-23.   

This refunded £46 million is equivalent to around 1.3% of the £3.4 billion additional money allocated to the Scottish Government’s budget from the UK settlement for the 2025-26 financial year. Yet, according to analysis by Savilles, the Rural Affairs budget was reduced in real terms by 3.1%, and the amount available for agriculture has been cut from £663 million to £657 million.   

Meanwhile, another announcement in the ‘new deal’ caught our eye: an additional £7 million for the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS). Given the paltry budget for AECS – just under £30 million in 2024-25 – this is welcome. But £37 million falls way short of the £55 million proposed by Scottish Environment LINK, which would simply be bringing the AECS budget back to its equivalent 2017 levels. Surely this is the minimum given Scotland has become one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. 

We know that 70% of rural support will sit in Tiers 1 and 2, paid in direct payment, and within that, 70% will be allocated to Tier 1. This regressive decision won’t provide income for those farmers and crofters who are most in need, and it will achieve practically nothing for either nature or the climate, as the government’s own analysis of direct payments confirms.   

Analysis shows that these figures are a fraction of what they should be. For Scotland to deliver its nature and climate commitments through the management of farmland, it needs an annual budget of £1.8 billion for the next ten years. 

Another key issue is the slow pace of agriculture policymaking and implementation. We are nearly a decade on from the EU exit referendum, but there is little to show in terms of Scottish agriculture policy development, or implementation. With possible measures for Tier 2 still in draft, and with little down on paper yet for Tier 3 – where the big wins for nature could lie – we don’t see how the 2030 nature targets can be met. Because without farmers and crofters being funded to support and restore nature on their land, they won’t be.   

Perhaps the Scottish Government may need to listen more closely to the zeitgeist – that people care about nature. Farmers and crofters have the means to restore nature with the right tools and funding – please don’t squander your legacy by reinventing the status quo in agriculture policy and giving farmers and crofters the crumbs off the table. 

This article was written by Ellie Brodie, Director of Grounded Insight, in collaboration with the Scottish Wildlife Trust.