Scottish Environment LINK members welcome the effort to provide certainty through the Scottish statutory instrument (SSI) to the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 to ensure that provisions of the Birds and Habitats Directives continue to be operable in Scotland.
However, LINK members wish to highlight the following concerns:
1) Deficient management objectives with respect to the use of ‘proportionality’ for Special Areas of Conservation
2) Lack of clarity with respect to the timeframe and process for developing statutory guidance
3) Absence of expert scientific input for amending Schedules and Annexes
4) Implications in terms of scope and clarity due to renaming of the Natura 2000 Network
5) Lack of clarity in terms of format, scope and review of reporting requirements
6) Residual differences and gaps compared to other UK country regulations
7) Incomplete references to international agreements in explanatory notes
The full parliamentary briefing can be accessed here.