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ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHTH SCOTTISH NATURAL HERITAGE BOARD MEETING, SCOTTISH FUNDING COUNCIL, , 18 JUNE OPEN SESSION CONFIRMED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT Mike Cantlay Chair Angus Campbell Deputy Chair Cath Denholm Deputy Chair Kate Broughton Member Bob Furness Member Jackie Hyland Member Aoife Martin Member Susan Murray Member

IN ATTENDANCE Francesca Osowska Chief Executive Nick Halfhide Director of Sustainable Growth Jane Macdonald Director of Business Services & Transformation Alan Hampson Head of Business Services & Transformation Ross Johnston Head of Sustainable Growth Alison Shields Head of External Affairs Eileen Stuart Head of People & Nature Kath Leys Biodiversity/Geodiversity Activity Manager (item 12) Ivana Curuvija Greening Officer (item 13) Andy Dorin Protected Areas Activity Manager (Item 14) Graham Boyle Chief of Staff

AGENDA ITEM 1: OPENING REMARKS AND APOLOGIES

1. The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the one hundred and seventy-eighth Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Board meeting.

2. Apologies were received from Ian Gillies, Sally Thomas and Shelley Rennie

AGENDA ITEM 2: DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

3. Jackie Hyland’s interest being on the Green Health Partnership in Dundee and Chair the Environment Sub Group of Perth & Kinross Community Planning Partnership were duly noted.

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AGENDA ITEM 3: MINUTES AND ACTION POINTS

4. The Minutes of the SNH Board Meeting on 8th May 2019 were approved as an accurate record of the previous meeting.

Action Points

5. The Chair referred to the list of action points and was content to accept the written updates and suggested discharged action with the recommendation that the Board focus on those actions which would not otherwise come up in further discussion.

 AP04/175. The Board noted the meeting and dinner held with Dr William Bird which was useful in setting out a how Our Natural Health work might better fit with wider Placemaking being considered in the 2030 discussions. Discharged.  AP01/177. SNH’s proposed organisational brand and repositioning work. It was noted that we were awaiting announcement from . Ongoing  AP02/177. Specific future board meetings to address longer term strategic issues. It was noted that the outcome of the 1st August Strategy day will shape future meetings. Ongoing  AP03/177. Paper on SNH contribution to the Climate Change debate. Paper being considered later in the agenda. Discharged  AP04/177. Development of a strategic paper on the longer term 2030 vision. It was noted that this would form part of the discussions at the August meeting. Ongoing  AP05/177. Update on Pay Bill Management risk. It was noted that the Risk Register had been updated. Discharged.  AP06/177. Information on costs associated with employee absence. It was noted that this would form part of the Q1 performance reporting. Discharged.  AP07/177. Update on Wildlife Management Principles. It was noted that this was scheduled for Q3. Ongoing.

AGENDA ITEM 4: MATTERS ARISING

6. There were no matters arising.

AGENDA ITEM 5: CHAIR’S REPORT

7. The Chair reported on the recent exchange of emails following the last Board meeting around how Board meeting could be more streamlined allowing space for more strategic discussions. During discussion it was noted that:  There was a mix of views on how Members updates might or should be provided but generally these were welcomed and could be delivered at a different point in the agenda and provided in writing in advance.  Francesca would in future provide a short written report, issued in advance of the meeting.  There was general agreement that specific space was needed for more strategic discussion. The August meeting was one such opportunity and it OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

was agreed that other meetings during the year would be identified for similar discussions.  SLT would look for opportunities for early engagement with individual members of the Board in the development of papers coming to the full board.  It was felt helpful, following the August meeting, that the Stakeholder Engagement plan would be revisited to ensure Board members were being effectively deployed.

8. The Chair went on to highlight his recent external engagements on behalf of SNH principally:

 Attendance at the Scottish Land an Estates Annual Conference  Meeting with Duncan Orr-Ewing of RSPB to discuss our work on NNR’s and how to re-energise the NNR Partnership  Meeting with Scottish Government’s Special Adviser, Leanne Dobson to discuss organisational name change  Attendance with other Board members the Peter Wilson lecture given by the CEO.

AGENDA ITEM 6: DEPUTY CHAIRS’ REPORT

9. Deputy Chair Cath Denholm reported on her attendance at the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) in Belfast. The main points for discussion being the establishment of the new Environmental Body for England and how JNCC related to this. The JNCC’s business plan for the coming year and its strategic plan for the future, particularly post Brexit was also discussed and Cath agreed to circulate a short write up.

10. Deputy Chair Angus Campbell reported that he chaired the Deer Round Table and felt that SNH was in a good place. He attended part of the John Muir Trust AGM the main focus of which was the multi-agency approach being taken in the Birnham area and was a good demonstration of local community working together. He also met with a group in Oban where SNH were encouraging local people in Citizen Science, monitoring the marine environment, funded by the William Grant Trust.

AGENDA ITEM 7: BOARD ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY

11. Jackie Hyland reported on her attendance at the annual biodiversity stakeholder event where there were good presentations particularly around the marine environment and carbon capture. She attended the opening of the Cupar Office and was pleased to see this local office presence being maintained. This would support engagement with stakeholders beyond the Central belt. She attended the Partnership AGM meeting on behalf of the Audit and Risk Committee and was encouraged by how parties were working together to address the various current and longer term staffing issues.

12. Kate Broughton reported that she too had attended the William Bird meeting; attended the launch of the Glasgow & Clyde Valley Green Network Partnership OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

Blueprint which was a good example of bringing lots of different people together both access networks and environment networks to develop a local vision.

13. Susan Murray attended the Scottish Environment Link reception where there was a good attendance. It was World Environment day and noted that SNH had seed funded many of the contributors. It was also National Volunteering Week however the opportunity to link both was not apparent and it seemed that the amount of volunteering was being under reported if environmental work and citizen science were operating in a vacuum.

14. Aoife Martin reported that the focus of her work was with the Protected Area Committee.

15. Bob Furness said that he had taken part in a number of workshops looking at wind-farm impacts. One hosted by Marine which drew an international attendance. It was clear that Scotland was 10 years ahead of other countries in our environmental approach to wind-farm development. The other was hosted by SNH and looked at development of anti-aircraft lights on turbine and the visual impact of this as well as how they attracted birds. He also mentioned the different approach being taken by Natural England to off-shore wind farm developments and their expectation that we follow suit.

AGENDA ITEM 8: CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

16. The Chief Executive said that in future she will prepare a written report reported on her main activities in order to speed up the front part of the Board meeting. However, since the last Board meeting (8th May 2019) the key activities include:

 Speaking at the TUS Partnership AGM where despite some issues of difference there was good engagement and discussion.  Attending the opening of Cupar office and Tentsmuir Pavilion.  Opened the Biodiversity strategy day at Battleby.  Delivered the Peter Wilson Lecture which went well thanks to support of others in the organisation. In lead up to the lecture an interview had been set up with the Glasgow Herald in a green infrastructure project which delivered 5 days of coverage for a relatively small investment in time, and something of which the newspaper wants to do more.  Visited the Muirkirk Uplands coal restoration project, which was working to correct the environmental damage previously caused.  Attended a meeting with Glasgow Life where they were looking for significant support from SNH to take forward their environmental projects. This highlighted the difficulty for SNH to respond to every call made on it for support.  Accepted an invitation to sit on the BBC Scotland Rural Advisory Committee which was interesting and useful giving us the opportunity to have more direct communications programme makers within the BBC.  Chaired the UNESCO National Digital Trail linking 13 UNESCO destinations gives an opportunity to influence this work.

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AGENDA ITEM 9: AUDIT and RISK COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT

17. Kate Broughton, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) reported that the Committee had met on the 15th May in preparation for the Annual Report including a review of the annual Governance Statement and Audit Scotland report all of which was very positive, in particular they were impressed with our EU readiness work and felt we were an exemplar to other public bodies. Since the meeting members have been sent the Annual Report for comments and this is going well. Other items considered at the meeting were:

 The audit was going to plan with no issues.  Progress on the lessons learnt on Communications review was being monitored.  An Audit report on Shared Services was considered and the areas of weakness were being addressed  Green infrastructure, Cyber security were all being well managed going well.  Openness and transparency and how we were meeting current Audit Scotland recommendations was discussed. While there was no question that we weren’t open and transparent there were 13 points identified for actions which were being followed up.

AGENDA ITEM 10: A NATURE RICH FUTURE – THE 2030 CHALLENGE

18. Alan Hampson introduce the paper saying it was the first of a number of discussion papers including Climate Change, Low Carbon and Sustainable Economic Growth to stimulate discussion around the 2030 vision. In discussion it was noted that

 Graham Leicester will be facilitating the discussion on the 1st August taking a 3-time horizon approach, and would seek views of the Board and SLT in advance of the session.  The paper provided an opportunity to stand back and consider across a number of areas what we might pair back and strategically challenge ourselves if areas were still important to take forward.  The organisation was responding to the challenge of climate change and loss of nature in different ways and the senior leadership team needed to work to connect these ideas together.  SNH’s planning function is small but has significant impact beyond its regulatory tasks.  While there were inconsistencies and complications, focus should be where we can make the most impact and these are where we can make changes that affect biodiversity such as regeneration projects  In our protected areas loss of biodiversity is more about over grazing 18% and invasive non-native species 21% rather than climate change which was reported as being only 1%  Much will depend on government spending priorities and how SNH will be able to respond OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

 The challenges were evolutionary rather than revolutionary and builds on our current corporate plan but needs a stronger narrative on where our priorities will be.  Some perennial issues which have been around do need to be grasped

19. The Board noted the paper with thanks. It was agreed that we needed to coordinate and better articulate the various stands of our working and thinking on biodiversity and climate change. The messages needed to be led by the Board but owned by the organisation with a consistent voice. The time line was agreed on the basis that 2030 was a stepping stone to 2045 being the Net Zero target date. It was agreed that the concept and broad framework of the 2030 vision development ought to be shared with the organisation so that it is better prepared when presented with the range of priorities.

AGENDA ITEM 11: OVERVIEW OF SNH’S CONTRIBUTION TO SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

20. Ross Johnston introduced the paper saying that it provides an overview of SNH’s approach to sustainable and inclusive economic growth, recognising the multiple benefits, which in itself brings challenges in messaging and engagement. He pointed out the operational and strategic work that SNH was involved with across a range of activities, and sought advice on our strategic positioning and if through Board’s network there were opportunities to increase our provide and influence. During discussion it was noted that:

• There were opportunities with wider stakeholders beyond the NGO constituency and managing funds has opened some doors to influence that spend • Our relationship with organisations were mixed and often we are not at the table with national bodies such as CoSLA or some local authorities. • SNH’s involvement in work on vacant and derelict land had been positive and an opportunity to present a paper on this subject has been secured at the next Convention of the Highlands and Islands. • Consideration was being given to how SNH could influence the Strategic Board at high level. • Unlikely that SNH have the skill set to be able to deliver the breadth of ambition expressed in the paper. Annex A provided a good succinct list and would be worth working through if we had time however need to take 2 or 3 forward, trying the align the language we use with others at a strategic level. • Economic growth is going to be driven by industry but not much of this in the paper. While difficult to influence, it is where our knowledge and expertise could demonstrate the benefits of linking Nature with Business.

21. It was agreed that clearer prioritization was needed and that this should match with the skills and capacity available so that we can realistically deliver on any promise. The capacity sought for influencing went beyond the Executive and the Board could provide wider network links however we needed to be able to find a OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

common language and understanding to be able to express our role in other people’s spaces.

AGENDA ITEM 12: CLIMATE CHANGE & NATURE - MEETING THE CHALLENGE

22. Eileen Stuart introduced the paper which sets out to describe the short term tactics in what we do between now and when we meet in August. The staff conferences and other media has unleashed the passion from staff at personal and professional level with ‘Nature being the solution’ something that everyone can get behind. Over the next 6 months Climate Change will come through in all of our messaging. In discussion it was noted that

• Ownership of the issues is not down to SNH alone, but could contribute along with others to the solution. • A consistent approach with terminology is needed with “climate change” used rather than “warming” or “heating” • The suggested Climate Change Impact Assessment Tool should be approached with caution, to manage the risk of it becoming a tick box exercise. • Having biodiversity gain and carbon costs together mixes currency and the latter measure should not drive the decision. • The expectation on the Board in engaging with stakeholders on Climate Change issues would be as much on the messaging as it would be on attending specific events • The wider strategic engagement for the organisation needs to extend beyond Scotland and build on our profile within some European groups.

23. The Board welcomed the paper and agreed that linking biodiversity and climate change gave SNH a unique platform to make specific nature based contributions to mitigate climate effects. They also supported a low cost Make Space for Nature digital campaign if tested beyond partners and NGO’s

AGENDA ITEM 13: NET ZERO/LOW CARBON VISION

24. Jane Macdonald introduced the paper with Ivana Curuvija which sets out the proposed next stage of our low carbon delivery building on the good track record to date. SNH are a lead role in the Public Sector with a Low Carbon Vision since 2013 and were already in the process of revising but, with recent event, were looking for a steer how bold, as well as scale and pace impact on level of investment and future decisions. In discussion the following points were made:

• The ambition of the paper was welcomed but these needed to be realistic and set in an appropriate time frame, such as those identified earlier in the meeting. • The story of our success to date was still important one to build on OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

• Some significant changes to the way we work - such as condensed working week - would be needed to further reduce our carbon costs. • Any proposed changes that we might adopt would need to consider equality of access for staff and stakeholders. • The Low Carbon Vision needs to include how we manage our own landholdings and the contribution or otherwise it makes to the national good. • The vision should act as a prompt at least if not more to make an explicit statement in the development of policy and procedures • Our land holding account for 7M tons in sequestration (2016). However this can’t be used in our Carbon Accounting, but could be used in other narratives. There is no agreed methodology to account for this and Scottish Government may now be open to this due to the Climate Emergency • SNH does have a high profile and is exposed to levels of scrutiny and criticism. • If future meeting were done by VC consideration needs to be given to avoid a two tier system to ensure equality of access and calculations on carbon would need to include all measures not just air travel.

25. It was agreed that the reported figures on helicopter use should be renamed Deer Counting and the use of drones explored further. The biggest use of carbon was in our buildings and this would be considered at the September meeting. The vision statement would be ambitious and factually accurate in its title with the emphasis being to improve on our baseline and to protect and enhance any current carbon sequestration.

AP01/178 - The management of SNH Landholding would be included in the development of the Low Carbon Vision

AGENDA ITEM 14: DEEP DIVE - PROTECTED AREAS

26. Eileen Stuart introduced the paper pointing out that this was a complex subject, one which was difficult to measure the cost/benefit. Many protected areas are regarded as special valued but not necessarily known or accessed. As places of national and international significance we have a responsibility for them. While our interventions have not always led to improvements they have halted decline and in that respect we are meeting our obligations.

27. PA are ‘islands’ but need to operate at a large scale so require a fundamental change to the way they are managed. This merits further discussion with Protected Area Committee to explore whether we move to alternative approaches. There has been a pause on Site Condition Monitoring (cost approx £800K) but PAs are still costing approx. £1M per annum. Cost savings have been identified such as £300K spend on large management agreements which may not be providing the protection expect and this could be halted and other ways of protection being delivered. The discretionary spend budget could be reduced but there may be reputational cost as this would impact on the favourable indicators. The paper was opened for discussion and the following points were raised:

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 Paper helpfully set out challenge and while not giving solutions yet, sets a way forward, but difficult decisions need to be made at some point. PAC was happy to take this up but needs a clear commission.  The Board is up for some bold long terms sustainable solution and those decisions on protected areas will be interrelated to our wider vision for 2030 which may result in more PA to address biodiversity loss.  Site condition monitoring had been halted not just for cost reasons but after 3 cycles the information being gathered was not as good as we had wanted. The Scientific Advisory Committee are looking at producing a Monitoring and Surveillance Statement. The SCA will consider options at their September meeting on how SNH go forward with SCM.  With no viable alternatives we are faced with a budget of around £1.8M in future years.  A common approach to SCM is adopted across the UK but there is a difference in how that is interpreted so there is scope to pull back on how we go about SCM. There may be lessons to be learnt from other countries and PAC will consider this in their moor detailed discussions.  A distinction could be made between the gathering of the evidence and the intervention required. SNH could do the first with other funding coming from other sources to undertake the mitigations measures.  There are national indicators which can provide the evidence needed but this could not replace the value of local staff’s knowledge and understanding of PS in their areas and the effectiveness of any intervention.  Process Deep Dive intended to find ways to match ambition with resource and so any needs to be done in the context on the 2030 vision work to avoid developing work which may not then fit in with that future vision.  There were a few statistical points made in the paper which needed confirming so as ensure double counting wasn’t taking place and they match with those published on the SNH website.

AP02/178 – Reported figures on PA (SCA; SSSI etc…) to be checked for accuracy and consistency with other published data.

28. In conclusion it was agreed that we continued to need to look at the monitoring process so that we are not managing a decline but identifying what good things are being done for nature. It was clear that it is our current practices that are not affordable. PAC would be given a clear commission, to look at the 6 issues highlighted in the paper which include how we engage with Scottish Government over a much longer timeframe.

AP03/178 – A clear commission to be given to the PAC to develop further thinking on most cost effective ways of delivering our responsibilities for Protected Areas.

INFORMATION PAPERS 29. Connecting People to Nature how this contributed to a healthier Scotland: Those members who attended the William Bird seminar noted that the paper didn’t reflect some of the strong messages that had come through on the days such as the move from 1-1 prescribing to more community involvement, and the importance of health walks.

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ANY OTHER BUSINESS 30. It was noted that the Minister is due to announce additional funding for Peatlands restoration which will take the total to £14M. This was welcomed however would provide a challenge in getting the funds spent.

CLOSE 31. The Chair thanked all those in attendance and closed the meeting at 14:35.