A NATURE charity has challenged the Scottish Government move to redirect money intended for restoring nature and improving biodiversity towards local government pay awards.
The development came after Finance Secretary Shona Robison said more cost-cutting measures are needed in order to balance the books, with £5 million from the nature restoration fund instead going towards pay settlements.
Now, Woodland Trust Scotland has sent a letter to Scottish Energy Minister Gillian Martin expressing their “surprise and disappointment” at the news.
“Given the very small proportion of the Scottish Government's overall budget that is dedicated to nature restoration, to hear that £5 million of 2024-25 allocation is being diverted away from Nature Restoration for more general use is a serious disappointment for all who care about Scotland's nature recovery,” the letter read.
A Scottish Government spokesman said Robison had been clear about the “painful choices” which lie ahead.
The spokesman said: “Protecting and restoring our natural environment is key to addressing the twin crises of nature loss and climate change, and nearly £40m has already been distributed through the nature restoration fund since 2021.
“While capital funding of £5m from this year’s nature restoration fund has been redirected to fund the pay offer, it will be replaced in future years.”
But the Woodland Trust letter went on to seek further reassurance about the possibility of the restoration of dunning in “future years”.
“The NRF is as you know a vital component in enabling the work of restoring and expanding Scotland's Rainforest. We have been anxiously awaiting news of what funding will replace the NRF when this window ends. What we did not anticipate was surprise in-year redirection of funding from current allocations,” the letter read.
“Our sector is already reeling from the enormous blow of a £32m (41%) to the woodland grants budget this year which we know will set Scotland back from meeting its own woodland creation targets - vital for both net zero and for nature recovery.
“We would be grateful for your urgent personal reassurance that you remain committed to nature restoration as a mission of your government - and that no further cuts will be made to already-limited nature restoration budgets in the rest of this parliament.”
