Transformative landscape change to tackle the "Nexus" : a Scotland-wide zonation for landscape conservation and restoration

Biodiversity is inextricably linked to water, food and health, with climate change influencing all three. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires integrated policies and a landscape-level approach that embraces multifunctionality, protects high-value areas, and strengthens ecosystem restoration, sustainable agricultural practices, and reforestation. Conservation and restoration must also be accompanied by reductions in pollution. This creates a strong case for biodiversity policy that delivers landscape restoration in a way that maximises multiple benefits.

Scotland’s ambitious biodiversity strategy illustrates the urgency and scale of the response required. Land and freshwater environments have experienced long-term biodiversity loss, with agricultural practices covering nearly 70 percent of Scotland’s land and contributing to habitat fragmentation, soil erosion, GHGs emissions, and diffuse pollution. Transformative change is therefore needed, especially through landscape-level planning that recognises multifunctionality and the trade-offs and synergies across different land uses.

To support this, we developed a Scotland-wide, multi-functional priority zonation to identify areas for conservation and restoration. The analysis was based on an extensive spatial database and a transparent mapping framework incorporating dozens of datasets, many from national-scale ecosystem service models. These include species distributions, habitat condition, connectivity metrics, land cover, soils, grazing pressure, freshwater status, woodland potential, peatland condition, and existing ecological value. All layers were combined through multi-criteria analysis at 100-metre resolution, allowing fine-scale identification of where land-use change can deliver the greatest biodiversity gains and ecosystem-service benefits.

Separate opportunity maps were produced for areas to prioritise for conservation and for  key land use transitions such as woodland expansion, agroforestry, hedgerow enhancement, reduced grazing pressure, riparian woodland and peatland restoration, and high-nature-value grassland management. High-priority zones for each theme were then combined into a final national zonation, revealing where multiple benefits align and where trade-offs may emerge. We then assessed expected improvements in greenhouse gas emissions, diffuse pollution, soil erosion, and ecological connectivity relative to current conditions.

This spatially explicit framework provides a robust evidence base to guide strategic planning, target public and private investment, and minimise ecological trade-offs. It supports the development of integrated policies capable of delivering the transformative, multifunctional landscape restoration needed to halt biodiversity loss and build long-term ecosystem resilience.