Workshop on Natural Heritage Reporting

Workshop Overview

In early 2003 a group of researchers from Scottish Natural Heritage, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Macaulay Institute got together to share their concerns about the future of environmental reporting in Scotland. Their prime interest was in developing future approaches to reporting on the natural heritage of Scotland, particularly in the context of updating the SNH publication Natural Heritage Trends Scotland (2001).

The group recognised that there is a major difference in the approach taken to State of the Environment (SoE) reporting in the UK when compared to other countries. The key difference lies in the fact that whilst the UK reports commonly focus on measures of environmental state, in other countries these are reported alongside measures relating to the processes that drive environmental change and management responses to it. This more holistic approach is commonly set within the DPSIR framework (Driving forces, Pressures, State, Impacts, Responses).

With a comparative wealth of experience in the implementation of DPSIR–type SoE reporting in institutions around Europe, the research group decided to set up a workshop involving leading practitioners from around Europe, to explore what lessons could be learned which could inform the development of Natural Heritage Reporting in Scotland.

The workshop was held in Edinburgh on the 6-7th March 2003 with funding from Scottish Natural Heritage. This report provides all the material presented at the workshop and some preliminary conclusions.

• Workshop Report
• List of Delegates