NatureScot to be merged into single Scottish environment body

NatureScot, SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland, and potentially Scottish Forestry, are to be brought together as one national environment body under the Programme for Government that First Minister John Swinney published on 1 September. Consultation on the detail of the new organisation is expected this autumn, and ministers have indicated a timetable that would see it ready for service by 2029.

What has the Scottish Government proposed?

The commitment sits in the programme’s chapter on public services, where the Scottish Government promises to reduce the number of public bodies “to create a system that is integrated by design”. The first change listed is to “bring the national environment public bodies (SEPA, NatureScot, Zero Waste Scotland and potentially Scottish Forestry) into a single overarching environment body to remove unnecessary barriers and make our environmental interventions more impactful”.

The forestry body named as potentially joining is Scottish Forestry, the regulator, rather than its sister organisation Forestry and Land Scotland, which manages the national forest estate. Zero Waste Scotland said in a statement that the Scottish Government “have indicated a timetable which would see the new body ready for service by 2029”.

The licences that would change hands

For shooting and land management, the question is what happens to NatureScot’s licensing services. From Monday 15 September a licence from NatureScot is required for all muirburn in Scotland under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, and the same authority runs species licensing, deer management and the general licences, which it is currently consulting on for 2027.

Every one of those services would transfer into the new body, along with SEPA’s regulatory work on rivers and water. How licence applications, renewals and casework would be handled through a reorganisation on this scale is the detail the autumn consultation will have to answer.

How have rural organisations reacted?

The Scottish Countryside Alliance said the proposal “has raised some eyebrows”. In its assessment of the programme, the alliance wrote: “We’re not sure how this will work in practice and what knock-on effect this will have on obtaining wildlife management licences, but nevertheless this merger is expected to be implemented by 2029.”

The alliance also notes that Confor, Woodland Trust Scotland and the Institute of Chartered Foresters have “grave concerns” over how the merger would improve efficiency and have written to the Scottish Government requesting an urgent meeting. Neither BASC Scotland nor the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association had published a response at the time of writing.

What happens next

Consultation on the shape of the new body is expected in the autumn, and shoots, estates and land managers who rely on NatureScot licensing will want their experience of the current system on the record when it opens. Until the new body is established, the existing authorities continue unchanged: muirburn licence applications still go to NatureScot when the requirement begins on 15 September, and the general licence review for 2027 remains open through NatureScot as normal.