A NEW strategy to protect and enhance the unique wildlife and habitats of Scotland will place the country at the “cutting edge of international biodiversity conservation”.

Allan Wilson, the deputy environment minister, made the claim yesterday as he launched Scotland’s Biodiversity: It’s In Your Hands – a plan developed over three years by wildlife experts, campaigners and public and private sector representatives.

The 25-year strategy challenges local councils, public bodies, businesses and the public to do more to help protect the plant and animal life thriving north of the Border with the specific aim of conserving and enhancing biodiversity for the enjoyment and well being of the people of Scotland.

Mr Wilson also announced a new small-grants scheme to support local or national projects to deliver the strategy, with a total of £200,000 to be distributed in each of the three years from 2004-5 to 2006-7.

Its launch follows the recent passage through parliament of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill, which places a duty on all public bodies – including the Executive – to adopt measures to conserve and enhance biodiversity, as an integral part of their daily functions.

Last night, the Scottish Green Party welcomed the publication of the strategy, but warned that it would fail to deliver real progress unless the “contradictory policies of the Executive which are causing climate change are reversed”.

Speaking at the launch, in Edinburgh, Mr Wilson said: “The essential message is that people are the key to successful biodiversity conservation.

“The strategy offers a way to reconnect people with the natural world and ensure that everyone in Scotland recognises and enjoys the complexity and beauty of their natural environment, has a sense of responsibility for it, and works to conserve and enhance it.

“This strategy sets out what is special about Scotland’s priceless natural heritage and maps a route for protecting, conserving and enjoying that heritage.”

Many projects which embody the policy are already under way. At ten locations around Scotland, the energy services company BP is supporting, through the Scottish Forest Alliance, the establishment of 10,000 hectares of new native woodland on sites managed by Forestry Commission Scotland, Woodland Trust Scotland and the RSPB.

These sites are being used for scientific study of their biodiversity benefits and the role that new woodlands can play in carbon sequestration. In addition, local communities are being encouraged to take a key role in the new woodland planning, establishment and future management.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) gave the strategy its full backing.

COSLA’s environment, sustainability and community safety spokeswoman, Alison Hay, said: “It will provide the framework for enhancing all aspects of Scotland’s biological diversity, not just by conserving rare species or habitats, but also through improving urban, rural and marine environments.

“Local authorities, as major landowners and managers, already make a massive contribution to biodiversity conservation through Local Biodiversity Action Plan work, and in the promotion of sustainable development. The strategy makes it clear that delivering on its aims will benefit the country socially and economically as well as environmentally, helping reconnect people and place.”

However, the Green Party was a little more circumspect.

Mark Ruskell, the party’s environment spokesman, said: “While we welcome this small step, it is important to recognise that it is set against a backdrop of Executive policies which directly damage the environment. It is a case of one tiny step forwards and a great leap backwards. The amount of cash available for three years is tiny compared to the millions spent on road projects and encouraging more air travel, which will cause pollution. It is good money going after bad.”

He added: “The minister says he is encouraging local authorities to act. I certainly hope that the strategy and case studies of good practice will encourage some to do innovative work locally, but there is no getting away from the big picture that climate change could undo this good work. The Executive ought to practice what it preaches in its policy decisions.”