Scottish Natural Heritage (Scottish Gaelic: Dualchas Nàdair na h-Alba) is a Scottish public body. It is responsible for Scotland's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e. National Nature Reserves, Local Nature Reserves, Long Distance Routes, National Parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and the National Scenic Area.
SNH is also a member of SEARS (Scotland's Environmental and Rural Services).
SNH has around 800 staff with offices in most parts of Scotland including the main islands. Scottish Ministers decided to transfer SNH's headquarters from Edinburgh to Inverness in 2003/04, many staff left at this point as they did not wish to transfer location. The protected areas in Scotland account for 20% of the total area, SSSIs alone 13%.
On 1 August 2010, the functions of the Deer Commission for Scotland were transferred to SNH by section 1 of the Public Services (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Commission was dissolved.
Famous quotes containing the words scottish, natural and/or heritage:
“Better wear out shoes than sheets.”
—18th-century Scottish proverb, collected in J. Kelly, Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs (1721)
“It is a dogma of the Roman Church that the existence of God can be proved by natural reason. Now this dogma would make it impossible for me to be a Roman Catholic. If I thought of God as another being like myself, outside myself, only infinitely more powerful, then I would regard it as my duty to defy him.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“The heritage of the American Revolution is forgotten, and the American government, for better and for worse, has entered into the heritage of Europe as though it were its patrimony—unaware, alas, of the fact that Europe’s declining power was preceded and accompanied by political bankruptcy, the bankruptcy of the nation-state and its concept of sovereignty.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)