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:
“Our noble King, King Henery the eighth,
Ouer the riuer of Thames past hee.”
—Unknown. Sir Andrew Barton. . .
English and Scottish Ballads (The Poetry Bookshelf)
“Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke. That’s their natural and first weapon. She will need her sisterhood.”
—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
“It seems to me that upbringings have themes. The parents set the theme, either explicitly or implicitly, and the children pick it up, sometimes accurately and sometimes not so accurately.... The theme may be “Our family has a distinguished heritage that you must live up to” or “No matter what happens, we are fortunate to be together in this lovely corner of the earth” or “We have worked hard so that you can have the opportunities we didn’t have.””
—Calvin Trillin (20th century)