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)
“There are several natural phenomena which I shall have to have explained to me before I can keep on going as a resident member of the human race. One is the metamorphosis which hats and suits undergo exactly one week after their purchase, whereby they are changed from smart, intensely becoming articles of apparel into something children use when they want to “dress up like daddy.””
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“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)