RECOMMENDATION 21: FUNDING DRAWN FROM THOSE WHO GAIN VALUE OR CAUSE HARMS

The source of public funding should be designed to i) share the core operating costs of the Infrastructure between the sectors who need to access biodiversity data and realise value from doing so and to ii) base the greatest burden of funding upon those whose activities are key drivers of biodiversity loss.

To this end, the Scottish Government could consider the hypothecation of an existing environmental levy, the introduction of a new Biodiversity Levy, or the addition of a Biodiversity Supplement to the poundage rate for business rates collected in Scotland, to generate an appropriate annual revenue stream to fund the biological recording infrastructure in Scotland in perpetuity.