Less planning, more delivery

Like many people with a professional interest in the Forth, Frazer McNaughton also has a personal attachment to the area. Living in Portobello, he loves getting out and about along the coast, and is a member of the local community council. Issues involving the beach and promenade often feature prominently on the agenda.

He also feels a connection with other communities along Edinburgh’s shoreline. “The Firth of Forth is a wonderful place and people are drawn to living and congregating on the coastal edge,” says Frazer. “However, that edge is changing and, collectively, we need to learn more about what future paths we might face under various climate change scenarios, and how we protect adapt and change our coast accordingly.” It’s a conversation he also engages with daily in his role as Projects and Partnerships Manager at NatureScot.

Frazer began his career as a landscape architect, working in social housing and public realm renewal in Glasgow, before joining what was then Scottish Natural Heritage to address controversial proposals for the so-called Harris Super Quarry. He’s since been with NatureScot for 25 years, spending much of that time working on landscape visual impact assessments for major developments. That has involved extensive work with local authorities, developers and other stakeholders developing  projects and ensuring best practice for infrastructure design and implementation – all good preparation for his current role.

We need to reach out
“Today, I help to manage and oversee our statutory work, such as planning and protected areas, across Edinburgh and Lothians,” he says.  “And secondly, I’m very much working on the partnerships side. NatureScot recognise that we need to get more proactive in addressing the issues of the nature and climate crisis. To do that, we need to reach out to work with more people and to get into new areas across both the public and private sectors to implement some of the plans and strategies we've already developed. In terms of nature restoration issues, we’re arguably at a stage where we need to do less work on plans and more working out how to deliver projects and make  good things happen. It’s time to focus on delivery and implementation to build a more progressive agenda on climate and nature.”

A critical element of Frazer’s push for stronger partnerships is the creation of a shared, collaborative vision. “Obviously, there are many interest groups related to the Forth – and a lot of pressures on the environment – some seabird populations are in decline, fisheries are under pressure, sea levels are rising and storms are increasing in intensity and frequency. And then you throw in the pressure for infrastructure development, such as ports, renewables inshore and offshore infrastructure and so on, which are often good things, but we need to work with all of these trends and ensure there's a joined up approach and a coordinated vision. That’s where we need to be heading, both in the Forth and across Scotland as we pursue an integrated approach to seemingly diverse issues such as growing the economy, improving the well-being of our communities, addressing climate change and restoring nature..”

We need to think bigger
Achieving this needs conversations that capitalise on a wealth of goodwill among stakeholders. “In terms of the Forth Estuary Forum, I’d like to see us ramp up activity and bring people together from all spheres of interest to start conversations, share information and formulate collaborations so that we can develop that positive and action-orientated cross-party vision,” says Frazer. “And the good thing is that there's every indication that people want to do the right thing – after all, nearly all of us want a healthy natural environment for the Forth. But we need to think bigger and more strategically to create that vision through partnership working.”

What does NatureScot do?
Funded by the Scottish Government, NatureScot was previously called Scottish Natural Heritage until its rebranding in 2020.

With its strapline of ‘Scotland’s Nature Agency’, NatureScot’s official role is “to protect and promote Scotland’s national heritage, which contributes so much to our nation’s prosperity and well-being”. That includes promoting, caring for and improving Scotland’s natural heritage (e.g. through ensuring the areas of protection for nature that cover the Firth of Forth are looked after), helping people to enjoy nature responsibly, enabling greater awareness and understanding of nature, and promoting sustainability.

NatureScot also advises local authorities, and works with the Scottish Parliament and public, private and voluntary organisations. The organisation is currently actively involved in several initiatives along the Firth of Forth, including Restoration Forth and advising on the major flood protection schemes at Musselburgh and Grangemouth.

For more information: www.nature.scot

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