Protecting and restoring nature
We are privileged to operate in the unique natural environment of the north of Scotland and its islands, and this has motivated our ambition to protect biodiversity and restore nature. In our first Sustainability Strategy, we made a commitment to no net loss of biodiversity and to start delivering biodiversity net gain by 2025, leaving the natural environment in a better state than we found it. We have exceeded those targets, bringing forward our biodiversity net gain (BNG) target by two years, and embedding BNG in all our major projects.
Alongside our commitment to nature restoration, we have also followed a mitigation hierarchy for irreplaceable habitats like ancient woodland and peatland, avoiding impacting such habitats wherever possible, and restoring these vital habitats across Scotland. Our compensatory planting program also replaces every tree we have to remove through our construction and maintenance activities, and we have built partnerships with local conservation and environmental groups such as the Orkney Skate Trust and Argyll Conservation Trust.
Over the rest of this decade, our approach to protecting and restoring nature will continue to grow from these strong roots. We will align our approach with global best practice and support global goals such as the Global Biodiversity Framework which aims for 30 per cent conservation of land, sea and inland waters and 30 per cent restoration of degraded ecosystems by 2030.
Our Commitments to Nature
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Seagrass: Supporting restoration through research
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- Date:
- 19 August 2025
- Size:
- 6.7 MB
Seagrass is a vital part of Scotland’s coastal ecosystems, but has suffered major decline across the UK. SSEN Transmission is helping pioneer large-scale marine restoration, delivering nature-positive solutions to protect biodiversity and enhance marine environments.
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Native Oyster Restoration Scotland and the UK
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- Date:
- 14 August 2025
- Size:
- 7.7 MB
SSEN Transmission is supporting the restoration of native oyster reefs across Scotland and the UK, helping to reverse the decline caused by overfishing, pollution, and habitat loss. These efforts aim to rebuild biodiversity and strengthen marine ecosystems.