<Legislation xmlns="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/legislation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6" NumberOfProvisions="107" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/legislation http://www.legislation.gov.uk/schema/legislation.xsd" SchemaVersion="2.0" RestrictExtent="S" RestrictStartDate="2026-06-18"><ukm:Metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:ukm="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/metadata">
					<dc:identifier>http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7</dc:identifier><dc:title>Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026</dc:title><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:publisher>Statute Law Database</dc:publisher><dc:modified>2026-07-03</dc:modified><dc:contributor>Expert Participation</dc:contributor><dct:valid>2026-06-18</dct:valid>
					
					<atom:link rel="self" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.xml" type="application/xml"/><atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/resources" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/resources" title="More Resources"/>
					
					<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/notes" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/7/notes" title="Explanatory Notes"/><atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/notes/toc" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/notes/contents" title="Explanatory Notes Table of Contents"/>
					
					<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/act" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6" title="whole act"/><atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/introduction" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/introduction" title="introduction"/>
					<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/body" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/body" title="body"/>
					
					
										
					
					
					
					<atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/rdf+xml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.rdf" title="RDF/XML"/><atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/akn+xml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.akn" title="AKN"/><atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.xht" title="HTML snippet"/><atom:link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.htm" title="Website (XHTML) Default View"/><atom:link rel="alternate" type="text/csv" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.csv" title="CSV"/><atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/pdf" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.pdf" title="PDF"/>
					<atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/akn+xhtml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/data.html" title="HTML5 snippet"/>

					
					<atom:link rel="http://purl.org/dc/terms/tableOfContents" hreflang="en" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/contents" title="Table of Contents"/>
					
					<atom:link rel="http://purl.org/dc/terms/hasVersion" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/enacted" title="enacted"/>
					
					<atom:link rel="up" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6" title="Entire legislation"/><atom:link rel="prev" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/6" title="Provision; Section 6"/><atom:link rel="prevInForce" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/introduction" title="Introduction; Introduction"/><atom:link rel="next" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/8" title="Provision; Section 8"/><atom:link rel="nextInForce" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/55" title="Provision; Section 55"/>
					<ukm:PrimaryMetadata><ukm:DocumentClassification><ukm:DocumentCategory Value="primary"/><ukm:DocumentMainType Value="ScottishAct"/><ukm:DocumentStatus Value="revised"/></ukm:DocumentClassification><ukm:Year Value="2026"/><ukm:Number Value="6"/><ukm:EnactmentDate Date="2026-03-12"/><ukm:ISBN Value="9780105904502"/></ukm:PrimaryMetadata>
					

                    
									<ukm:Notes><ukm:Note IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/7/notes" DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/notes"/><ukm:Alternatives><ukm:Alternative URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/pdfs/aspen_20260006_en.pdf" Date="2026-04-09" Title="Explanatory Note" Size="1115092"/></ukm:Alternatives>       
								</ukm:Notes> 
					<ukm:Alternatives><ukm:Alternative URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/pdfs/asp_20260006_en.pdf" Date="2026-03-12" Size="1668287" Print="true"/></ukm:Alternatives>
					
					<ukm:Statistics>
									<ukm:TotalParagraphs Value="107"/>
									<ukm:BodyParagraphs Value="107"/>
									<ukm:ScheduleParagraphs Value="0"/>
									<ukm:AttachmentParagraphs Value="0"/>
									<ukm:TotalImages Value="0"/>
								</ukm:Statistics>
				</ukm:Metadata><Primary><Body DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/body" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/body" NumberOfProvisions="107" RestrictExtent="S" RestrictStartDate="2026-06-18"><Part DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/part/2" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/part/2" NumberOfProvisions="12" id="part-2" RestrictExtent="S" Match="false" Status="Prospective"><Number>Part 2</Number><Title>National parks</Title><Pblock DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/part/2/crossheading/definitions-for-the-national-parks-scotland-act-2000" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/part/2/crossheading/definitions-for-the-national-parks-scotland-act-2000" NumberOfProvisions="1" Match="false" Status="Prospective" id="part-2-crossheading-definitions-for-the-national-parks-scotland-act-2000" RestrictExtent="S"><Title>Definitions for the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000</Title><P1group Match="false" Status="Prospective" RestrictExtent="S"><Title>Definitions for the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000</Title><P1 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/7" id="section-7">
<Pnumber><CommentaryRef Ref="key-c15c92c7464720b9610e88d04bcf1ace"/>7</Pnumber>
<P1para>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/1" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/7/1" id="section-7-1">
<Pnumber>1</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>Section 35 of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 (interpretation) is modified as follows.</Text>
</P2para>
</P2>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/2" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/7/2" id="section-7-2">
<Pnumber>2</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>In subsection (1)—</Text>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/2/a" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/7/2/a" id="section-7-2-a">
<Pnumber>a</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>before the definition of “community council”, insert—</Text>
<BlockAmendment Context="main" Format="double" TargetClass="primary" TargetSubClass="unknown">
<UnorderedList Class="Definition" Decoration="none">
<ListItem>
<Para>
<Text>“<Term>biodiversity</Term>” has the same meaning as “biological diversity” in the United Nations Environmental Programme Convention on Biological Diversity of 5 June 1992 as amended from time to time (or in any United Nations Convention replacing that Convention),</Text>
</Para>
</ListItem>
</UnorderedList>
</BlockAmendment>
<AppendText>,</AppendText>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2026/6/section/7/2/b" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/7/2/b" id="section-7-2-b">
<Pnumber>b</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>after the definition of “community council”, insert—</Text>
<BlockAmendment Context="main" Format="double" TargetClass="primary" TargetSubClass="unknown">
<UnorderedList Class="Definition" Decoration="none">
<ListItem>
<Para>
<Text>“<Term>cultural development</Term>” includes the development of arts, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, creative industries, and activities which reflect the diversity and distinctiveness of the area and its communities,</Text>
</Para>
</ListItem>
</UnorderedList>
</BlockAmendment>
<AppendText>.</AppendText>
</P3para>
</P3>
</P2para>
</P2>
</P1para>
</P1></P1group></Pblock></Part></Body></Primary><Commentaries><Commentary Type="I" id="key-c15c92c7464720b9610e88d04bcf1ace"><Para><Text>S. 7  not in force at Royal Assent, see <CitationSubRef id="n1b1e0a120f662ced" SectionRef="section-59-2" URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/asp/2026/6/section/59/2" Operative="true">s. 59(2)</CitationSubRef></Text></Para></Commentary></Commentaries></Legislation>