Greens demand action after ‘deeply alarming’ species decline
The decline in Scotland’s nature has continued apace, according to a new report snuck out by the Scottish Government.
According to the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Report to Parliament, published without fanfare today, species populations have dropped by a quarter since 1994, with no sign of this decline slowing.
It says: “The indicator of average species’ abundance of 352 terrestrial and freshwater species has fallen by 24% since 1994. There has been very little change in the rate of decline in the last 10 years.”
This has been driven by land and marine management and climate change, it reports.
Responding, Scottish Green environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “It is deeply alarming that Scotland’s nature emergency has deepened at a time when government claims to recognise the climate emergency.
“This catastrophic decline in Scotland’s nature represents years of missed opportunities around land use and directed farming subsidies. To fail to act now in light of these losses would be criminal. If we are going to reverse this decline in Scotland’s nature, the Scottish Government needs to set specific targets for recovery and strong action plans to bring nature back.
“The COVID crisis has awakened so many to the importance of nature in our communities, but what we see today is a fraction of the stunning abundance and diversity our great grandparents would have witnessed. Future generations must be gifted a far better world where the nature and climate emergencies are averted.”