This article first appeared in The Scotsman.
Scotland’s response to lockdown was to fall in love with nature. The more we were limited to our homes, the more we realised how much nature meant to us and how much it helped us feel better when the world felt bleak. Have we forgotten that?
The natural world is essential to our wellbeing and quality of life. Nature underpins our food production, supports our economy, and is our first line of defence against climate change.
As parliament comes back from summer recess, the imminent Programme for Government will be a key test of whether the environment is being treated with the seriousness it deserves.
The Scotland Loves Nature campaign, supported by over 40 environmental groups, is calling on the Scottish government to address this through a Natural Environment Bill in the upcoming Programme for Government, which would set legally binding targets for nature recovery, as well as putting more funding in place to restore nature and helping communities protect and restore their local environment.
The Scottish Government has accepted that nature is in crisis and has pledged to tackle it. But earlier this week we learned that investment has been cut from one of the flagship programmes, the Nature Restoration Fund.
The scientific evidence is clear that Scotland has suffered a decades long decline in biodiversity. Today, 1 in 9 species in Scotland is at risk of extinction. There are concerning declines in seabirds, in pollinators, in species rich grassland, in native woodland extent, and in peatland condition. The Nature Restoration Fund is a key tool we have to invest in reversing these declines, which although limited in scale, was starting to have some impacts.
Communities from right across Scotland are seeing these impacts even at this early stage: river restoration in Ross-shire, wetland restoration in Stirlingshire and Orkney, meadow restoration in the Borders, and seagrass restoration on the west coast. More than 140 projects have been supported by £40 million – a tiny amount of investment when measured against the scale of the challenge.
But it is investment not just in restoring nature, but in making Scotland more resilient to climate change, preventing flooding, and protecting pollinators of farmed crops. It is money well spent for today’s local community to enjoy and benefit and as a legacy for future generations to experience the delights of Scotland’s nature.
All this is why these cuts to nature spending is such bad news. At a time where every financial decision must be scrutinised for its impact today and tomorrow, cutting the small amount of funding available for nature restoration, which delivers services way beyond wildlife, is a backward step.
Scotland’s people know this too. A recent poll showed that 8 out of 10 people had noticed the impact of environmental harm in their local area. The same poll also showed us that people want to see more effort, not less, going into nature restoration.
Scotland’s environmental sector is calling on Scottish Ministers to urgently reconsider this cut and protect Scotland’s future. Even in difficult circumstances, failure to invest in Scotland’s environment will harm us all and will undermine Scotland’s ambitions to be an environmental leader. Investment in nature restoration is investment in our future – and it’s cheaper doing it today than tomorrow.
By Deborah Long, Chief Officer at Scottish Environment LINK