Fight for Scotland’s Nature
Scotland’s beautiful and diverse natural environment is in crisis: one in nine species is at risk of extinction.
We can change this. Nature has an amazing capacity for recovery, and Scotland can help its unique wildlife to thrive.
38 environmental charities from across Scotland campaigned for new Scottish laws to replace and build upon the environmental protections that come with EU membership. We won key protections for Scotland’s nature, although major gaps remain.
Now we’re calling on the Scottish government to set legally binding targets for nature recovery, to restore natural habitats and reverse the decline in Scotland’s biodiversity on land and at sea.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in 2019, “The challenges facing biodiversity are as important as the challenge of climate change, and I want Scotland to be leading the way in our response.”
Scotland’s ambitious climate change targets are vital in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving us towards the goal of ‘net zero’ emissions by 2045. Now is the time to be just as ambitious for Scotland’s nature.
Scotland’s people need a healthy, thriving natural environment. Help us fight for it.
For a thriving environment
Scotland’s environment matters not just for its natural and cultural wealth, but also for the people and communities reliant on it. The coronavirus pandemic has starkly highlighted both the importance of nature for our wellbeing and the inequality in local access to nature.
We rely on our environment for clean air and water, fertile soil and resources. Jobs depend on it: 14% of jobs in Scotland are supported by the natural environment. As we rebuild following coronavirus, Scotland’s environment will have an even more important part to play in its economy.
But through pollution, detrimental land management practices and historic deforestation, environmental degradation is impacting local wildlife and communities.
To ensure that our environment is healthy and thriving so that it can provide for everyone’s wellbeing, we need the Scottish government to set clear, legally-binding targets for the recovery of Scotland’s wildlife and habitats.
Help us fight for a thriving environment by supporting our campaign.
For thriving landscapes
Scotland is renowned for its stunning landscapes, from Caledonian pine forests and coastal grasslands to freshwater habitats and wetlands. But many of the ways we use these landscapes are threatening the survival of wildlife and habitats.
Our native woodlands – home to many of Scotland’s threatened species and exceptionally rich in fungi, lichen and mosses – have been severely reduced by historic deforestation and are threatened by overgrazing and invasive non-native species such as rhododendron. Only 1% of Scotland is covered in ancient native woodland.
Our farmland – which can provide important habitats for wildlife – is often managed in a way that harms nature instead of supporting it.
Our lochs and rivers – which support a rich array of flora and globally important populations of Atlantic salmon and freshwater pearl mussels – are being affected by pollution, commercial fisheries, and illegal collection.
Our uplands – which support threatened lichen and iconic wildlife such as Scottish wildcats – are threatened by atmospheric pollution, overgrazing, burning, drainage, and the impacts of climate change.
Help us fight for thriving landscapes by supporting our campaign.
For thriving seas
Scottish waters make up 61% of the UK total and are home to internationally important populations of dolphins, whales, basking sharks, grey seals and seabirds. They are a global hotspot for diverse seabed habitats such as coldwater coral reefs and inshore flameshell beds.
Climate change is impacting marine ecosystems, with even small changes in sea temperatures having drastic effects on food webs and seabird populations.
The marine environment also faces major challenges from fishing, pollution and invasive non-native species.
Help us fight for thriving seas by supporting our campaign.