Scotland should be working in tandem with nature instead of against it
The eyes of the world will be on Scotland this November when the global climate conference – COP26 – rolls up in Glasgow, Covid permitting.
The Scottish Government will see this as an opportunity to promote its position as a world leader in dealing with climate change. It could be a moment when Scotland leads again by being the first country in the world to declare itself a ‘rewilding nation’ – one that wants to solve our problems by working with nature instead of against it.
But is Scotland up to the challenge?
The world faces the overlapping emergencies of climate breakdown, devastating loss of nature across the planet, and a health crisis most likely triggered by our broken relationship with nature.
The global situation is so bad that the United Nations has declared the 2020s the decade of ecosystem restoration, and Scotland has signed up to bold action on this through the Edinburgh Declaration.
So what could this bold action be? How can we reset our relationship with nature to meet the scale of the challenges we face when Scotland – despite its beauty – is currently one of the most naturedepleted countries in the world?
The Scottish Rewilding Alliance is calling on Scotland to declare itself the world’s first rewilding nation and to commit to three ‘bold actions’ to start to make it happen.
The first bold action is to ensure large areas of Scotland’s land and sea – at least 30 per cent – is rewilded in the next ten years. This can be achieved without loss of productive farmland.
Among other things, this would mean both increasing the amount of peatland being restored and allowing natural woodlands to regenerate – helping to lock away carbon, restore nature and prevent flooding.
It involves reversing decades of straightening and canalising rivers, bringing back the winding rivers that nature intended. This has been shown to reduce flooding downstream, provide habitat for aquatic creatures, and support salmon and trout.
Action at sea requires genuinely protecting large areas as ‘notake zones’ – so nature can recover within them, and the fishing industry can benefit by taking the replenished stocks that emerge just outside of these zones.
The second big commitment is to make rewilding a third pillar of Scotland’s economic strategy, alongside increasing competitiveness and tackling inequality. This would lead to a change in emphasis – with the government investing in solutions that worked with nature in farming, forestry, fisheries and development.
The third commitment would be to rewild our communities, from streets to parks and gardens to road verges, so we can all reconnect with nature – something that has been so important for so many during the pandemic.
Above all, declaring a rewilding nation would be a long-term commitment to working with nature and finding natural solutions to our problems.
This would mean, for example, allowing beavers to be moved within Scotland to establish new wild colonies, because these ‘ecosystem engineers’ are nature’s own rewilders. The dams they build provide a place for countless aquatic creatures, which in turn provide food for birds and fish. Their dams also prevent flooding downstream – potentially a free alternative to expensive flood defences.
It might also include allowing the return of lynx to Scotland. This Labrador-sized feline preys on deer. The absence of such predators means we currently spend millions fencing off land to prevent deer browsing on young trees grown for forestry.
There are many powerful reasons to declare a rewilding nation in Scotland, but perhaps one that might sway politicians is public opinion. In opinion polling undertaken by Survation for the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, 76 per cent of Scots said they supported rewilding, with only seven per cent opposed. This is proof – if proof were really needed – that people understand we need to fundamentally change our relationship with nature.
Furthermore, 57 per cent supported rewilding being added as a third pillar of the government’s economic strategy – demonstrating that Scots want to see action emerging from any declaration in support of restoring nature.
The survey also found that 76 per cent supported beavers being moved to new areas instead of being shot if they cause localised issues for farmers, such as crop damage. Perhaps most surprising of all, the opinion poll showed that 52 per cent supported the reintroduction of lynx to Scotland.
There is growing demand and support for rewilding in Scotland. Over 5,000 people attended an online event to launch our call for a rewilding nation on Wednesday – just some of the many people looking for a positive way out of some very dark and frightening times. They see rewilding as something of a beacon of hope.
Also among the audience were landowners and investors who want to be part of the solution.
Now focus moves on to Holyrood with MSPS being asked to sign a motion calling for a rewilding nation to be declared.
While the devil might be in the detail of what this means in the long term, such a bold declaration could once again make Scotland a world leader at a time when the spotlight will be shining brightly upon us.
Steve Micklewright is convener of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and chief executive of rewilding charity Trees for Life