Scots nature recovering as COP leader Sharma says ‘time is now’
THEY face the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.
But more than three-quarters of Scotland’s natural features are in good condition or on the road to recovery, new figures show.
Official statistics published by Naturescot show that 78.3 per cent of more than 5,400 features on protected nature sites were assessed as in a favourable or recovering condition in the last year.
Natural features include habitats, species and geological features such as fossil beds and caves.
The figure remains relatively stable and is up over the long-term from 71.4% in 2005. Around two-thirds (65.1%) of features were found to have already reached favourable condition, with a further 13.1% believed to be on the road to recovery.
The natural features with the lowest proportion in favourable condition remain marine mammals (58.6%), woodlands (64.3%) and birds (66.9%).
The survey was issued to mark six months until Glasgow hosts the international COP26 climate summit.
President of the summit Ashok Sharma was north of the Border yesterday and he said COP26 must consign coal power to history, signal the end of polluting vehicles and call time on deforestation,
In a speech from Whitelee Wind Farm, in Eaglesham, near Glasgow, Mr Sharma said the UN meeting in the city in November was the “last hope” for keeping the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C alive.
For a number of the other features in unfavourable condition there is no immediate on-site action that can be taken because they are caused by wider, often global pressures.
For example, declining seabird populations are thought to be related to changes in prey distribution brought about by a combination of factors, including climate change. Climate change is also a factor in the decline of a number of natural features on protected areas and poses a long-term threat to Scotland’s nature.
Invasive species remain the single biggest reason for features being in unfavourable condition, representing 20.9% of all negative pressures, followed by overgrazing (17.8%).
Both of these pressures have an impact on our woodlands for example, where herbivores browse and non-native species such as rhododendron or Himalayan balsam compete with native species for nutrients and light.
Nick Halfhide, Naturescot’s Director of People and Nature, said: “Scotland’s protected areas have a vital role in strengthening ecological networks and helping us to build resilience in the face of the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. As well as safeguarding our most special places for nature, protected areas provide many benefits including locking away huge amounts of carbon, particularly in our peatland and native woodlands.
“This year new global targets to improve nature will be agreed at a Conference of the Parties in Kunming, China (COP15).
“Alongside the COP26 on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland has a huge opportunity to address the many challenges and pressures that nature is facing.
“Anticipated Scottish Government targets for 30% of Scotland’s land and sea to be within a protected area by 2030 provide a real opportunity to work in partnership to ensure these sites are as effective as possible in helping to reverse nature loss and capture carbon from the atmosphere.”
Mr Sharma said he hoped to see a physical summit in which delegates from developing countries were able to sit around a table, face-to-face, with the world’s biggest polluters.
In a press conference after the speech he said details of how the conference could be delivered safely for delegates and the people of Glasgow – such as vaccines and testing – were being worked through and would be set out later.
Mr Sharma said keeping to 1.5C of warming – beyond which hundreds of millions more people will be hit by the impact of climate change and many more species will lose their habitats – was critical.
He added: “If we are serious about 1.5C, Glasgow must be the COP that consigns coal power to history, the COP that signals the end of polluting vehicles, the COP that tackles methane emissions, and that calls time on deforestation.”
He urged countries to abandon coal power plants, as the UK has committed to do by 2024 – although there has been criticism of plans to open a mine in Cumbria for coal in use in steel production – and to commit to all new cars being zero emission by 2040, or earlier.
“Whether we like it or not, whether through action or inaction, we are now choosing the future,” he warned.
Kate Blagojevic, head of climate at Greenpeace UK, welcomed Mr Sharma’s commitment to the 1.5C goal, but said more action was needed.
“The UK can’t claim climate leadership overseas whilst at home the Government continues to entertain a new coal mine in Cumbria or maintains the planning block on English onshore wind,” she said.
“The clock is ticking – if the Government wants to be climate leaders, it’s time they act like it.”
Whether we like it or not, whether through action or inaction, we are now choosing the future