Is it time to create an ark for Argyll?

Plants and wild creatures are under huge pressure from too many humans, pollution and climate change. So surely we should be considering making Argyll’s natural treasure trove an ark for the future.

A century ago, in May 1918, Kew Gardens opened a new glasshouse for conservation and some of the seeds and plants it collected have already gone extinct in the wild. So now is the time to think in terms of the next 50 and 500 years.

It’s not just our celebrity species such as eagles, otters and beavers but our everyday inspirations are increasingly rare across Britain.

Be it wrens, finches or thrushes, my family and friends in England seldom see these. Our secretive amphibians are wonderful and it’s great finding a newt in the garden.

So let’s just take simple steps like encourage SUDS drainage systems to rebuild ponds and a welcoming habitat. Many people are also pressing for the creation of 30 per cent of the sea bed to become marine conservation areas, so there is much to do.

The joys of finding even a dead pine marten here on Pulpit Hill or watching two herons fishing on Oban beach need to be shared with generations to come.

And, as Mull is proving, eco-tourism can bring in the cash too. Mike Foster,

Sannox, Crannaig a Mhinister, Oban.