Demonstrators gathered outside the Scottish parliament on Thursday 4 June to call on MSPs to act urgently to restore Scotland’s nature.
Campaigners wearing bumblebee, red squirrel and bat costumes and holding puffin, curlew and swift puppets were joined at the demonstration by MSPs from all the political parties represented at Holyrood.
One in nine species in Scotland are at risk of extinction, with almost half of species decreasing in number since the 1970s. Scotland ranks in the lowest 15% of countries globally for the overall health of its biodiversity.
But with Scotland’s new Natural Environment Act requiring government ministers to set legally binding targets to restore nature, campaigners have called the start of the new Scottish parliament a “moment of hope”.
Deborah Long, chief executive of Scottish Environment LINK which organised the demonstration, said:
“This is a real moment of hope for Scotland’s nature. By setting targets and acting urgently to meet them, we have the chance to stop the loss of the nature we all love and to bring it back to health.
“But to make that happen, we need our leaders to treat nature as a priority, not just a ‘nice to have’. That’s why we’re calling on every MSP in the Scottish parliament to stand up for nature.
“Our natural environment is incredibly important to Scotland’s people, and that depth of feeling was evident as we stood outside parliament. Scotland’s nature shapes our lives in so many ways, and it will shape our future too. Not least, it’s vital to the fight against climate change. If we help nature recover, it will sustain our lives for generations to come.”
The Natural Environment Act, passed in January, followed years of campaigning by Scottish Environment LINK, a coalition of more than 50 environment charities including WWF Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Soil Association Scotland, the Scottish Seabird Centre, the Woodland Trust Scotland, and many more.