August 25th, 2014 by ie-admin
LINK’s Species Champion initiative has been short-listed for the RSPB Scotland Nature of Scotland Awards under the category of ‘Innovation Award’. We’re also delighted to hear that four of our Species Champion MSPs have also been short-listed for Politician of the Year Award: Claire Baker MSP, Claudia Beamish MSP, Mary Scanlon MSP and Willie Rennie MSP. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh on 20th November 2014. Fingers-crossed for everyone!
LINK’s Species Champion initiative which asks MSPs to lend their political support to the protection of Scotland’s threatened wildlife now has 69 MSPs championing 87 unique species.
July 30th, 2014 by ie-admin
Life in our marine protected areas can make a significant recovery if we take genuine action to reverse its decline, says Calum Duncan
There is a mournful Gaelic proverb that can send a shiver down any spine – Cha bhi fios air math an tobair gus an tràigh e – the value of the well is not known until it runs dry. It’s an ancient version of a modern lament: “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone”. It rings true for the previously abundant life beneath Scotland’s waves. After millennia of drawing from the well, we may be reaching the limits of our sea’s biological capacity. Fish, sharks, seabirds, seals, whales and dolphins have all suffered major population declines and many species are threatened or endangered. Over recent decades we have made a colossal impact upon what was once an unfathomable and resource-rich marine environment. Our top marine scientists – and Scotland has a fine pedigree here – now report that there is unlikely to be any pristine ecosystem remaining on our continental shelf. That is a worrying feat of human “progress”.
It is a complex problem. Pollution from our cities and farmland runs into the sea, and localised harvesting of the ocean was swiftly replaced by a much more industrial model. We now harvest intensively, largely for the export market, trawling the available seabed for scallops and scampi, and growing salmon in large, submersible cages. (more…)
June 4th, 2014 by ie-admin
Wartime laws must be repealed to protect Scotland’s prestigious assets from agricultural vandalism, says Calum Brown
The ownership and use of Scotland’s natural resources are at the centre of the independence debate. A natural resource that is too often overlooked, however, is the land itself. Internationally famous, central to Scotland’s identity, but relatively empty, Scottish landscapes have immense cultural, environmental and economic value – and a potential that is much greater still.
The Scottish Government faces a number of decisions that hinge on whether land is chiefly regarded as a common resource in which all of Scotland’s people have legitimate interests, or a private resource mainly subject to the interests of large landowners and companies. (more…)
April 24th, 2014 by ie-admin
Every species must exploit its environment to survive and evolve. It has to have food and places to live, using the natural resources around itself. If the resources cannot be sustained, or replaced by alternatives, extinction is the result. This is a fundamental law of biology.
Humans as a species “develop” by following our desire to make things better for ourselves within the biosphere of our planet.
As a species, we possess a well-developed memory, individually and socially. This is one reason for our comparative “success”. We are adaptable. Our extraordinary collective memory has allowed us to find new ways to exploit the resources around us. It has allowed us to become more ubiquitous, and dominant. We have colonised virtually every corner of the planet – and the intensity of our use of resources has grown exponentially. (more…)
July 23rd, 2010 by ie-admin
As part of their Higher and Intermediate 2 Art and Design course, pupils from Braes High School Falkirk were asked to choose a species from the LINK Species Champion list as inspiration for their design. Pupils then went on to research their species and produce patterned shift dress. The project aimed to raise awareness of the Species Champion campaign and to share this knowledge with the wider community through their local newspaper. You can find out more, see the designs and why the pupils choose them using the link below.
