Celebrating Nature Champions

By Andy Marks, Parliamentary Officer

The success of Scottish Environment LINK’s award-winning Nature Champions initiative reflects the energy and commitment that MSPs have for ‘their’ Scottish species and habitats.

The current session has seen MSPs climb mountains in search of bees, wade across rivers for endangered mussels, attend night-time bat surveys and even abseil from trees in support of Scotland’s extraordinary species and habitats!

Of course, little of this would be possible without the Scottish Environment LINK members who host and support MSP Nature Champions to get to know more about Scotland’s natural environment.

However, being an MSP Nature Champion isn’t just about experiencing the treasures of our natural environment, it’s also about helping to raise awareness and promote action in Parliament. From debates to motions, Nature Champions have been helping to give nature a voice in this Parliament – a voice that is so greatly needed in the context of both the nature and climate emergencies.

On Wednesday 4^th June, LINK took the opportunity to spotlight some of the achievements of MSP Nature Champions through a special ‘Celebrating Nature Champions’ reception at the Scottish Parliament.

This event was sponsored by Alexander Burnett MSP (Red Squirrel) and recognised the fantastic efforts of the 100+ MSPs who are currently signed up as Nature Champions and celebrate the different ways in which they have championed Scotland’s iconic and threatened species and habitats over the current Parliament. The event also offered attendees the opportunity to hear more from Scottish Environment LINK members about their work protecting and restoring Scotland’s natural environment.

As part of this event, Scottish Environment LINK presented four awards to celebrate MSP Nature Champions who have gone the extra mile in their roles over this Parliamentary session. You can discover the winners from the evening as well as the very worthy short-listed nominees below.

We want to share our thanks to all MSPs who have become Nature Champions over the course of this Parliament.

Turning Tide Award

The first of the evening’s awards – the Turning Tide Award – was jointly presented to Christine Grahame MSP and Willie Rennie MSP. This award acknowledged an MSP ‘who has championed a species or habitat that has seen a significant positive change in circumstances over the last Parliament’ – where an MSP’s support in Parliament has bolstered a positive trend in the fortunes of a Scottish species or habitat. These two MSPs have championed their species brilliantly, and we felt that they both deserved the accolade:

Christine Grahame MSP is the Nature Champion for the Golden Eagle, a species that has seen a significant boost in the South of Scotland over this Parliament. Christine has vocally supported the South of Scotland Golden Eagle project’s reintroduction efforts in Parliament and has pushed for tougher legislation to tackle raptor persecution.

Willie Rennie MSP, meanwhile, has been a staunch advocate for Sandeels – a vital prey food for marine species and seabirds like puffins. Within this Parliament, industrial sandeel fishing was closed in Scottish waters, and this marks a significant moment in marine ecosystem recovery efforts.

Nominees: Finlay Carson MSP (Native Oyster Beds), Rhoda Grant MSP (Scottish Wildcat)

Muddy Boots Award

Our next award was the Muddy Boots Award – recognising an MSP who has been especially enthusiastic to get out in the field and engage with their species or habitat’s needs first-hand. These are the MSPs who don’t shy away from a surgery with their wilder constituents!

This event was won by Graham Simpson MSP, for climbing not one but two Munros on a visit to see the Bilberry Bumblebee, as well as travelling to Scotland’s rainforest to both see, and hug, his other species, the Ash Tree.

Nominees: Meghan Gallacher MSP (Red Kite), Mark Ruskell MSP (Moss Carder Bee and White-tailed Eagle), Audrey Nicoll MSP (Freshwater Pearl Mussel).

Natterjack Award

The Natterjack Award was designed to celebrate our most vocal Nature Champions – those MSPs who are not afraid of making some noise in support of Scotland’s natural environment. (For those who aren’t familiar, Natterjack toads are among our noisiest and rarest amphibians and their calls can in fact be heard several kilometres away!)

This award recognised an MSP who has been especially active in raising awareness of their species or habitat among the public and in the Scottish Parliament: Ariane Burgess MSP.

Ariane has steadfastly supported the protection of Scotland’s Eurasian Beaver populations and Aspen woodlands, through a significant number of motions and parliamentary questions, as well as championing their interests through local news and social media.

Nominees: Colin Smyth MSP (Badger), Fiona Hyslop MSP (Blanket Bogs), Jackie Dunbar MSP (Sea Trout).

Beastie’s Bestie Award

Last but not least, our final award – the Beastie’s Bestie Award – celebrates an MSP who has developed a personal connection with a species or habitat through their Nature Champions role. This may not be known among their colleagues or indeed the public, but they’ve done something a bit unusual and creative in the way that they’ve approached being a champion.

The winner of this award was Monica Lennon MSP, Nature Champion for the Oak, whose consistent championing of native woodland planting targets and ancient woodlands, including the 800-year old Cadzow Oak in her constituency, has expanded into personal tree-planting efforts and efforts to encourage local schools and communities to participate in native tree planting initiatives.

Nominees: Beatrice Wishart MSP (Orca), Jenni Minto MSP (Scotland’s Rainforest), Alexander Burnett MSP (Red Squirrel).