Coinciding with the launch of our new Nature and Biodiversity Training, our Deputy CEO Catherine Gee has written about our changing climate and the impact on our nature and biodiversity.
Our ambition is for Scotland to be nature positive. It is a bold statement, one which is reflected in national and international policy, but it is an ambition that everyone at Keep Scotland Beautiful is extremely passionate about.
I believe it’s essential we help reconnect people with the natural world in their own neighbourhoods and places, for their own health and wellbeing, and for the survival of people in the future.
This summer I’ve noticed, like many others, the yellowing of the grass, the stressed silver birch trees; leaves which should be vibrant green are dulling and dropping to the ground too early. I’ve missed seeing the hedgehogs usually spotted snuffling in my garden and drinking at the pond, and I am acutely aware that there have been fewer healthy blooms in my garden to sustain the usually buzzing and busy bees and other pollinators.
Our native species seem to literally be gasping as we come out of one of the driest early summers ever. In fact, in May rainfall was well below normal in many parts of Scotland, and for the UK was just 55% of average.
The climate emergency, the nature emergency, and our recently confirmed litter emergency are all inextricably linked. They are all fundamentally propelled by unsustainable patterns of global production and consumption - our continuing over-use of resources is driving biodiversity loss, killing animals and species, and destroying ecosystems.
The observations I make in my own garden are playing out across the country, from marine habitats to freshwater, from meadows to woodlands, and from mountain to glen. The plants and animals we take for granted are under relentless attack from our changing climate.
Because of this, I am proud to reveal our new certified Nature and Biodiversity Training, which our expert trainers have developed. It aims to help you understand the links, the challenges and the actions you can take, big and small, to drive the changes needed in Scotland, and across the world.
Our training emphasise hope over despair, because despite the challenges, there are wonderful examples of the co-benefits of improving habitats and restoring nature.
It has been six months since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its associated package of goals, targets and financing agreed at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties (CBM COP15) in Montreal. While we have always supported Scotland’s aim to become Nature Positive by 2030 and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity by 2045 in line with the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, in the last couple of months we have really stepped things up as we work to support the recovery of habitats which benefit the planet and people.
It is likely you, your organisation or your community is already thinking about climate change, net zero and taking positive action to minimise your carbon footprint. It is equally important that you start to think about the impact you have on nature and biodiversity and the action you can take help restore key systems, plants and species that are so important to maintaining life on earth. We can help you understand and re-connect with the natural systems, wildlife and plants that support Scotland to flourish as well as develop your understanding of the connections between climate change and biodiversity loss.
If you are concerned about our changing climate and in particular the impacts that this has on our nature and biodiversity, if you want to live in a nature positive world, then why not investigate our training and take the first step today by finding out more.
