Scotland must build resilience from the grass roots to avoid cataclysm

The “business-as-usual” way Scotland uses its land and seas is no longer acceptable.

“The problems we are facing are usually seen through the gaze of climate change, but nature is equally in crisis,” explains Professor Colin Galbraith, chairperson of NatureScot.

“We need a huge shift in thinking, where we move away from what nature looks like – the birds, plants and flowers - to viewing it as more of a life support system for us.

“Nature needs us, of course, to maintain and protect it, but we also need nature - for clean air, for purified water, for all the systems we require to live.”

He adds: “Conservation has until now focussed on stopping things from happening. But this is no longer good enough. 

“We need to turn that logic around and work with the people who manage the land and work on the sea, to build resilience from the grass roots.”

Climate and nature have worked together as one ecological system for around four billion years, and while understanding of this has deepened in recent decades, it is only in the last 20 to 30 years that there has been a growing realisation all life on Earth relies on a stable climate and a healthy natural environment for survival.

The way land and seas have been used – for example, in the extraction and consumption of natural resources for food and fuel, or in farming to maximise the yield for a single target crop - has upset this balance, contributing to the degradation of the land, the increase in global temperatures and our vulnerability to climate risks. 

Over the last 100 years, global temperatures have risen by 1°C, on average. 
This has proved to be much more problematic than expected in temperate latitudes, such as Scotland. Climate is warming but, crucially, it is becoming more chaotic in terms of both extreme events and ‘unusual’ patterns of weather. 

Ambitious targets to halt nature loss by 2030 and restore nature by 2045 sit side by side with a goal of being net zero by 2045.

Glen Feshie, a private estate where nature recovery takes priority

“There can be no net zero without nature recovery,” points out Professor Galbraith.

“It is understandable that the question is asked – why spend money on peatland restoration or agricultural reform when people are really struggling in a cost-of-living crisis?”

He adds: “However, unless we spend the money now, in five or ten years’ time we may have to spend a lot more managing the problems which have been created. 

“Global disaster management costs a considerable amount of money.

“It is hard,but invest now to avoid problems in the future is a powerful message, and we are strongly arguing our case for that.” 

Farmers and marine workers will play a vital role in overcoming the challenges of continuing to produce healthy food and store carbon alongside the restoration of nature. 

“We need to harness their expertise and support them to take new approaches, as many are already doing,” says Professor Galbraith. 

“Landowners are starting to see the benefits of taking action - take peatland restoration, for example, whereby sorting out upland blanket bogs, you can achieve better water retention in the land, which means reduced downstream flooding risks. 

“In the marine environment, another example is the restoration of seagrass, one of the fastest, natural ways to store carbon.”

It will need a “very real partnership” moving forward, between landowners, business, and policymakers, says Professor Galbraith.

“No one government or community is going to be able to manage this on its own,” he explains. 

“Often in discussions about the climate and nature crises, we focus on the big events - the storms, the flash flooding. 

“But the smaller events, the underpinning change, are really very significant as the climate becomes more uncertain.”

Decisions have to be made based on how the climate is now – much more chaotic and unpredictable – rather than how it has been previously, Professor Galbraith explains.

“It is only by taking a community-led approach, and by engaging with people to get their ideas and their time input, that we can tackle the problem,” he adds.

“Nature conservation is a global problem, but the actions have to be local.”

There is great cause for hope, adds Professor Galbraith, who has been in post at NatureScot for around 18 months. 

He is also a director of his own environmental consultancy, dealing with diverse challenges related to nature and the environment, and has worked with the United Nations for a number of years, making significant contributions through the Convention on Migratory Species. 

“I see a huge difference in the last 12 to 15 years, in the amount of positive action being taken by communities around Scotland,” he explains.

“It is a difficult situation, and it is easy to become disheartened, but we can do something about it, and a lot of good work is already being done.”

Scotland’s Climate Week runs from 23 to 29 September 2024. Learn more at netzeronation.scot/climate-week

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Growth is the goal for ambitious £2m project to restore seagrass 

A “WONDER PLANT” from the sea, which is a natural carbon sink and a biodiversity hotspot, is helping Scotland tackle the twin nature and climate crises.

Seagrass is the only flowering plant in the ocean, and the meadows it creates, which are often home to an incredible array of wildlife, are likened to rainforests because of the thousands of species for which they provide food and shelter.

“When you hear about seagrass you perhaps immediately think about the tropics, but it is very relevant to Scotland,” explains Professor Colin Galbraith, chairperson of NatureScot.

“Seagrass beds can store significant amounts of carbon and help to improve water quality. They also act as nursery grounds for fish species and other marine life.”

Above, Scotland's seagrass meadows act as the first line of defence along coasts

Seagrass meadows also act as the first line of defence along coasts by reducing wave energy, protecting people from the increasing risk of flooding and storms. They have been declining globally since the 1930s, with estimates revealing around seven percent are being lost each year. 

A recently announced nature finance initiative between the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) and SSEN Distribution aims to see at least 14 hectares of seagrass planted in Scottish coastal waters.

The £2m project will also restore and protect meadows along the Scottish coastline, which stretches 18,000 km and contains more than 8000 species.

It is a boost to restoration work around the country, which also includes Seawilding, the UK’s first community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration project.

The project has already sown 300,000 seagrass seeds at Loch Craignish in Argyll, where a range of scientific experiments exploring different propagation and planting methods are being carried out.

Additionally, Seawilding is aiming to restore one million native oysters to Loch Craignish over a five-year period. These once-abundant eco-system engineers filter and clean water and supply breeding and nursery grounds for fish, making their restoration key to a healthy ecosystem.

Like seagrass restoration, saltmarsh improvement work is also helping to combat biodiversity loss and reduce coastal flooding in Scotland.

The Green Shores team in St Andrews is creating 30,000 square metres of young, actively developing saltmarsh within the Dornoch Firth, the Tay and the Eden estuaries. Fragments of natural saltmarsh will be reconnected and physical damage repaired, ensuring the continued survival of this rare, specialist habitat.

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An oasis in the city

HEALTH walks to boost physical and mental wellbeing are just one of the benefits created by a nature reserve in Glasgow.

On land that was once an industrial hub, Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve gives people from all over the city the chance to engage with the nature on their doorstep.

Residents living near Hamiltonhill will gain major health benefits thanks to the new Claypits Local Nature Reserve

“Nature in cities is as important as nature in the countryside,” explains Professor Colin Galbraith, chairperson of Scotland’s nature agency, NatureScot.

“The work being done in Glasgow is another example of how protecting and investing in nature means we can reap the benefits of it.”

Claypits is a nature reserve with wooded walks and paths running alongside the Forth and Clyde Canal, with spectacular views over the city.

Roe deer, dragonflies and finches are regular visitors, and a new bridge and walkway have opened up the site to communities across the canal. The site has improved biodiversity through the creation of new and varied habitats, primarily associated with the blue-green infrastructure “fingers” that extend from the canal corridor to introduce surface water into the heart of regeneration sites.

The fingers form a linked habitat network, along which flora and fauna can move, helping extend the canal corridor link between the rural environment and the heart of the city. 

The ”smart canal” system also dynamically manages surface water to reduce flood risk and facilitate development and regeneration.