Scots urged to help nature in "deepening" nature-climate crisis
NatureScot has issued a please for the public to help nature amid a "deepening climate-nature crisis" in Scotland.
The organisation's chief executive Francesca Osowska warned that the country is now "suffering the consequences" of climate change and has already lost a quarter of its wildlife.
Many species of wildlife in Scotland are threatened. Ptarmigan is on the RSPB's Red List (C Corbidge).
However, there is hope as half of Scots have said they want to take action and help nature, research conducted by the organisation revealed. The series of three surveys sought to explore how people interacted with nature throughout the pandemic restrictions from 2020.
In the most recent wave of surveys conducted in September 2021, a growing closeness to nature was shown as 52% of Scots confirmed they wanted to do more to look after their local environment. This sentiment was in particular expressed by women, with 56% either strongly or slightly agreeing with a statement that they 'would like to do more to look after local nature and wildlife' (compared to 48% of men).
When looking at the age groups, agreement was strongest among Scots under the age of 45, with 60% of this group wishing to do more to help nature. When asked if they would volunteer their own time to, just over a third (36%) of those polled agreed.
However, this rose significantly among younger age groups. It increase to 58% among youth aged 16-24 and 44% among those aged 25-44.
Launching a winter campaign, Ms Osowska asked Scots to take small actions which could help reverse nature loss and tackle climate change. She said: "Our winter campaign asks everyone to Make Space For Nature in their lives – from feeding birds and providing water for wildlife, to volunteering time to protect and restore nature.
"We know nature loss and climate change are inextricably linked. In appreciating the natural world and using nature-based solutions, we all have the power to tackle climate change, help wildlife and have a positive impact on our own physical and mental health."