3rd December: COP15 will tackle global wildlife loss. Here’s a plan to save Scotland’s nature now

Nearly half of Scotland’s species are in decline, but the situation can be turned around with immediate action to preserve natural habitats, a report reveals.

The news around the state of nature is chilling. Study after study, global or national, delivers a portrait of biodiversity loss. The 2019 State Of Nature Scotland report, for instance, found 49 per cent of our species have seen declines in abundance since 1970.

But, according to a new Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) report published ahead of the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference, which tales place in Montreal, Canada, from December 7 to 19 to agree a plan for nature, it is within our power to halt some of this decline.

The report, titled A World Richer For Nature, calls for a “decade of action” and urges Scotland to take bold measures to ensure that “by 2030, our best places for nature, amounting to at least 30% of land and sea, are properly protected and well managed”.