Tag: RSPB Scotland

Lifeline for Scotland’s seabirds

Puffins, Kittiwakes, Razorbills and other threatened seabirds have been thrown a lifeline, after decades of campaigning have finally succeeded in stopping industrial sandeel fishing in the English North Sea and in all Scottish waters.

The UK and Scottish Governments’ decisions to close sandeel fisheries in the English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish waters respectively, comes after more than 25 years of campaigning by the RSPB and others, which called out the practice as one of the contributors to seabird decline.

Many seabirds, including Puffins, rely on sandeels to feed their chicks. But climate change and over-fishing have vastly depleted sandeel populations, having a devastating knock-on effect on seabirds.

Last year’s seabird census found that more than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years. In Scotland, which is home to over half of UK seabirds, this figure rises to 70% of species in decline.

Shockingly, around one in four Puffins have been lost from across the UK since 2000. Both Puffins and Kittiwakes, which depend on sandeels for food, are threatened with global extinction and are Red-listed as birds of highest conservation concern. 

Ending the industrial fishing of sandeels is just one necessary step in the effort to safeguard seabirds as they come under a barrage of existential pressures, including climate change, bird flu and poorly planned offshore marine development.

Last year, the UK Government ran a public consultation to close sandeel fishing in the English waters of the North Sea. The RSPB and tens of thousands of our supporters leapt into action, with more than 33,000 people from across the UK adding their voice to our campaign and responding to the consultation. 8,000 RSPB supporters also took to social media to tell their MPs how they felt. The consultation found overwhelmingly in favour of a closure of sandeel fisheries with 95.5% in agreement.

The Scottish Government also ran a consultation proposing to end sandeel fishing across all Scottish waters. Together, with over 11,000 RSPB supporters, we responded in favour of ending industrial sandeel trawling in Scottish waters. The consultation reported almost unanimous support for the move, with 97% in favour across individuals and organisations.

Welcoming the announcement, RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight said:  “Answering the RSPB’s call to end industrial sandeel fishing, today’s announcements are a vital lifeline from the UK and Scottish Governments for our seabirds in our waters when they need it most.

“The UK is home to globally important seabird colonies, but these populations are in decline with their resilience being pushed to the limit, with these much-loved birds at the forefront of the nature and climate emergency.

“To support the recovery of our seabirds, the RSPB has long recommended an end to industrial sandeel fishing in UK waters to secure vital food sources for these amazing birds.

“It’s a call that was backed by tens of thousands of our members and supporters, and demonstrates the huge public support for actions that drive nature’s recovery. Halting wildlife decline and putting nature on the path to recovery must be supported by a programme of government action and there is clear public support for doing so.”

Responding to the ban in Scottish waters, Anne McCall, Director of RSPB Scotland, said: “We are delighted that the Scottish Government have today announced a closure of all Scottish waters to industrial sandeel fishing.

“This coincides with a similar announcement for English waters of the North Sea from the UK Government. We commend the leadership shown by both Scottish and UK Governments to take action to protect our beleaguered and precious seabirds on this issue and thank the tens of thousands of RSPB supporters who added their voice to our calls to enact these closures.

“With over 70% of Scottish seabird populations in decline, ending industrial sandeel fishing is the single greatest action that can be taken to support our most vulnerable seabirds right now.

“It will build their resilience in the face of Avian Flu and the multitude of other human-made pressures they face, such as climate change and offshore developments. Sandeels are a key food source for seabirds and other marine wildlife but have been adversely affected by both climate change and unsustainable fishing, so this is a very positive and welcome measure for the overall health of our seas.”

UK Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said: “I was delighted to visit Bempton Cliffs last week and see firsthand the RSPB’s work to protect our precious seabird colonies.

“I can confirm that the UK government is permanently closing the sandeel fishery in the English waters of the North Sea, to improve the resilience of our seabird colonies and the wider marine environment on which they depend.

“I know RSPB members have long campaigned for this important measure to aid the recovery of Britain’s seabirds, which are a source of great national pride. As Environment Secretary, I am committed to delivering the action required to meet our ambitious goal to halt and reverse the decline of wildlife.”

A 2021 report by the RSPB, Revive our Seas, outlined the case for stronger regulation of sandeel fisheries in UK waters.

The report found that several seabirds had suffered severe declines in recent years, with those species dependant on sandeels faring the worst. These include Kittiwakes, whose UK population has halved since the 1960s, as well as Puffins, with both birds declared as at risk of global extinction.

Making clear the link between seabird decline and reduced sandeel availability, the report also uncovered major flaws in the way the North Sea sandeel fishery is managed. Although warming seas, as a result of climate change, are held primarily responsible for the decline of sandeel availability, the commercial fishing of this species is making the problem much worse.

Every year, industrial fishing fleets catch hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sandeels in the North Sea, crippling the ability of seabirds to find enough to feed their chicks. The closure of industrial sandeel fisheries in the English North Sea and Scottish waters will help build seabird resilience at a critical time for the natural world.

The latest comprehensive assessment of the UK’s biodiversity, the State of Nature 2023 report, found one in six species threatened with extinction from Great Britain. For marine life, the biggest drivers of decline are unsustainable fishing, climate change and marine development.

Much more needs to be done to safeguard seabirds and our marine wildlife, including better protections, and addressing the issue of thousands of seabirds being caught in fishing lines and nets.

The closure of industrial sandeel fisheries is a recognition of the need to act now to save our seabirds, and to tackle unstainable fishing. While there are many more challenges to overcome, this is a crucial step in the long journey to restore our natural world and reverse the decline in wildlife.

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New legal targets proposed for nature recovery

Further action to tackle the biodiversity crisis

Targets for nature recovery could be put into law in line with those for climate change, as part of a range of proposals to protect and restore Scotland’s natural environment.

The Scottish Government is asking for views on its plans and actions to accelerate nature restoration and regeneration. The consultation sets out the key elements of Scotland’s overall Biodiversity Framework, including:

  • Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy – published in draft form in December 2022 – setting out goals of halting biodiversity loss by 2030 and reversing declines by 2045;
  • The first 5-year Delivery Plan to implement this strategy;
  • A set of principles to guide the delivery of key commitments to conserve 30% of land for nature by 2030 and expand ‘nature networks’ across Scotland;
  • Proposals for the upcoming Natural Environment Bill, including the introduction of statutory nature recovery targets which will be binding on government in the same way that climate change targets require Ministers work towards meeting net zero targets; and
  • Changes to National Parks legislation to strengthen the leadership role of National Parks in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises.

Biodiversity Minister Lorna Slater said: “We are at a tipping point for nature – it is in decline across the globe with around 1 million species already facing extinction. In Scotland alone, we have seen a 24% decline in abundance of wildlife since 1990; if we don’t take urgent action, nature in Scotland will continue to decline and important species will be lost forever.

“This week we have published our Programme for Government which recognises that the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss are global challenges of unprecedented proportions. Restoring nature will reduce carbon emissions, and tackling the climate crisis is essential if we are to prevent extinctions.  We must be both Net Zero and Nature Positive.

“A nature-positive Scotland creates great opportunities that will benefit people and communities throughout the country and particularly in rural areas. We want to work with everyone – with local government, local communities, organisations and environmental experts – to protect our precious natural environment for future generations.

“We are especially keen to hear the views of the stewards of our land and seas – farmers, gamekeepers and fishers who have the knowledge and skills to drive the transformation that is needed.”

Anne McCall, Director, RSPB Scotland said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s ambition to drive forward and scale up action for nature – action which evidence tells us is needed now more than ever.

“We are at a crossroads, but this consultation gives me hope as it kickstarts a process that is the biggest opportunity for nature in Scotland that I’ve seen in my 25-years working in conservation.

“This is not just a big moment for nature, it’s important for every person in Scotland. Nature underpins our health, wellbeing, the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat and much of our economy. Restoring nature will deliver many benefits including creating new jobs.

“RSPB Scotland will consider the proposals in detail and will no doubt have suggestions. That is why this consultation is so welcome: delivering the change needed for nature and people will require collaborative action across government, NGOs and the private sector and requires a collective discussion to ensure we get the plans right and then delivered successfully.”

NFU Scotland Director of Policy, Jonnie Hall said: ““As with climate challenges, active farming and crofting are critical to this nation’s biodiversity ambitions. With more than 70 per cent of Scotland’s land under agricultural management, farmers and crofters have a unique role in the stewardship of our habitats and wildlife. 

“Rural Scotland is a working landscape, with food production and economic activity being driven by sustainable land management. For nature to flourish, we need to enable those who manage our land to deliver multiple outcomes. 

“Enhancing our natural environment is clearly in the public interest and will deliver an array of public goods. But that cannot be sustained at private cost.  We have the clear opportunity to ensure our agricultural landscapes deliver the right outcomes for food production, climate, biodiversity and rural communities and a balanced approach to delivering on all four fronts is critical.

“We will encourage farmers and crofters to participate in this consultation as it offers an opportunity to shine a light on all the great work already being undertaken on farms and crofts as well drilling down on the full range of reasons that lie behind any biodiversity loss.” 

NatureScot Chair, Colin Galbraith said: ““Nature is in crisis, and we need to take urgent action now. This consultation is an opportunity for everyone to get involved in tackling the crisis in our natural world.

“We want to hear from the land managers, farmers and crofters already working to support and enrich wildlife, as well as from people in rural and urban communities who seek a fair and just transition to a nature-rich future for all.

“Now is the time to speak up for nature; to tell us what your priorities are for the future – we are listening.”

Tackling the Nature Emergency: Consultation on Scotland’s Strategic Framework for Biodiversity

Scottish planning reform campaigners take their case to the United Nations

Environmental and community campaigners have urged a top UN body to intervene in Scotland’s planning system, after repeated calls for equal rights of appeal have been ignored by the Scottish Government.

Campaigners from Planning Democracy, Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland, have submitted a formal complaint to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC), a UN body tasked with upholding environmental rights.

The complaint argues that planning appeal rights in Scotland are not ‘fair’ and therefore in breach of international law on access to justice for the environment.  They point to a ruling by the Committee in Northern Ireland concluding that a lack of equal rights was in breach of the Convention, and argue that similar recommendations must now be applied to Scotland to spur reform.

The appeal to the UN follows over a decade of civil society campaigning and the passage of two planning bills, both of which failed to address the issue. An amendment proposing to introduce equal rights of appeal under the 2019 Planning (Scotland) Act was voted down by SNP and Conservative MSPs.

Currently, only applicants (usually developers) enjoy appeal rights if planning permission is refused.

Members of the public and NGOs do not enjoy equivalent rights to appeal if a development is approved, even if the development will negatively impact on health and the environment, or if the decision-making process was flawed.

The only option available to affected communities and individuals is to go to court via a judicial review, which the Convention’s governing bodies have already ruled is ‘prohibitively expensive’.

Campaigners are calling for the Scottish Government to introduce legislative reforms to achieve equal rights of appeal.

Clare Symonds, Chair of Planning Democracy, said; “Giving communities rights of appeal is about justice and fairness.  It should be a given that decisions that fundamentally affect our future and the environment can be contested by those who will be most affected.

“It is clear that the Aarhus Compliance Committee’s Northern Ireland ruling agrees with our perspective that for developers to have right to challenge a decision at no cost, when communities have no such privilege, is unfair and a breach of international law on environmental decision-making.

“The situation regarding appeal rights in Scotland is the same and we expect the ACCC to find in our favour and hold the Scottish Government to account.”

Benjamin Brown, Policy & Advocacy Officer at Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, said: “As it stands, Scotland’s planning system is rigged in favour of developers.

“Through ignoring calls to introduce Equal Rights of Appeal in planning decisions, the Scottish Government has missed a vital opportunity to empower communities and protect our environment. It must now act to reform the planning process, so that communities impacted by poorly considered planning decisions can have their voices heard.

“As we work towards including the right to a healthy environment in the new Human Rights Bill, equal rights in planning cannot be forgotten.”

Mary Church, Head of Campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It’s an absolute scandal that communities and NGOs can’t appeal against developments that harm the environment, while developers can wage a war of attrition through appeals and repeat applications if their proposal gets knocked back.

“This lack of equal rights undermines the planning system and leads to decisions that are bad for people and planet. The Scottish Government shouldn’t wait for the UN to rap its knuckles again, but should take action to level the playing field as part of its agenda to enshrine human rights in Scots Law.”

Aedan Smith, Head of Policy and Advocacy at RSPB Scotland, said: “It is essential that individuals and communities have the ability to challenge harmful decisions, especially those that would make the nature and climate emergency worse.

“We would hope that this ability would not need to be used very often, but it is important that decision makers can be held to account in a way that is fair.”

Scottish Government Environmental Justice Plan ‘woefully inadequate’

Environmental NGOs have branded a UK and Scottish Government Action Plan to deliver on environmental rights ‘woefully inadequate’.

The groups have written to a key UN body to express their concern about a lack of concrete commitments to reform the legal system to help people defend the environment.

The Action Plan was requested by the United Nations Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee which has repeatedly found the UK to be in breach of the Convention’s access to justice requirements.

In October 2021 the Meeting of Parties to the Convention made a set of recommendations and requested an Action Plan from the UK Government detailing how it will, ‘as a matter of urgency …ensure that the allocation of costs in all court procedures subject to Article 9 [which deals with access to justice] be made fair, equitable and not prohibitively expensive’.

The Scottish Government is obliged to ensure that Scotland’s legal system is compliant with the Convention and contributed to this Plan.

The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland analysis of the submitted action plan, reveals that the measures outlined by the Scottish Government will fail to ensure access to justice by the deadline of October 2024.

Environmental campaigners are calling for the Scottish Government to make a clear commitment to fully implement the UN’s recommendations by the deadline.

Shivali Fifield, Chief Officer at ERCS, said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s acknowledgement that access to justice on environmental matters is prohibitively expensive.

“Yet this is not matched with concrete legal and policy reforms. We believe that fundamental changes to the legislative framework are required and the government must now stop dragging its feet and fully implement the Committee’s recommendations.”

Mary Church, Head of Campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “This is a woefully inadequate response to a decade of rulings that the Scottish Government is in breach of international law for its failure to ensure access to justice for the environment.

“With no concrete commitments to actually reform the system and make legal action more affordable this is an action plan in name only.

“As we face the unprecedented challenges of the climate and nature emergency, it’s more important than ever that people act to protect the environment including going to court where necessary, and they should not have to face impossible costs in doing so.

“The Government’s pledge to enshrine the right to a healthy and safe environment in Scots law will be meaningless if it is not possible for individuals, communities and NGOs to enforce these rights in court. An overhaul of the courts to remove barriers to public interest litigation, and ensure Aarhus Convention-compliant standards of access to justice for the environment, is long overdue.”

Aedán Smith, Head of Policy & Advocacy at RSPB Scotland, said: “We continue to lose nature in Scotland and around the world and Scotland is already one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries.

“The Scottish Government has taken some welcome steps to improve matters and have committed to reverse biodiversity loss and create a ‘nature-positive’ world by 2030. However, to ensure this commitment becomes more than just warm words it is essential that concerned citizens are not prevented from challenging potential illegality in the courts.

“The Scottish Government must take urgent action to address this failing.”