New report shows nature in Scotland is more depleted than in 88% of 240 countries and territories across the world.
Scotland ranks 28th from the bottom in the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), a global analysis on how much human activity has impacted nature.
Of the 27 EU member states, 23 of them – 85% – rank more highly than Scotland in biodiversity intactness.
Scotland has a BII of just 56% compared to 65% for France, 75% for Norway and 89% for Finland which is among the best countries worldwide.
RSPB Scotland is calling on all 129 newly elected MSPs to be ambitious and restore nature for Scotland’s wildlife, climate and people
A new RSPB evaluation, using analysis by scientific staff at the Natural History Museum, has shown that Scotland is listed in the worst twelve percent of 240 countries and territories around the world for the amount of wildlife and wild places lost due to human activity.
The Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), which is used by the key United Nations nature initiatives to assess nature around the world, is the latest analysis in a growing body of evidence highlighting the perilous state of nature in Scotland and the urgent need for action in order to halt and reverse declines in wildlife and to protect nature and restore ecosystems.
Scotland has a BII of just 56% compared with 65% for France, 75% for Norway and 89% for Finland, which is among the best countries or territories worldwide for retaining its natural biodiversity. Of the 27 EU member states, 23 of them – 85% - rank more highly than Scotland.
In 2019, a coalition of nature conservation and scientific organisations, including the Scottish Government’s nature advisors NatureScot, published the State of Nature in Scotland report. It revealed the ongoing loss of nature, finding that 49% of species had declined and 1 in 9 species is at risk of extinction in Scotland. When viewed alongside the BII, it is clear that nature in Scotland is in a perilous state.
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Posted On: 17/05/2021