Public urged to take extra care to safeguard wildlife and the environment, especially during breeding season - Forestry & Land Scotland
People in Scotland who take part in activities such as mountain biking, water sports, angling and wild camping in Scotland’s forests are being urged to think about how their hobby could negatively impact wildlife and the environment.
The call comes from Forestry & Land Scotland (FLS) who today launch a campaign, “Protect Scotland’s Wildlife”, and publish the results of research, to coincide with the start of the main bird breeding and nesting season.
FLS’s campaign aims to raise awareness of the unintended consequences- even harm - that can be caused to wildlife and the environment by people participating in activities in Scotland’s forests and wild places, without taking sufficient care.
The FLS research asked people in Scotland what hobbies and activities they take part in, how often they visit and how aware they are of the potential for their activity to disturb wildlife.
People surveyed were asked if they participate in activities ranging from dog walking, hill walking and water sports (kayak, canoe, paddle boarding, wild swimming) to mountain biking, wild camping, wildlife photography and angling.
The survey found that:
- Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) Scots surveyed, visit one of Scotland’s national forests or a destination managed by FLS to take part in one of these activities.
- Nearly 6 in 10 (59%) of those surveyed*, admitted they’re not aware of the breeding and nesting seasons of birds and other wildlife in the areas they visit.
- And only almost7 in 10 (69%)* “leave FLS forests and destinations as they found them” despite widespread awareness of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
- Around 4 in 10 (38%)* said they don’t stick to designated paths and tracks; just over 2 in 5 (41%)* hadn’t considered the impact of lighting fires and nearly half (46%)* don’t think about how much noise they’re making so that they don’t disturb wildlife nor how close they get to wildlife when taking photos (49%)*.
- Almost 4 in 10 people (36%) have witnessed or taken part in behaviour that looking back on it, might have been harmful to wildlife.