Scottish Election 2021: Our natural environment needs greater protection – Murdo Fraser

The protection of the environment, and tackling climate change, are issues which haven’t had the prominence thus far in this election campaign that they deserve.

In an effort to rectify this, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross set out on Monday a package of measures to help protect our natural environment on land, rivers and sea.

We are proposing a new Nature Bill with a raft of different policies to assist the environment, including the redevelopment of derelict sites in towns and cities as new parks for community benefit, the ending of peat extraction for use in compost, increasing peatland restoration to 20,000 hectares annually by 2024, greater protection for the marine environment, and new nature networks to protect vulnerable species, such as “green bridges” over major roads.

Crucially, there is also an ambitious target to increase tree planting to 18,000 hectares annually by 2024, which would include an increase in the proportion of new planting that is of native species, in order to promote biodiversity and make suitable habitats for wildlife.

These measures are more important than ever before. One in nine species in Scotland today face extinction, Scottish breeding seabird populations are in stark decline, and across a range of biodiversity indicators our national performance has gone into reverse.

This approach isn’t just about protecting nature and tackling climate change – there is also an economic imperative here too.

Scotland has a strong international reputation for our landscape and wildlife. With restrictions on international travel likely to be with us for some time to come, more people will want to vacation within Scotland, particularly from within the UK.

The Scottish Conservatives want to increase tree planting to 18,000 hectares a year by 2024 (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

It is essential, therefore, that we have a natural environment that is attractive to visitors, and an eco-tourism offer that builds on the great quality that we already have in place.

Scotland can be a showcase to the world in terms of our protection of nature, complementary to world-leading targets to reduce carbon emissions.

The whole country can benefit if we protect our natural environment better, and it is good to see these ambitious plans being part of the Scottish Conservative campaign.

Murdo Fraser is the Scottish Conservative candidate for Perthshire North

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