Seabirds are Scotland's 'Great Barrier Reef'. We must get windfarms right to avoid calamity

Here in Scotland, we have a tendency to think that spectacular and important wildlife is for other parts of the world to enjoy and worry about. Australia has the Great Barrier Reef, Africa has lions, Antarctica has penguins... What do we have?

Well, Scotland is a mecca for the world’s seabirds. From the spectacular and riotous gannet colonies to the colourful and cute puffins nesting in their burrows, we are fortunate enough to share our seas and coasts with enormous colonies of globally important seabirds. If you haven’t yet enjoyed the spectacle of a colony at the height of the breeding season, get yourself on a boat around the Bass Rock now!

Our seabirds are, however, in trouble. Populations are plummeting and the threats are growing. The traditional pressures caused by over-fishing and invasive species like rats that are allowed to decimate colonies are now being added to by climate change, avian flu, and the growth in offshore wind turbines.

Puffins congregate on the Isle of May | Nicol Nicolson, Scottish Seabird Centre

EU-UK row over sandeel fishing ban

The Scottish Government has, however, finally recognised that our seabirds are a globally important natural asset and that urgent action is required to save them. In their newly published Seabird Action Plan, they have committed to doing what needs to be done to save our seabirds through a “co-ordinated national effort to manage our seas and coasts with seabirds in mind”.

Sceptics eager to dismiss this as yet more words can take some reassurance that, at the same time as publishing the long-awaited plan, the Scottish Government has taken a vital step forward for seabirds.

They have announced an end to the ecologically devastating practice of industrial fishing for sandeels in Scottish waters, protecting a vital food source for seabirds. The UK Government has done the same, but incredibly the EU are now challenging these bans. It’s imperative that the UK and Scottish governments stand together for nature and don’t give in to the short-term and anti-environment position that our European neighbours have sadly adopted on this issue.

Economic growth trumps nature?

This is the kind of determined action that nature needs – and it will yield dividends for all. Healthy and resilient seas are good news for fishers and local communities as well as seabirds. While the ban is an encouraging start, the hard tests of the Scottish Government’s commitment to protecting and restoring seabirds are yet to come, but they are rapidly approaching.

The first is the future of offshore wind, and particularly the proposed Berwick Bank windfarm that is currently being considered by ministers. Offshore wind development is both essential and urgent if Scotland is to meet its climate targets and maintain its place at the forefront of this growing global industry. Yet the potential impact of Berwick Bank alone is so great that it could lead to further declines, and the combined effect of all the offshore windfarms currently planned could be calamitous.

Some argue that the pursuit of growth should trump the needs of nature. That the conservation rules that protect seabirds are just red tape to be cut – like the protections for newts and bats that so many politicians and developers love to hate. But reducing the offshore wind dilemma to this false choice is disingenuous and will lead only to further conflict, delay and loss.

What is actually needed is leadership from governments and industry so that a way forward can be charted that allows offshore wind to grow in harmony with nature.

That means steering developments towards sites where they will have the lowest impact, and ensuring this emerging industry invests in the marine environment. Not just to compensating for any impact their turbines might have, but putting their funds and support behind efforts to restore our degraded seas and seabird colonies so that this emerging industry is “nature positive” from the get-go.

Fishing restrictions

Just as important will be navigating the complex politics of marine protection. The decline in fish stocks in Scottish waters over recent decades has hit seabird populations just as it has hit coastal communities and fishing businesses.

Put simply, seabirds will only thrive if there are enough fish in the sea for them to eat. That means that the Scottish Government’s vision of thriving seabird colonies will only be realised if their foraging areas are properly protected, and fishing restrictions are enforced.

It’s welcome that the new seabird action plan recognises this. In particular, it identifies restricting dredging in areas that are meant to be protected for nature as a priority. Dredging can be devastating for fragile habitats and species on the seabed, with knock-on impacts for the fish and seabirds that depend on them. Proper management measures in those protected areas that are impacted by dredging are long overdue, and must now be taken forward by the Scottish Government with urgency.

Living up to our responsibilities

As a nation, the demands we are placing on our seas our growing. Offshore wind is just the latest industry to emerge, adding to existing demands from fisheries and aquaculture, for example, and the need to restore fish stocks and our marine environment.

Sometimes these interests conflict; sometimes they’re complementary. Now more than ever we need them managed at a strategic level. The Scottish Government’s vehicle for this is known as the National Marine Plan, which they are currently revising.

Yet unless the proposals are strengthened, they risk hindering rather than helping the delivery of our ambitious climate and nature goals – including those that the Seabird Action Plan is seeking to establish.

All of this is challenging. But we expect other countries to be good custodians of their rare and internationally important wildlife – whether it’s protecting rainforests from development or lions from unsustainable hunting. It’s time we lived up to those standards ourselves and protect – and celebrate – our globally important seabird populations and our incredible seas and coasts.

Harry Huyton is chief executive of the Scottish Seabird Centre