The final item today is a members’ business debate on S4M-14521, in the name of Michael Russell, on the Celtic rainforest. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes the work being done by Plantlife Scotland and others to celebrate and encourage the conservation of the Celtic rainforest; commends the involvement of a range of organisations in the project, including the National Trust for Scotland, Forestry Commission Scotland, John Muir Trust, Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre Trust Ltd and the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Scottish Natural Heritage; considers that the Celtic rainforest is a key feature of the West Coast Important Plant Area and is of significance because of the sheer diversity of species to be found there, including one of the largest lichens, the tree lungwort, which is an indicator of ancient woodland; recognises what it sees as the threats from habitat fragmentation and the impact of invasive Rhododendron, and notes calls to encourage schools, communities and visitors to support these activities.
17:02
I am grateful to the Parliament for the cross-party support for my motion and for the chance to talk about and celebrate an important issue for Scotland.
The word “rain” and its reality are depressingly familiar to people in Scotland, particularly after what has been officially the wettest December on record, but most people will be more familiar with the term “rainforest” in connection with places somewhat more exotic and warmer than Scotland. It is only recently—as the excellent new book, “The Rainforests of Britain and Ireland: A Traveller’s Guide” by the Edinburgh-based environmentalist Clifton Bain explains—that our own temperate rainforests, which are often rare and threatened habitats, have achieved formal conservation status.
Our rainforests support some of the oldest land plants on earth, which appeared long before the dinosaurs. The Celtic rainforests that line our Atlantic coast are also some of the most species-rich areas of plant and fungi in not only the United Kingdom but the world. For example, in my constituency, the forest at Knapdale is a rare and fertile treasure house, containing no less than 25 per cent of all recorded mosses and liverworts in Britain.
All along our north-western coast there are abundant, ancient, species-rich havens, which are home to oak, ash and hazel woodlands, all packed with a plethora of colourful lichen, moss, ferns and fungi.
The species that dot the forest floor and enjoy an epiphytic bond with the overhanging trees contain a joyous mix of names and uses, from yellow specklebelly to the stinky Sticta and from the deceptive featherwort to the slender mouse-tail moss. I will declare a favourite thanks to the excellent and imaginative charity Plantlife. I am the species champion of the tree lungwort, a large and verdantly green lichen that can be found in several of Scotland’s rainforests.
John Gerard first documented the medicinal use of tree lungwort in 1597, although his prescription of the lichen to treat lung disease, which was based solely on its having a similar physical shape to a lung, might not be up to current diagnostic standards. More contemporary uses of the lichen include using extracts to treat the gastrointestinal system of rats.
I have to admit that I am no lichenologist, and I am no lichenometrist either. I am sure that you know, Presiding Officer, that a lichenometrist is one who calculates the age of rock by measuring the diameter of the lichen that covers it. Actually, I do not think anybody in the chamber knew that until this afternoon. However, I admit to being growingly aware of the rich variety of the lichens that we have as our heritage in Scotland, particularly in the Celtic rainforests, and growingly concerned at the very real threats to them. That is the primary reason why I sought this debate—to draw attention to those threats, to inspire action from parliamentarians and Government, and to celebrate the work that is already being done to protect and conserve the lichens.
There are two principal threats to our Celtic rainforests: habitat fragmentation and the intrusion of non-native invasive species, particularly Rhododendron ponticum. Rhododendrons were introduced to the UK from the Iberian peninsula in the late 18th century and supplemented by Himalayan imports thereafter. They have spread far and wide, and they threaten Celtic rainforests by their sheer vigour in an ideal habitat. They crowd out and overshade everything else.
In recent years, Scotland rural development programme funding has been vital in beating back the challenge, and it is essential that that funding line continues. Great work has been done by bodies such as Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission Scotland to assess and combat the spread of rhododendrons in key areas. Much of the work on the ground is being done by third sector bodies, community projects and volunteers. It is crucial that we not only value their work but give them the support that they need and deserve. The need for more trained and supported volunteers is flagged as a key outcome in the Government’s 2020 challenge to develop understanding and awareness of nature.
The means of combating habitat fragmentation is less straightforward. Plantlife Scotland is doing a commendable job in working to identify zones of opportunity where there is the proper environment for species growth but in which there are not yet present all the species that would be able to flourish in that environment. It is working with land managers and teams of volunteers to identify the zones and make plans for how to manage them to ensure species growth. The bigger the area and especially the more contiguous areas there are in which Celtic rainforest species are able to grow, the more we can ensure the long-term survival of that unique and vital habitat and all that it contains.
The Celtic rainforest is the largest of Scotland’s 43 important plant areas—IPAs—the criteria for which were established in the global strategy for plant conservation. Plantlife Scotland has committed to provide effective management for 75 per cent of Scotland’s IPAs by 2020, and it is incumbent on all of us as environmentally concerned citizens to do everything in our power to help to achieve that task.
As everyone in the chamber is aware, awakening interest and then converting that interest into action is always a challenging task. Education is crucial, and we need to engage the widest possible audience. One way to do that is to ensure that we commend and celebrate those who are already hard at work.
In that regard, it is good to see the John Muir Trust, Plantlife Scotland, the Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre Trust in my constituency, the National Trust for Scotland and the Forestry Commission Scotland working together to create an award scheme that aims to recognise those who are building a deeper connection between people and groups of all ages and the outstanding natural environment in which we live and take our recreation.
Those organisations and many others work tirelessly to engage with communities, schools, families and landowners to build connections while undertaking the essential effective management of our wildness, wilderness and wetness, which are all parts of the archetypal Celtic rainforest. I am sure that the minister will want to join me in thanking them, and I look forward to hearing what more she and the Scottish Government are doing to take the care and conservation of our Celtic rainforests forward.
17:09
The Celtic rainforests in Scotland are fantastically beautiful by repute and they are globally significant. We should consider ourselves lucky to play host to such an extraordinary variety of very rare species.
I welcome the conservation efforts of the organisations that my colleague Mike Russell has already highlighted, and I stress the support that the Scottish Government needs and how important the awards are for Plantlife Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland, the Forestry Commission Scotland, the John Muir Trust and the Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre Trust, which I am sure my colleague Mike Russell knows about. The Heritage Lottery Fund and the backing of Scottish Natural Heritage are also important in that context. I thank my colleague Mike Russell for his motion to highlight this important issue.
A number of my constituents in South Scotland have recently raised with me their concerns about deforestation and the loss of much of our native woodland as a result of human impact and the changing climate, which is indeed a tragedy. We parliamentarians must address that.
The Celtic rainforests ignite the imagination. For those who have not visited—me being one—the names alone paint a picture of an otherworldly habitat. I understand that we could explore Puck’s glen or go on a hunt for blackberries and custard or octopus suckers. I am certainly looking forward to a visit, perhaps during the summer recess, if I am still here of course.
The balance of heavy rain and mild temperatures creates a vivid and humid environment that can nurture the lichens, mosses, liverworts, fungi and ferns that, in turn, help to maintain the humidity. Rarer than tropical rainforests, these ecosystems make an invaluable contribution to our biodiversity, supporting migratory birds and ancient flora and fauna. RSPB Scotland informs me that, although Scotland accounts for only 0.05 per cent of the world’s land area, it is home to 5 per cent of moss species. The RSPB calls Scotland a global moss hotspot.
The aforementioned environmental organisations have laid out positive steps for protecting such habitats. As Mike Russell has highlighted, although it is attractive, Rhododendron ponticum spreads at a forceful rate. Having tried to pull out quite a lot of it as a volunteer, I know that it is quite a challenge and the volunteers who do such work ought to be commended. We need long-term plans to tackle it and other invasive species, and I welcome the control initiatives that the RSPB and Plantlife Scotland are working on. I am also pleased to see discussions about more effective deer management mechanisms, and I hope that the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will assist with overgrazing.
Further difficulties can result from fragmentation. Small islands of habitat are far more vulnerable to weather disturbances and disease, and networks need to be built up. We have a responsibility to acknowledge that our activities mean that such habitats might not be able to sustain themselves as they once could.
In my region of South Scotland is the Mabie forest, where the species that I champion—the Forester moth—resides in dappled sunlight and moist open areas. That is a good example of habitat that is like the Celtic rainforest in that it needs careful management.
I am pleased to lend my support to raising awareness of these issues, and I echo the calls for schools, communities, businesses and local authorities to engage supportively in conservation work for the Celtic rainforests and across Scotland.
I am also inspired by the Girvan nectar network, which is an exemplary initiative on the Ayrshire coast that is tackling the issue of fragmentation for pollinators. The co-operation between local people, businesses and the local authority has made the initiative into something that could be rolled out across Scotland.
As shadow minister for environmental justice, I am delighted to see foresters, land managers and conservationists working together to preserve our Scottish rainforests. The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh has developed an innovative programme to calculate how best to manage a habitat within the big picture of climate change. I suppose that some of us will not be here then but, looking to 2080, the tool can be used by forest managers to consider different development ideas. With a co-operative and science-based approach, I hope that these environments will thrive long beyond that and will not be reduced to a myth.
17:14
I congratulate Mike Russell on securing this member’s debate, and I thank Plantlife Scotland for its useful briefing.
As it suggests, the Celtic rainforest, which is the temperate woodland that is found along Scotland’s Atlantic coast and is based on sessile oak, downy birch and hazel, is often overlooked. Indeed, I suspect that a number of members were quite surprised to hear that Scotland has its own rainforests—albeit that they are certainly not tropical. They are an important and globally rare natural resource and are valuable for the diversity of species that they support, including the rare mosses, liverworts and lichens to which Mike Russell referred. I am told that a typical forest ravine in Argyll can contain as many as 200 species of moss and liverwort. Mike Russell also mentioned the woodland in Knapdale that contains 25 per cent of Britain’s entire mosses and liverworts, including a species—which I do not think he mentioned—known as the prickly featherwort, and rare filmy ferns, which are so called because of their translucent-looking fronds.
It is no wonder that the Celtic rainforest has been described as “a lichenologist’s Mecca”. I hope that we can encourage more lichenologists and lovers of rare plant species to visit our Celtic rainforest, because such extra wildlife tourism could be a welcome boost to local economies in the countryside.
I remember once visiting a rainforest in New Zealand and eating part of a cabbage tree. I do not know what bush tucker can be found in Scotland’s rainforests, but I am told by my eldest daughter Sibylla that wild garlic makes very good pesto.
I agree with what the motion says about the impact of the invasive Rhododendron ponticum. Indeed, I have spoken about the effect of such invasive non-native species on a number of occasions in the chamber. My late father, Charles McGrigor, was an expert collector of hybrid rhododendrons, which I readily accept produce wonderful colourful blooms in botanic and private gardens. Rhododendron and azalea gardens in Argyll in May are something to behold in their magnificence, but unchecked in the wild, Rhododendron ponticum can spread readily and snuff out other plant species in its wake, as can Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam. We need to see sustained action to prevent their spread from harming our biodiversity. I commend SNH for its continued good work in that regard and I hope that the Scottish rural development programme grants will continue to help volunteers and others to take care of our biodiversity, because the spread of Rhododendron ponticum is a great threat to our Atlantic woodlands.
I join Mike Russell and others in welcoming organisations’ efforts to educate young people about the forests in their communities. I encourage constituents to consider supporting schemes such as the flora guardian scheme, whereby individuals can volunteer to help to monitor and to conserve some of the special plants in our woodlands. One note of caution to volunteers is that if they are visiting a Celtic rainforest in summer, they should be sure to take a midge net.
The woodlands are also useful because they give shelter to roe deer, red deer, sheep and many native and migratory birds, including the woodcock, which comes in the winter.
I welcome today’s debate and hope that it will help to raise awareness and understanding of the important Celtic forest habitat that we are fortunate enough to have in Argyll and the west Highlands generally, and whose long-term future we should all aim to secure. It has been there through changing centuries; I hope that it will be there for many more to come.
17:18
Mike Russell is due considerable congratulations on bringing this important debate to the chamber. At the beginning of a year in which climate change is in many people’s minds, we are discussing issues that affect the Celtic rainforest, which stretches from the far north of my constituency at Loch Eriboll down to Mike Russell’s constituency in Argyll, and which is one of the treasures of our country for various reasons. It is a barometer and a thermometer—a measure of how our natural habitats on the edge of the Atlantic are coping with the weather that we face.
The situation in the Celtic rainforest at Ardvar in Assynt was one of the reasons why the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee got involved in looking at one of the problems that are faced by the Celtic woodlands that we are discussing today.
Ardvar and Loch a’Mhuilinn, at about 58.25° north and consisting of 805.99 hectares, is a complex of old sessile oak woods and birch-dominated woods with oak throughout. For many such areas, the way in which they are managed allows us to see whether they are regenerating. There is broad-leaved deciduous woodland in 32 per cent of Ardvar and there is heath, scrub and so on in 33 per cent. I have seen with my own eyes the effects of overgrazing—there should be a lot more deciduous woodland and a lot less scrub.
SNH is a partner in the Celtic rainforest approach. It does so as the lead body to advise the Government, but there are many other partners. I wonder whether the policies on deer culling of one of those partners, the John Muir Trust, will aid the recovery of the Celtic rainforest, because I have been very worried to read that its culling policy has left deer to rot on the hill. I would like to know whether SNH feels that that is a good way for the John Muir Trust to behave. There is also an issue about whether the local estates next to the John Muir Trust’s land in Assynt, near Ardvar, can manage their deer. It has been suggested that there is deep culling, the detail of which the public does not know.
In discussing whether the Celtic rainforest can regenerate we might question whether all the partners are doing their best to help it to do so. The Ardvar example led the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee to investigate deer management throughout Scotland, and to ministerial intervention to protect native woodlands such as the Celtic rainforest. The debate allows us to see the issue in considerable context. That is important, because RSPB Scotland has suggested that the Celtic rainforest is under real and present threat, part of which is about wrong levels of grazing. The production of strategic local deer management plans, which are widely seen as a positive step in protecting native habitats from overgrazing, is essential for the Celtic rainforest’s future.
I have sat at the exposed point of Sleat in the Isle of Skye, where 6-inch high oaks nestle in the heather, stunted by the prevailing gales and overgrazing pressure. There are many more potential Celtic rainforests out there, if we get right the balance between tree growth and deer management. That is why, as Mike Russell proposes, we must celebrate and encourage the conservation of the Celtic rainforest.
17:23
I, too, thank my colleague Michael Russell for bringing his motion on the Celtic rainforest to the chamber. I share his enthusiasm for that important part of Scotland’s natural environment. I am especially grateful to the members who have taken part in this evening’s debate for their support.
As we have heard, the Celtic rainforest thrives on rainy and misty conditions, high humidity and minimal fluctuations in temperature. That creates an important habitat that consists of numerous common and rare species of mosses, liverworts and lichens. An exceptional number of plants grow on or hang from trees and the ground is often ankle deep in a blanket of mosses and liverworts. As a Scottish Environment LINK MSP species champion, Mr Russell already lends his support to the tree lungwort—a green leafy lichen that grows in Scotland’s woodland along the west coast.
It is not an exaggeration to highlight the international importance of the Celtic rainforest. As other members have indicated, as well as being a habitat for mosses, liverworts and a rich array of lichens, the Celtic rainforest provides a home to many rare and important fauna, such as the pied flycatcher and the chequered skipper butterfly.
The Celtic rainforests might not be as well known as, for example, the tropical rainforests of Amazonia, so I am delighted that this debate has given us the opportunity to recognise their value and explore opportunities for their enhancement. Although the Celtic rainforest stretches along much of our Atlantic coast, Argyll is its heartland in Scotland, with many iconic sites, such as Glen Creran, Glen Nant and the western shore of Loch Awe.
We should not forget the cultural and tourism importance of the forest, which other members have spoken about. It should be no surprise that the forest attracts visitors from far afield, who come to enjoy the ancient green scenery and the incredible wildlife. A recent publication by Clifton Bain, “The Rainforests of Britain and Ireland: A Traveller’s Guide”, highlights the uniqueness of these habitats and encourages people to explore such woodlands and understand their value to the environment and to society.
As Mike Russell and others have pointed out, there are—unfortunately—threats to the iconic forests from, in particular, invasive and non-native plants, browsing pressure and climate change. However, there is good news—I cannot tell members how much I need good news right now. Actions are being taken to protect and improve the habitat’s condition. That can be fully effective only with co-ordinated effort and long-term commitment from a wide range of organisations. For example, Forestry Commission Scotland is finalising its long-term strategy for rhododendron control, which encourages landscape-scale partnership work, specifically in designated sites. That will be published some time in the spring. Further, the RSPB and Plantlife Scotland are working hard to develop a project to restore Atlantic woodland, which includes the removal of rhododendron. That will focus on four special areas of conservation: Onich to north Ballachulish woods, Morvern woods, Sunart and Loch Lomond woods.
On the national forest estate, the expansion of the Celtic rainforest is being achieved by the efforts of Forest Enterprise Scotland through the removal of non-native trees from plantations on ancient woodland sites. I understand that there are plans for up to 40 sites to be cleared over the next two years, including a large area of spruce in Knapdale forest.
Forestry Commission Scotland’s native woodland survey of Scotland recorded that a high level of grazing by deer and sheep contributes to the poor condition of many woodland habitats, including the Celtic rainforests. I take the points that Rob Gibson made in that regard. However, as he is aware, we are dealing with deer management in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill. Under the Scottish Government’s biodiversity route map to 2020, one area on which we aim to focus effort is the reduction of browsing pressure.
Overgrazing by sheep and deer has been mentioned. Will there be a formula that can be used to work out what a sensible grazing level is?
That will be part and parcel of some issues that we are considering in relation to the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill. As I said, one area on which our route map to 2020 will focus attention is the reduction of such browsing pressure, because we know how special our Celtic rainforests are and believe that they need to be protected.
The secrets of the Celtic rainforest project, which has been mentioned, is managed by Plantlife Scotland, which is working with land managers and communities across Scotland’s west coast to deliver an improved condition of woodland. That work is to be commended. I also thank Plantlife Scotland for the helpful briefing that it provided for today’s debate.
There are many designated sites in the Celtic rainforest. Grant support for them is available under the current Scottish rural development programme, which demonstrates our commitment to protecting and improving important habitats.
In the longer term, climate change-induced pressure may pose other threats. Research indicates that the potential for future loss of biodiversity and species in our Atlantic woodlands is high. The smaller and more isolated the woodland, the more vulnerable it is to such losses. That is why we are helping the forests to adapt to future changes through actions that encourage regeneration and expansion and so build greater resilience and adaptability. All that work is part of the Scottish Government’s prioritised plan, in our route map to 2020, for meeting the international Aichi targets.
I thank Michael Russell again for bringing this important motion on the Celtic rainforests to the chamber. I very much welcome the considerable attention that it has given to those important habitats. I support the motion, recognise the importance of that woodland and the threats that it faces and commend the efforts of all the people who are involved in its conservation, including all the volunteers. I am particularly pleased to learn that groups such as Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre are helping to engage and educate local schoolchildren and communities, because such education is crucial. Indeed, embedding an understanding and awareness of such important places in communities and young people is close to my heart.
The Celtic rainforests are truly special places that deserve special care, conservation and management. They provide a living link to our natural and cultural heritage. Therefore, we must all do our utmost to ensure that they are properly protected so that we can secure their long-term future, as my colleague Jamie McGrigor said. I encourage more people to visit our Celtic rainforests, which are magnificent and unique.
Meeting closed at 17:31.Previous
Decision Time