The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-12210, in the name of Christian Allard, on north-east mosses. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises the importance of raised bogs known as mosses to the local eco-systems with unique animal and plant life; notes that the north east has the Arnhall Moss in Westhill and the Portlethen Moss, both of which, it considers, provide an important natural environment for use by local communities; recognises what it sees as the great work of groups such as the Portlethen Moss Conservation Group and the Arnhall Moss Management Advisory Group, who ensure conservation and maintenance of the mosses; understands that local schools have taken part in safaris and tree planting on the mosses facilitated by local rangers who foster understanding and care of the natural heritage in these areas, and welcomes widespread use of the mosses.
16:50
First, I thank all the members who signed the motion and the members who will participate in the debate.
When I came to Parliament, it was said that I was rooted in the north-east. Something that I am definitely rooted in is the moss of Westhill—if it is possible to be rooted in a moss, which is not going to be that easy.
I thought about talking about and comparing the two mosses—the Arnhall moss in Westhill, where I live, which is in the constituency of my friend Dennis Robertson, who is the MSP for Aberdeenshire West; and the Portlethen moss, which is in the constituency of my friend, and now minister, Maureen Watt, who is the MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. The two mosses have a lot of things in common—among them the volunteers who work very hard to look after them and to show them off to the rest of the residents. I was a volunteer at one time on the Arnhall moss management advisory group. What attracted me most to doing that were two words—“beastie safari”, which was a great way to advertise a free family event at our local nature reserve in Westhill. It was great to see all the children going to the beastie safari and thinking that they were going to discover something extraordinary.
In fact, the moss is something extraordinary, because it is home to many different wildlife species, including roe deer, foxes, red squirrels, many small birds and insects. Of course, in a moss we also find a habitat for frogs. Although the site is mainly woodland, it also has an area of open ground. Members can see some photos of the Westhill moss on the Facebook page that I opened a long time ago, and I encourage anybody who is visiting the moss to take photos and put them on that Facebook page in order to share them with everybody.
How active are the groups? The one in Westhill is quite active. Some years ago it gained a new footpath that provides a proper link between Arnhall moss and the nearby Denman park through to the Westhill industrial estate, where a lot of people work and where we have our local retailer. A lot of people from the Westhill estate go through the moss at lunchtime, and a lot of pupils from the local Westhill academy go through the moss to get to the local retailer, so a lot of people enjoy it every day.
Hundreds of trees have been planted—trees are not very good for mosses, so they are around it on the route of the new path to provide screening between the path and the road. Pupils from Westhill academy helped to plant some of the trees and have installed bird boxes that they assembled with mentoring from Westhill Men’s Shed, which is very celebrated in this Parliament and which involves men in retirement who are very much part of the community, and are the heart of the committee. That was part of the work that the pupils were doing for the John Muir award. We also have some manpower from outside, provided by community payback teams. That is a great benefit both for them and for the community, and it is a good way for them to interact with the local community.
Arnhall moss management advisory group member and local resident Sally Leiper said:
“Arnhall moss local nature reserve is a real wildlife haven in the centre of Westhill. It is a very special place and we hope that local people will enjoy the natural environment and the wildlife to be seen at the site.”
Graeme Allan was the chair for many years before he stood down. I thank him for his work. Arnhall moss would not be the great place that it is for everybody to enjoy if it was not for the daily attention of another volunteer, David Coutts, who really has been the guardian of our nature reserve in Westhill.
I had the pleasure of meeting Helen Young, the Kincardine and Mearns ranger, a few weeks ago, regarding the Portlethen Moss Conservation Group, which is headed by its founder Denise Martin. Denise is on holiday and could not make the debate, but she made sure to let me know about the land ownership issue, which I will come back to later.
On the Facebook page for Portlethen Moss Conservation Group we can see that pupils from the local primary school are involved. The rangers held an “evening dip” pond survey in April and conservation volunteers are planting trees—not at the moss itself but at its entrance, in order to protect the moss. The group was awarded a “highly commended” in the community initiative category in the final of the 2014 RSPB Scotland nature of Scotland awards. Volunteers had prepared slides for presentation today, but unfortunately very few MSPs are here because of this important week in politics, so we thought that it would be better to delay it for another time.
I thank Emma Williams, who is the environment planner at Aberdeenshire Council and who provides management plans for both mosses. One of them has been given to the Scottish Parliament information centre, so members can see it there.
Raised bogs are found in lowland areas of Scotland. The decomposition of plant materials forms large domes on the land, which gradually grow as they accumulate rain water, causing them to be raised above the surrounding land. It is increasingly rare to find the bogs in good condition due to the range of ways in which land is used, including farming, which is predominant in the north-east. Housing developments can also have an impact. That is particularly true for Portlethen and Westhill.
Scotland’s rich ecology depends on a delicate environmental balance. The terrain of our land contributes to much of that environmental composition. For example, 20 per cent of Scotland’s land mass is peatland, with 5,000 hectares in the north-east alone. Peatland can store up to 25 times as much carbon as the rest of Scotland’s vegetation. It plays a vital role in the carbon cycle and effectively regulates greenhouse gases. Much of our drinking water also comes from peatland. It provides areas of recreation, from red-deer stalking to angling and walking, and many more activities. Water from peatland is also a popular ingredient in many malt whiskies.
However, up to 80 per cent of Scotland’s peatlands are damaged. Some members may reflect on the damage in their areas. Damaged bogs often no longer regulate greenhouse gas contamination of the atmosphere and can contaminate water springs. The Scottish Government has done well and, in 2013, allocated £15 million to assist restoration of Scotland’s damaged peatlands. That was followed up with a recent additional £6.7 million of Scottish Government funds to Scottish Natural Heritage to kick-start restoration of peatlands across Scotland.
I return to land ownership. I will seek the full support of the Scottish Government to promote community ownership for some mosses and nature reserves. Communities such as Westhill and Portlethen are already involved in their local mosses, but there is an issue in Portlethen. I wrote to the people who own most of the moss to see whether it will be possible to have a community buy out, or to lease part of the land.
I look forward to other members’ contributions. Like David Coutts, I like to think that we all want to be guardians of our heritage and the heritage of peatland areas throughout Scotland.
16:59
It is a pleasure to speak in the debate and I congratulate Christian Allard on securing it. We are a Parliament that takes our peat bogs and mosses seriously—in the words of Robert Burns,
“The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles”.
People have passed over our peat bogs and mosses and, historically, have perhaps avoided some of them because they can be rather treacherous. However, we now have a wider view of the way in which mosses add to our landscape and heritage and to the natural balance of nature in each area. Arnhall moss and Portlethen moss are two examples of small mosses that are looked after by local people. Christian Allard’s final points are very important. If we can empower local people to look after small sites, we will gain conservation by local consent rather than having designations imposed on people from above without their say-so. When people take ownership of such things, the land benefits. It is clear from Aberdeenshire Council’s reports that small areas like those can have the kinds of plans that people buy into, but it would be even better if they had direct control at the most local level possible. I fully support Christian Allard’s views on that.
From my point of view in the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, it is important to acknowledge that large amounts of work are being carried out to understand what the peat bogs do for us. A report that the Scottish Wildlife Trust published at the end of 2012 identified 27,880 hectares of raised bogs—lowland raised bogs—of which some 2,000 hectares are in a reasonable condition. However, that is measured at national level. We cannot measure in each area exactly how much a particular heath land or bog adds to our store of carbon and how much it helps us to reduce the loss of carbon, but it might be possible through citizen science and the people who are involved to do simple measurements that can give us some baseline data for areas such as Arnhall.
Tomorrow morning, the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee will deal with the subject of adding nitrogen trifluoride to our list of greenhouse gases. We are understanding more about the way in which those gases are being released in all sorts of ways. The greenhouse gas emissions data from 2012 already show that methane, which is released from peat in great amounts, is far more potent than we knew before. Therefore, eventually understanding precisely what is being emitted from areas such as the small raised bogs and heath land of Arnhall is important, because it has to be measured at a greater level outside those areas.
I am delighted to support Christian Allard. There is a wider interest in small mosses. I hope that we can encapsulate even more information and that people can have pleasure not just from taking ownership of such areas, but from using them for the recreation that Christian Allard talked about so much. That is the first step to understanding and rebalancing nature.
17:03
Christian Allard’s motion invites us to recognise
“the importance of raised bogs known as mosses to the local eco-systems with unique animal and plant life”.
It is quite proper that we do that, particularly in relation to Arnhall moss, which the motion also refers to and which is owned and operated by Aberdeenshire Council.
The council describes Arnhall moss very well in the management plan for the moss and captures what makes it important. The plan says:
“Arnhall Moss ... stands as an isolated ‘green’ island in a sea of urban development.”
That tells us two things. First, it tells us that such provisions as there are to protect Arnhall moss and similar ones are important for the diversity of our ecosystems in Scotland.
I have quoted before the first law of epigenetics, which is that the more highly optimised an organism is for one environment, the more adversely it is affected by a change in that environment. In other words, diversity has an intrinsic value that enables the environment to respond to change in a way that it would not were there monocultures and limited diversity. The bog at Arnhall, as elsewhere, fulfils that purpose. More fundamentally, it also fulfils the purpose of supporting people in the local community of Westhill, as Portlethen moss supports the community of Portlethen. Being next to nature benefits human beings. It improves mental health, provides opportunities for physical exercise and gives us access to a wide range of wildlife.
I live 400m from Reidside moss, which is substantially bigger than either of the mosses described in the motion. Arnhall moss is about 10 hectares, while Reidside moss is approaching 100 hectares.
The Arnhall local nature reserve was established in 1992. I have from 1995 a parliamentary answer from Jamie Lindsay in the House of Lords that shows that, as early as that date, Reidside moss—my near neighbour—was being considered for special protection, which was granted in 2004 under the European Union’s Natura 2000 initiative.
The wildlife that we have and which I experience in part from my adjacency to Reidside moss is roe, foxes, weasels, rabbits and a wide range of bird life. That goes from the United Kingdom’s smallest bird, the goldcrest, which is a regular visitor, to what is nearly our biggest bird, the golden eagle, which we get for a few weeks a year—we see the adolescents as they leave the eyrie, which is about 20km away. We have barn owls, too, which delight us overnight.
In bogs, there is a rich diversity of natural life and, more important, a rich diversity of plant life. The presence of water and the high acidity level give us a differentiation in bog life that is important to support the diversity on which we should place great value.
Bogs form part of my family history. My father used to speak of his falling into a bog in the 1930s while wearing his kilt and full military uniform. He did not particularly enjoy that. More recently, I found myself going to Reidside moss when I was searching for a missing cat. That was in December, and I fell through the ice up to my waist. That was probably quite dangerous, if the truth be told.
The mosses—the raised bogs—that we have across Scotland are an important part of Scotland. I am delighted that we are debating the topic. I hope that, although the members here are few in number, what we say will be noticed much more widely than the limited numbers suggest that it might be. I look forward with interest to hearing what the minister will do to help us continue to enjoy the benefits of our local mosses across Scotland and, in particular, in Westhill and Portlethen.
17:08
As other members have done, I thank Christian Allard for raising this important issue and for securing time for this debate on recognising the importance of raised bogs—known as mosses—especially those in the north-east of Scotland.
Members’ speeches have been great illustrations of the benefits that our natural environment provides and how they can be recognised and enjoyed by communities across Scotland.
The timing of the debate is topical, in that it falls within the United Nation’s 2015 international year of soils. In that regard, I thank Rob Gibson for hosting a reception in Parliament at the end of March to mark the beginning of that year. The initiative has been a fantastic opportunity to recognise the many benefits that our soils provide—biodiversity, support for economic activity, water quality and climate change mitigation to name an important few—while underpinning our very existence and quality of life.
Raised bogs are an important soil type. In layman’s terms, they are raised domes of peat, typically in a wider landscape of agricultural land use. They need to be managed to avoid becoming scrubland and drying out.
Does the minister share my view that some of the issues that affect our bogs are to do with what happens outside the designated areas, for example when farmers put in new drainage that affects the wetness of bogs and the ability to access water, or which takes water away inappropriately?
I accept the point that Mr Stevenson makes.
The Scottish Government has long recognised the importance of our peatlands. Last year, with Scottish Natural Heritage, we consulted on a national peatland plan to set out the benefits of peat and highlight the actions that are being taken and can be taken to support land managers to protect, manage and, where needed, restore peatlands. I look forward to launching the finalised plan, which builds on that consultation, in the near future. The work by the community groups that have been highlighted and their supporters is providing such management and the associated benefits.
Raised bogs are a particular environment and they support a range of species that are often not found elsewhere in Scotland, as we heard from Christian Allard. That makes them hugely fascinating places. I therefore applaud the engagement with the local community to help manage and use such important and special landscapes, and the fact that they are looked after by local people. The engagement with schools and the wider community is a tremendous result for the north-east mosses groups. That is an excellent example of the approach that we promote in “2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity: A Strategy for the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in Scotland”, which involves people in their local environment.
We know that biodiversity is a key component of our lives and that involving local people, particularly young people, in such activity will help to foster a long-term desire to understand and care for our environment. That provides a practical and first-hand opportunity to appreciate our natural environment and the many services that it provides. Although I have not yet visited the areas that are mentioned in the motion, I saw the same approach to managing a raised bog at first hand earlier this year when I visited the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Carsegowan moss reserve, which is between Newton Stewart and Wigtown, just off the A714 in Galloway, if anybody would like to visit it.
My visit to Carsegowan moss took me by surprise. I was not surprised by the engagement that the Scottish Wildlife Trust volunteers and staff had with the site, the impressive work that had been done to restore the site and its on-going active management or the value and benefits that the site provided; what surprised me was the positive reactions that I received on social media afterwards. The key point for me was the connection that people could find with our bogs and wider peatlands and the benefits that they provide. Historically, peatlands have been low key and underrecognised.
Rob Gibson made a good point about the need to understand the carbon contribution of peatlands. We have been actively working on that issue, including understanding wider issues such as methane. Land managers have a particular role to play but they require support from others.
The positive recognition that I mentioned bodes well for the future because, currently, 62 per cent of blanket bog, 58 per cent of raised bog and 69 per cent of fen, marsh and swamp features on designated sites are in favourable condition, but others are not. Action is needed to improve peatlands to maximise their benefits and contribution to Scotland. That is why we are highlighting work to restore peatlands under our priority projects for action in the biodiversity 2020 route map, which will be published soon.
I will pick up on a few other themes. As I said, community-based initiatives such as those involving the two reserves in the motion are an opportunity to increase engagement and understanding of the environment. The 2020 challenge strategy document recognises the role of biodiversity in providing education benefits and reflects the role of outdoor learning in the curriculum for excellence. Stewart Stevenson talked about the links between biodiversity and health when he reminded us that being nice to nature benefits us all. The route map will build on the good work that is already under way to promote the health benefits of the environment.
The minister would be more than welcome to come to Aberdeenshire West to see at first hand the mosses at Westhill. I am sure that the rector at Westhill academy would be delighted to extend an invitation to her to come to see how the curriculum works in his school.
I would, of course, be absolutely delighted to visit other mosses so I would be more than happy to do that if Dennis Robertson would like to extend an invitation to me.
I thank Christian Allard again for bringing this important issue to the chamber. I welcome the debate. In bringing it to the chamber, Christian Allard has enabled us to highlight the benefit of a protected and managed natural environment. I genuinely applaud the effort of the Portlethen Moss Conservation Group and the Arnhall moss management advisory group. I thank members for their contributions to the debate and encourage others to consider what opportunities they have in relation to mosses in the areas that they represent.
Meeting closed at 17:15.Previous
Decision Time