Official Report 879KB pdf
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S7M-00319, in the name of Jenni Minto, on Scotland’s rainforest. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises the importance of Scotland’s rainforest and associated natural habitats; understands that under all climate warming scenarios over the coming century, Scotland will increase its global share of the temperate rainforest biome, making it the best place on the planet to regenerate this habitat; notes that Argyll and Bute hosts approximately 50% of what remains in Scotland, and therefore holds a central role in this regeneration; recognises the significant role of the Alliance For Scotland's Rainforest in promoting the importance of Scotland's rainforest as well as the need to protect and expand it; welcomes the recent discovery of a number of rare species, including glow-worms and slime moulds, in Scotland’s rainforest; recognises the immense work of the Argyll Countryside Trust (ACT) following the launch of the West Cowal Rainforest Habitat Regeneration - Biological Recording project in June 2024, which has now identified 1,109 species across the project area, and commends the team at ACT and all of the volunteers who have contributed to this project.
17:54
Almost exactly five years ago, during the 26th conference of the parties—COP26—I travelled to Cormonachan community woodlands near Lochgoilhead, in Argyll and Bute. I was there to attend the blessing of Scotland’s Celtic rainforest by five indigenous leaders from the Amazonian rainforest. The community event that followed blended our Gaelic ceilidh tradition with songs from the Amazon, intertwining like the worts and lichens, or the passion flowers and orchids, of our respective rainforests. That was a special event, and it was a true illustration of how peoples from around the world can come together for nature and climate action.
I thank all my fellow MSPs who signed my motion and those who are speaking in the debate. We are here to promote the importance of Scotland’s rainforest and the need to protect and expand it.
On Friday, I joined local Argyll groups and stakeholders in Kilmorich woods to plan collaboration to achieve the vision of a joined-up Celtic rainforest along the west coast of Scotland. As the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest says,
“Scotland’s rainforest is one of our most precious habitats. It is as important as tropical rainforest, but even rarer. Yet few people in Scotland know it exists and fewer still know how globally significant it is.”
When I am asked what the rainforest is, I say that it is like an enchanted woodland, with native trees such as oak and rowan linked with ferns, worts and lichens, home to beasties and birds. It is a place of calm and a place of life. It is a place that we need to grow.
The April 2019 report on “The state of Scotland’s rainforest” noted that
“With just over 30,000 hectares remaining, there is very little rainforest left in Scotland.”
However, with the creation of the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest and the Scottish Government rainforest restoration fund, and with passionate communities, things are beginning to improve.
As NatureScot stated in its “Evaluation of Scotland’s Rainforest Fund”, which was published in June this year,
“A key strength of the fund was its enabling role”,
which
“allowed projects to build the skills, evidence and relationships needed to continue beyond the funding period, rather than focusing only on immediate outputs.”
The evaluation noted that the fund made an impact in a wide range of areas, including in places and habitats, reducing key pressures on rainforest habitats and improving understanding of site conditions and priorities; on people, supporting training, skills development and employment, which is particularly important in rural areas such as Argyll and Bute; and on organisations, strengthening organisational capacity and confidence.
On Friday, we heard about the practical measures that communities have been taking, but we also heard about where there are obstacles, for example with deer management. Community deer larders are great, but planning laws are interpreted differently in different areas. There is a need to build trust and work with people to improve understanding. Rhododendron ponticum may be beautiful in bloom, but it creates a hostile environment for rainforest. Drones are used to map it, drill and fill or lever in mulch to remove it, but that is time consuming. One proposal that we heard on Friday was for it to be banned in garden centres.
We heard from grass-roots organisations that understand their woodlands and how those connect with the whole ecosystem of the area. The Action West Loch alliance for west Loch Tarbert has been working with Forestry and Land Scotland, Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust and the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforests to ensure that commercial felling recognises the importance of the rainforest and of native oysters in the sea loch. As was said on Friday, trees, freshwater, salt water and people are all connected.
We also cannot forget the real engine room of rainforest function that lies in its insect diversity, which the Holy Loch Nature Reserve is currently mapping.
Amanda Bland(Central Scotland and Lothians West) (Reform):The member mentioned high levels of deer grazing and the invasive non-native species, Rhododendron ponticum. There are also exotic conifer plantations that are, as the member said, preventing sustainable regeneration of our Scottish rainforest. What does the member advise the Scottish Government to provide in respect of clear guidance, policy support and funding to tackle those issues for the restoration and expansion of Scotland’s rainforest?
I thank Amanda Bland for her intervention, and she is right to point out all the areas that can impact on the rainforest in Scotland. That is why, as members will hear later on, one of my pleas to the Government is to ensure that funding is still there.
Scotland’s rainforests are rare, precious and globally important. That gives us not only a responsibility, but an incredible opportunity. As nature champion for the Scottish rainforest, I will use my privileged position to ask three things of the Scottish Government. The first is simple. Will the Minister for Agriculture, Marine and the Islands come to Argyll and visit one of the amazing groups to see for himself the wonders and importance of our Celtic rainforest? There are many to choose from.
The second ask is to ensure that funding is multi-year. Rainforest restoration work is seasonal and does not always fit into a restricted timescale, so cliff-edge funding is not helpful. In addition, as Amanda Bland noted, there are many other areas around the specifics of simply growing trees—if that is ever simple—to support the rainforest.
The third ask is to recognise how rainforest restoration is a perfect opportunity to put community wealth building into action. Jobs and skills are created; tourism is supported; people’s health and wellbeing is improved; and, importantly, Scotland’s nature and biodiversity is increased.
I end with a short poem written by Scotland’s fourth makar, Kathleen Jamie, after she explored the Celtic rainforest in Mull:
“We make a green place, like a stage, ready in a theatreWith an air of calm expectancy of something yet to arriveOr something just goneEmerald breath fronds where spore drifts invisibleOur friends the hospitable oaks,Our friends the stone, live aloneNo moreWe speak silences with greenish tonguesEnter a beetleEnter a breath of windEnter a party of siskinsEnter a frog.”
Our rainforest has survived against the odds; now we need to help it thrive. Let us reconnect it, restore it and grow it.
18:01
I congratulate my colleague, Jenni Minto, on securing the debate. I am proud to support the motion on Scotland’s rainforest, which shines a crucial spotlight on one of Scotland’s most magnificent, and yet underappreciated, natural treasures: our temperate rainforests.
When people think of rainforests, their minds naturally wander to the tropical rainforests of the Amazon basin, the Congo or south-east Asia. That is not surprising, because, although tropical rainforests, which are one of our planet’s major biomes, account for about 6 per cent of the earth’s total land mass, temperate rainforests are one of the rarest biomes, found only in one quarter of 1 per cent of the planet’s surface. Despite that global rarity, however, we are the custodians of a significant area of temperate rainforest right here in Scotland—indeed, we have the largest amount of Atlantic rainforest in Europe.
Wrapped in ocean mists, with high rainfall and mild temperatures that create a unique climate, these ancient woodlands of oak, birch, hazel, ash and rowan are draped in rich green velvet carpets of mosses and extraordinary lichens. Our Celtic rainforest is a living, breathing ecosystem of international significance, providing a home to hundreds of species that are found nowhere else in Europe. However, despite its European importance, our rainforest is often taken for granted. As with many other things, we often fail to appreciate the wonder of our local environment. For generations, these habitats were fragmented, overgrazed and neglected, and that is why the motion is important. It asks for Parliament not only to look with reverence at what remains, but to look forward, with ambition, purpose and commitment, to restoring our temperate rainforest.
Our efforts will be important not only nationally, but globally. Climate change is real and global warming will have a devastating impact on the world’s temperate rainforests. Temperate rainforests can exist only in cool climates, and in a warming world, they will face extreme pressure.
However, in Scotland, we will face something a little different. Scientific analysis demonstrates that, under all climate-warming scenarios, Scotland will, over the coming century, increase its global share of temperate rainforests. While temperate rainforests in other parts of the world face catastrophic shrinkage as a result of rising temperatures and droughts, Scotland’s geographic and climate position means that the climate will remain suitable.
The major impact of climate change in Scotland will be to increase rainfall. Although dealing with increased flooding risk will be a major undertaking in much of Scotland, including in my constituency, the increased rainfall will offer hope for our temperate rainforest. That makes Scotland literally the best place on the planet to protect, restore and regenerate this global endangered habitat. In fact, it places a profound historic responsibility on our shoulders. We are not only merely managing local woodland; we are custodians of a globally critical ecological lifeboat. If we act now, Scotland can lead the world in ecological restoration, showing how biomes can be revitalised to combat biodiversity loss and build climate resilience.
To turn that global responsibility into practical action, we must look to where the heart of Scotland’s rainforest beats strongest. Argyll and Bute has half of Scotland’s temperate rainforest. From the coastal glens of Lorne and Kintyre to the sheltered woodlands of Cowal, Argyll and Bute is the epicentre of this habitat. It holds an indispensable central role in our national regeneration strategy. If Scotland is to meet its biodiversity and woodland targets, the landscape scale recovery of our rainforest must be driven through Argyll and Bute.
That task cannot be accomplished by Government policy alone. It requires genuine collaboration, shared vision and grassroots passion across the public, private and voluntary sectors. With that in mind, I welcome the motion’s recognition of the outstanding contributions of Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest. I was also glad to see the motion recognise the work of the Argyll Countryside Trust. As the motion states, in June 2024, it set out a map of biological richness of Cowal.
Temperate rainforest is a priceless ecological treasure. As our global share of that biome increases over the coming century, let the Parliament resolve to make Scotland a beacon of restoration of our rainforests.
I call Jamie Langan to be followed by Ariane Burgess. You have up to forty—up to four minutes.
18:06
I was going to say, Deputy Presiding Officer—I think that I have a good four minutes in the tank, but if I were to speak for 40 minutes? Some members might want to get home at that point.
I start by thanking the member for Argyll and Bute both for her motion and for bringing this debate to the chamber. I agree that Scotland’s rainforest on the west coast, primarily in her constituency, is a truly beautiful and unique part of the world. Shamefully, I must say that I have not visited in a number of years; I will need to get that in the calendar.
All members are likely to claim that their constituency or region is the prettiest. When I have the privilege of spending time in the southern uplands, the Cheviot Hills or the Tweed Valley, I would certainly make that case for South Scotland. However, we can all agree across the chamber that we have the privilege of living in the most uniquely beautiful country in the world, and the west coast’s magnificent forests play a unique part in defining the rural landscape that defines Scotland.
Conservation of our natural and rural environment, such as the pristine forests that we have talked about, is deeply important. Challenges such as the fragmentation of our native woodland and dealing with invasive species such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and, more commonly known, rhododendron, require active management from the communities that interact with our rural and natural environment.
The cause of conservation is one that, rightly, enjoys support right across the chamber. Indeed, looking to my own benches, what could be more conservative than conservation of our natural inheritance? It is important, however, for us to separate the genuine and important cause of conservationism and its associated efforts from the sirens’ call of rewilding. Many of the efforts of so-called rewilding aim to treat rural Scotland as a static environment that has been the same since time immemorial. It works on the assumption that Scotland’s rural environment can return to an arbitrary point in time, a year zero perhaps, without consideration of the mixed and important land use that our rural environment holds.
I am reminded of the ever-sage words of the late Sir Roger Scruton, who commented that:
“The countryside is not a slice of untilled nature. It is a human institution built over centuries in the image of the people who made it.”
It is important to recognise that Scotland’s beautiful rural environment is one in which people live and work. Farmers, foresters, gamekeepers, rural businesses and many more all play their part in that.
On the point about community, does Mr Langan agree on the importance of community wealth building in communities on the west coast in order to ensure that people remain living and working there, and also to ensure that visitors are welcome?
I fully agree. Community defines our fantastic rural identity in this country. I will touch on that later in my contribution, but I thank Ms Minto for her intervention.
It is the people who work and live in rural Scotland who shape its identity, and that is nowhere more apparent than within my own region of South Scotland, where the rural beauty of the land has been shaped by the people who have lived and worked in it for generations.
The motion also touches on what climate change we will likely see in the coming decades. With that in mind, it is important to recognise the role that Scotland’s land will play in a changing world and to have honest and frank conversations about the fact that it cannot do all things for all people. Because of the changes that we are likely to see in coming decades, including the increasingly apparent strains on the global food supply, our own national larder should be front and centre of Scotland’s land use. Putting food on the plates of Scots is a matter of national strategic resilience.
Regardless of our exact priorities for Scotland’s rural and natural environment, there is an area that everyone in the chamber should be able to agree on, which Ms Minto touched on: the important work to conserve and preserve important environments such as Scotland’s rainforest and other areas across the country. That requires the buy-in and support of the communities that call those places home and interact with them daily and must not be a case of urban Scotland pontificating or projecting its wishes upon those places.
Organisations such as the Argyll Countryside Trust, as mentioned in the motion, provide an excellent example of that work. The motion rightly raises awareness of Scotland’s rainforests, an extraordinary and irreplaceable environment that helps to shape the natural character of our beautiful and unique rural landscapes. We all can, and should, support the work to tackle invasive species, support continued biodiversity and ensure that future generations of Scots can enjoy that magnificent environment for many years to come.
However, when we consider rural Scotland, our ambition should not be to return to an imagined moment before it was shaped by the centuries of Scots who have lived and worked there. Instead, we should hand on a countryside that is richer in nature and is economically and culturally alive to the future generations in the towns, villages and communities that have shaped and sustained it to date.
18:11
I warmly thank my colleague Jenni Minto for bringing this really important debate and for invoking memories of that fantastic ceremony and celebration at Cormonachan woods during COP26.
We are in a global biodiversity crisis. We heard that in January this year from the United Kingdom Government, which published a somewhat redacted national security assessment on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security. That report pointed to the fact that, by 2030, our food security could be seriously hampered.
That is the global situation, but we need to bring it home to consider biodiversity in Scotland. We are 28from the bottom of the list of 240 countries in the biodiversity intactness index. Although Scotland has an ambitious biodiversity policy, with the aim of being nature-positive by 2030 and fully restored by 2045, we are currently falling short. I look forward to the Climate Action Committee hearing more about why that is the case. The policy contains more than 100 priority actions, 16 of which have been formally delayed while action on another 33 has not yet started and Scotland’s Futures Forum says that there is insufficient pace for us actually to become nature positive by 2030.
It was 2021 when I first learned about Scotland’s incredible temperate rainforest. Although I had never heard of it, I realised at that point that I had grown up experiencing that incredible magical woodland on the Argyll coast. When I learned about that, the organisations that were embracing the rainforest were saying that they needed something equivalent to the peatland restoration fund so that they could really take on the work of restoring the rainforest. At that point, they were talking about having a £500 million fund and were certain that they could inspire enough people to create a matching fund: in other words, if the Government could come up with £250 million, they could get match funding to take that forward on the same level as the work on peatland restoration.
That really would help us to become nature positive. I believe that rainforest restoration, along with the work on peatlands, would be a great step forward. So, although I really welcome the rainforest fund that Jenni Minto spoke about, and although a lot has been done with that £1.7 million, it is a tiny drop in the ocean compared to what the more than 40 organisations in the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest really need to take the work forward. It is not just them—many other individuals and organisations are doing that work.
Rainforest restoration is an incredible project. In fact, it is precious—I am going to use that word again. This fragmented rainforest, and its potential for us to tackle nature depletion, are very precious. What I love so much about the project is that it is really all about people and nature working together. It is an incredibly positive story of collaboration.
Jenni Minto mentioned some of the challenges. As she has gone into the rhododendron issue in detail, I will not take that any further, but one of the other challenges that she mentioned, on which I do want to go into detail, is deer. One of the incredible things that has come out of the work between the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest and deer managers is the Common Ground Forum, which has transformed a completely polarised landscape by bringing people together to talk about the issues and to try to remove the misinformation that has been going around. Stalkers, for example, thought that they were going to be out of a job, because the land was going to be rewilded. That was not the case. I have attended several of the forum’s events—one in a cold barn with 80 stalkers, who talked movingly about their work and their passion for it—and because of it, we now have a much better situation in Scotland. Indeed, I believe that it really helped us with the deer management legislation that was introduced last year. There is certainly something that we can learn from the alliance about bringing people together.
I want to close by echoing Jenni Minto’s calls to the minister. I ask him to visit not only Argyll, but many of the other remnants of the rainforest all the way up Scotland’s western seaboard. The project absolutely needs multiyear funding; it cannot just stop and start, and the people involved need certainty to continue their work. We need to recognise the power of the rainforest to help us meet our climate and biodiversity targets, and it really needs to be adequately funded.
18:17
I thank Jenni Minto for bringing this debate to the chamber, and let me be clear: I am fully supportive of her motion.
The rainforest designation is a great tool for drawing lots of interest to the topic of native woodlands. The fact that we have rainforest in Scotland is something that not many people will consider, but I would just point out that in the summer, I visited in my South Scotland region Leadburn community woodland south of Penicuik and Carrifran wildwood near Moffat, with the support of the Woodland Trust, Borders Forest Trust and D&G Woodlands. Those organisations are enlightened on the issues facing our native species and the benefits that communities can reap when we embrace the philosophy of proper woodland management. They are thinking about how we can lead in peatland restoration, for example, and they realise that a properly managed native wood can, in fact, be a barrier to wildfires, due to the damp and moist nature of the ground.
I am conscious that commercial forestry is one of Scotland’s main industries, but it does not have to be at loggerheads with local communities if woodland management is done right. However, I do not believe that we have found that balance yet. Our native species are still being muscled out by Sitka spruce, which covers over 72 per cent of Galloway forest park, and too often I hear about rights of way being denied and lack of proper consultation with residents when new plantations are green lit. They are a big and visible scar on the landscape in some of our most rural areas, and we do not discuss the issue in the way that we do with, say, wind turbines or, indeed, data centres, as we have done today. I think that that furthers the need for organisations such as the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforests, and I really commend that innovation and whoever was the brainchild of it.
However, that brings me to my main point, which is a straightforward one. The rainforest area that we are discussing exists only from Argyll northwards. I understand that there are criteria for specifying woodland as rainforest, mainly a hyperoceanic climate and proximity to water, and it could be argued that areas in Dumfries and Galloway fall into that category. Given that there are designated fragments of rainforest south of that, in Cumbria and the north of England, it seems strange that the south-west of Scotland has been left out of the conversation at this stage.
Indeed, the south of Scotland has woodlands of equal importance, but they do not carry the all-important rainforest label. That is simply because the project that we are talking about has been stimulated in, and is driven from, Argyll. For example, Carstramon wood, near Gatehouse of Fleet, is, by many measures, an exceptional native woodland, but it would not be classed as rainforest due to being outside key rainforest-focused areas. Carstramon wood will carry on being a great native woodland—as a child, I spent a lot of time in it with my granny, who used to live near there—but it will not necessarily be called a rainforest.
I plead for us to change that, because, if the label is helping to drive funding and interest elsewhere, it is worth asking whether the map is drawn in the right place. It is not dissimilar to an area being designated as a national park—if I can say that, in the south of Scotland—because it is more than just semantics. Definitions can motivate volunteers, garner public support and, perhaps most important, drive funding.
The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest mission statement talks about restoring and expanding Scotland’s rainforest. If that is the goal, please can we make sure that the south-west of Scotland is a part of it? I hope that Jenni Minto and the Scottish Government will give that some thought.
18:20
Graham Simpson(Central Scotland and Lothians West) (Reform):I, too, congratulate Jenni Minto on securing this very important debate for all of us tree lovers—as I assume all of us in the chamber are.
We are all tree huggers.
I will come on to that.
What is a rainforest? The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest defines Scotland’s rainforest as native woodland in the hyperoceanic zone of the west coast—woodland that is shaped by high rainfall, mild temperatures and a rich abundance of oceanic bryophytes and lichens. For those unfamiliar with bryophytes—who does not know what a bryophyte is—they include mosses, liverworts and hornworts. They absorb water directly through their leaves and stems, and Scotland is home to species that are found in very few other places in the world. That is pretty exciting, is it not? I think so. [Interruption.] I even got a cheer.
Scotland’s rainforest is one of our country’s most precious natural treasures, and I agree with Jenni Minto that that is still not recognised by many people. It supports an extraordinary diversity of plants, fungi, lichens and wildlife. It reminds us that globally significant nature is not something distant or exotic but is here, on our doorstep. People can visit it.
Given that around half of Scotland’s remaining rainforest is found in Argyll and Bute, that area has a remarkable opportunity. It can lead the way in showing how habitat restoration succeeds when communities, conservation bodies and volunteers work together with purpose. Those points were made by Jenny Minto, and she is absolutely right.
I have visited the rainforest with other MSPs, which is where we hugged a tree, as Jenni Minto knows; I joined hands with Mark Ruskell and Monica Lennon on that visit to hug a giant ash tree. I will not tell you what happened to the ash tree afterwards. [Laughter.]
I was once the nature champion for the ash tree, about three years ago, until, I confess, I was dumped from that role after failing to stop ash dieback. Alison Thewliss will, I am sure, do a much better job. Before that, I championed the holly, and now I am leading the charge for ancient woodlands—I am the ancient woodland champion, which is great. I am working with the Woodland Trust, of which I am a long-standing member, on a possible tree protection bill. That is at a very early stage, but I would like to think that it could attract support from across parties, because the issue is far too important to be reduced to party politics. Anyone who wants to be involved should come and speak to me; I can tell you where we are at; I can arrange meetings with the Woodland Trust; and you can see what you think. I think that we can shape that work together.
We can work together. We can protect Scotland’s ancient woodlands, which is what I am trying to do, and, in that, we can help to protect the rainforest. I will leave it at that.
I call Jim Fairlie to respond to the debate.
18:24
True to form, Jenni Minto delivered a wonderful speech, as she always does, with poetry and imagery. Any mention of an enchanted woodland works every time to evoke images in the mind of what a rainforest looks like. She asked a number of questions, which I hope I will cover as I go through my speech.
The debate comes at a time when countries around the globe continue to confront the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. As David Torrance mentioned, the question facing us all is very simple: what kind of environment do we want to leave behind for the next generations?
We have been clear that the climate and nature crises cannot be tackled in isolation and that our precious rainforest in Scotland is one of our critical ecosystems. We must restore those forests and the rare species and habitats, while storing carbon, strengthening resilience in our communities and helping to protect us all from the damaging effects of climate change. The same actions that support nature recovery contribute directly to our climate ambitions.
When people hear the word “rainforest”, they often think of somewhere far away, such as the Amazon, yet one of the world’s rarest rainforest habitats exists right here in Scotland, thanks to the mild climate and the high rainfall that we have on the west coast. Those woodlands support an extraordinary range of species. Jenni Minto mentioned glowworms and slime moulds, and Graham Simpson talked about various lichens, mosses and liverworts. They represent a natural asset of international importance, and their existence is also critical to human health, and to the air, water and food sources that we all rely on. Nothing about protecting the rainforest is an optional nice-to-do; it is critical for us all.
However, these forests face real pressures. Invasive non-native species, which a number of members have mentioned, as well as high deer numbers and habitat fragmentation, continue to threaten the condition and recovery of the forests. All that is taking place against the backdrop of a changing climate, which adds further uncertainty and pressure.
The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing and expanding Scotland’s rainforest, which is a priority in Scotland’s forestry strategy. Jenni Minto and David Torrance were right to highlight the central role that Argyll and Bute plays in that. We have published our strategic approach to restoring and expanding Scotland’s rainforest, which, importantly, is underpinned by investment. Between April 2022 and July 2026, the Scottish Government provided more than £14.5 million for rainforest action. That was deployed via the nature restoration fund, the rainforest restoration fund and support for Forestry and Land Scotland’s rainforest restoration activities, in addition to funding that is deployed through the forestry grant scheme.
Furthermore, the Scottish Government’s facility for investment-ready nature in Scotland programme has funded the development of investment models and standards through an innovative project called saving Scotland’s rainforest with natural capital finance. That project is currently exploring how responsible private finance could contribute to rainforest restoration, because tackling the twin crises of climate and biodiversity cannot be done by Governments alone.
The strategic approach to action, coupled with significant investment, is accelerating delivery and enabling partners and communities to address the challenges facing these iconic native woodlands. The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, which has been mentioned a number of times, has been central to that effort. Bringing together more than 40 organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors, the alliance has helped to create a shared vision for rainforest recovery in Scotland and it champions the action that is needed to turn the vision into reality.
Will the minister take up Jenni Minto’s request to visit the rainforest, if he has not done so already? I invite him to attend the Woodland Trust’s festive reception in the Parliament, which is on 15 December. That applies to all members, of course.
On the latter point, I will see where I am on 15 December. To answer the question, last year, I was in Arkaig—although it is not in Jenni Minto’s constituency—and was taken through the rainforest there. As she was making her eloquent speech, the images of what I saw in Arkaig were very much coming to mind.
The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest currently has 12 large-scale projects in development or delivery, covering almost 12,000 hectares. I put on record how much the Scottish Government values the alliance’s leadership and the commitment that is shown by all its partners.
It is clear that community involvement is also essential. The rainforest restoration fund is helping to build local capacity through job creation, skills development and volunteer recruitment. Already, more than 40 volunteers have been recruited and trained through that fund. Today’s debate has rightly highlighted the west Cowal rainforest biological recording project, which is a citizen science biodiversity survey led by Argyll Countryside Trust.
Since its launch in 2024, 171 committed and passionate volunteers have submitted 3,421 records covering 1,109 species. Among the most notable discoveries are hazel gloves fungus, plum-fruited felt lichen and the European glowworm. Those extraordinary findings demonstrate not only the richness of Scotland’s rainforest but the fact that nature still has the power to surprise us. That work delivers more than the crucial protection of wildlife and habitats. Healthy woodlands store carbon, support climate adaptation, improve our ecological connectivity and help to sustain thriving and resilient rural communities.
Our ambition is clear. We want Scotland’s rainforest to be larger, better connected and more resilient than it is today, and our work with partners is paving the way for that ambition to be realised. Scotland’s rainforest is one of our greatest natural assets. Protecting it is not simply about preserving the past; it is about building a more secure future for the people of Scotland and safeguarding some of our most important biodiversity for generations to come.
Meeting closed at 18:31.
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