Members' Business — S6M-13402 Audrey Nicoll: Invasive Non-native Species in Scotland

That the Parliament notes the publication of the Scottish Environment LINK report, Invasive Non-native Species in Scotland: A Plan for Effective Action, which collates the thinking of Scotland’s environmental non-governmental organisations regarding invasive non-native species; understands that invasive non-native species constitute one of the five principal direct drivers of global biodiversity loss and that invasive non-native species are among the most significant pressures on Scotland’s biodiversity; recognises the reported significant negative impacts that invasive non-native species have for Scotland’s marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments, including in the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency; highlights reports of the financial impact of invasive non-native and non-native species on Scotland’s economy; notes the view that it is necessary to effectively tackle invasive non-native species as a prerequisite to successful nature restoration in Scotland; believes that the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund is providing critical funds to initiate and develop projects, working with communities and volunteers to prevent the establishment, and control the spread, of invasive non-native species, and considers that this is allowing the recovery of biodiversity across Scotland, including river restoration projects addressing invasive non-native plants, controlling invasive rhododendron in Scotland’s rainforest and safeguarding internationally important seabird islands from non-native mammals through island biosecurity action.