News

Population decline in Scotland’s sparsely populated and rural areas, as highlighted in the Herald’s special investigation last week, is a perennial challenge. It’s a topic that we and colleagues have been studying at The James Hutton institute, both in Scotland and further afield, for several years.

Scotland is well known for its weather. We’re used to rain and snow as well as dry spells. But these weather patterns are changing. What could this mean for how we live? We undertook research, on behalf of the Scottish Government, looking at how the climate has changed since 1960 and how it’s expected to change in coming decades out to 2080.

Trees are a great way to soak up carbon emissions, improve nature and biodiversity. Right? Well, not always. We take a dive into why where you plant trees can have hidden, perhaps surprising, implications.

Green finance has become a new buzz phrase; an economic lever to help drive environmental solutions that address the climate and ecological crises. Here in Scotland, it’s an idea already being put into practise, with initiatives like the Facility for Investment Ready in Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) programme.

Around this time of year, on a very rainy winter’s day a couple of years ago, I was visiting a dairy farm in east Scotland. Grazing was important to the farmers’ system for keeping his costs down, but he told me that, in recent years, more rain coming in unpredictable patterns was making it harder to rely on grazing as the driver of milk production on his farm.

Stories are central in how humans make sense of the world, and in how we relate to each other and to nature. How we tell stories – through images and words – matters for biodiversity and ecological restoration, including whether, where and how it takes place, and who is involved and impacted.