MCS ‘On Tuesday the 14th December the Scottish Government Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater MSP announced a new start date of the 16th of August 2023 for the Deposit Return Scheme that was promised by the First Minister back in 2017. The scheme was meant to have started in 2021 but got delayed to 2022 and […]
A Scottish Universities Insight Institute-funded programme that looked into developing an integrated understanding of the role of the ocean, its resources and socio-economic benefits, informing decision-making that addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at multiple governance levels. Scotland is a global leader in ambitious policy for societal change and implementation of the SDGs, notably through […]
The number of beavers has more than doubled in Scotland in the last three years to around 1000 animals, according to a NatureScot survey published today. The new population survey has not only found that beaver numbers have increased, but that the population is in a rapid expansion phase as beavers spread out from Tayside, […]
BBC ‘Shell and Scottish Power join bid to build floating wind farms Energy giant Shell has teamed up with Scottish Power to bid to develop large floating wind farms off the coast of north east Scotland. They will bid jointly in an auction of 15 seabed locations for the next generation of wind farms. The […]
NatureScot has published the results of the fifth full census of Scotland’s harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) over the last 25 years which reveals Scotland’s harbour seals are doing well overall but there remains a striking divide between east and west coast populations. Estimates based on these surveys undertaken by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) […]
Marine Scotland has launched a campaign to help raise awareness of American lobster (Homarus americanus) in Scotland. Native to the east coast of the northern USA and Canada, American lobsters have been imported live into Europe for several decades resulting in their escape into the wild, first recorded in the UK in 1988. Every year […]
A series of emails, released under the Freedom of Information Act, and reported by investigative news site, The Ferret, in March suggest the Scottish government appears to be smoothing the path for CleanTreat – a system that uses the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid to rid farmed salmon of sea lice, to be accepted for regulatory approval in […]
Feeding cows seaweed could cut their methane emissions by 82%, scientists say. Researchers found cows belched out 82% less methane after putting small amount of seaweed in their feed for five months. Cows produce methane via microbes in their stomachs as they digest their fibrous. Feeding seaweed to cows is a viable long-term method to […]