 Mae gweithio i ddweud yn gweithio y seisio. Rydaw i ddweud i'n gweithio i ddweud yn gweithio i ddweud yn gweithio i ddweud i gweithio i ddweud, yn cyllidol, fel ddweud i ddweud i'n gweithio i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i gweithio i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud. The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 11282, in the name of Mark Ruskell, on restoring nature to tackle climate change. This debate will be y trylau i ddyfodol i ni siŵr i i'r ddechrau i ni i ddyfodol i chi'n dweud i ffioedig i gael. I nodi chi i'r ddweud i ddyfodol i gael i'r ddyfodol i sgol해on wrth fynd i gael i gael i Mark Ruskell, a i gael i'r ddyfodol i gael i'r ddydig, yn ddyfodol i gael i ddyfodol. Thank you very much. Can I thank members for signing the motion and to those joining me this lunchtime to shine a light on the twin nature and climate crises and how communities across Scotland are responding? My green colleagues recognise the critical role of nature restoration in the fight against climate change ac mae gennych ddigon ni oherwydd ein bodi'r ddechrau i gyffredinol i gael i Llywodraeth Cymru. A bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn gael 65 miliwn o gael o gael o gael o fod yn gweithio cymdeithasol a ym Llywodraeth Cymru yn y gael o gyfer 5 ym Llywodraeth Cymru. A felly, mewn gael 30 miliwn o gael o gael o gael o gael o gael o gael o gael o gael o gael o gael o Gael Oedon. A oedon, mae'n cymdeithasol i gael o ffmq gyda ni, mae'n oeddo i'r cof 28, ond mae eisiau un oedd y swyddfaen ddechrau gyda'r newydd o anghyliadau o Gymraeg a ddych chi Readynau, o'u cyffredinadau hwnnw, o'i dŵr cyffredinadau a ddod yn y bobl o'i ei gynnwysig o brosesu byd dechrau 2050. Y Dduby Cop yn ysgwp bellach yw eu rhai gwleidau cymryd y work o ein wrth gwrs ar y ddysgol o fynd nifer, gwneud o gydag o waith 200 miliwn per y lyth o by 2030. Y Fund for Restoration of Nature has allowed us to take the first steps to all that goal here in Scotland. I am proud that the fund, launched on the same nature day at the Glasgow Cop two years ago, has been so successful. Countries around the world will be following Scotland's footsteps to support on-the-ground action that is so vital for achieving the aims of the global biodiversity framework. However, it is important to remind ourselves again that Scotland sadly remains a nature-depleted country. This year's state of nature report underlines that our wildlife has decreased on average by 15 per cent since the 90s. One in nine Scottish species are still threatened with extinction, nearly half of sea birds have declined since the 80s, as have nearly half of our flowering plants. Nature is impacted not only by exploitation of our land and seas, but increasingly by climate change. We only have to look at our wild salmon populations, for example, to recognise how warming temperatures affect their delicate ecology. Through restoration projects that help nature to adapt and become more resilient to climate change, while locking up carbon and helping us to adapt to flooding and extreme weather, we can tackle these twin crises together. These nature-based solutions, as they are often called, are rarely quick wins. It takes time to build up the action that is needed at a scale that can make the difference, and nature needs decades to fully build back. Scientists believe that these projects to restore and expand nature will be critical for cooling global temperatures over the long term beyond the net zero goals that have been set for the middle of this century. They could play an important role to bring us back down from peak global warming, but only if we start acting now with an eye on the future for our children's children. This year's State of Nature report said that the social and ecological consequences of living in a nature-depleted country are immense. They include impacts on human health, happiness and wellbeing, alongside direct costs associated with lost and damaged ecosystem services. In essence, what harms nature also harms us. That also means that if we restore nature, we also restore all those lost benefits to ourselves and our communities. 96 per cent of Scots think that the natural environment is important to the country, so it is no surprise that where we see nature restoration projects take root, they draw in volunteers and whole communities in a shared endeavour. What is happening around Scotland right now? I am looking forward to hearing from members about projects across their own areas later in this debate, but what is clear is that we are seeing an amazing range of approaches across the 150 projects that have so far benefited from the fund. From ancient Atlantic rainforest in Argyll to amphibian ponds on former coal mines in Lanarkshire, from pollinator corridors and arable farms to rewilded former airfields in Creil, from coastal dune restoration in St Andrews to sea grass and oyster bed receding in the fourth, communities, NGOs, landowners big and small are working out how to restore neglected species and landscapes. I want to highlight some of the work that is happening in my own region and particularly in the freshwater environment because our rivers, burns, locks, floodplains and wetlands are the arteries and organs of our catchments. From source to estuary, they sustain incredible species and habitats, but they also supply us with water when we need it while buffering us from floods. The relationship between water courses and our land is critical because over many years we have degraded land to the point where water freely thunders off hillsides into swollen rivers, rivers that have often been canalised and moulded by industry over the centuries, with barriers that impact species like the salmon. I really welcome the NRF-funded work that Forth Rivers Trust have done on the Allamwater, placing large woody structures to create wetlands, reconnecting floodplains and planting riparian trees. Working with the community at Pull of Mockot in Clackmallanshire, they have also built wetlands, installed overflow channels and introduced leaky dams to mitigate flood risks. On the river Teeth, they pushed on with establishing riparian woodlands, planting over 10,000 trees along the banks of the community and the restoration of 20 hectares of wetland at Blechwych. Jonathan Louis from Forth Rivers Trust told me that the Nature Restoration Fund has allowed them to collaborate with partners and make a tangible impact on wildlife and communities throughout the Forth region. Further down the Teeth catchment at Argytyfarn, they are also using the fund to reconnect their waterways, ffencing off areas from cattle, encouraging wildflower seeding and planting 16,000 trees while establishing new hedgerow corridors. Tom Bowser at Argytyfarn tells me how this will benefit a wide range of species, from pollinators to birds, bats and beavers. He also said how this would simply not have been possible without the fund. We are seeing very similar work on other catchments, including on the Banffer State near Eileth, where projects to establish habitats have now been expanded to include another 10 of 11. Mr Roscoe, I appreciate that there is a bit of latitude here but I think you will need to bring your mic. The momentum is building for nature restoration. We are seeing action in Scottish communities as the world gathers to discuss a global response to the climate nature crisis. That is just the beginning, but the fund is already creating a legacy for future generations and I really look forward to seeing progress on the ground in the years to come. Thank you Mr Roscoe. I now call Audrey Nicol to be followed by Stephen Kerr, Ms Nicol. First of all, I apologise to the chamber. I will have to leave after my contribution due to a pre-existing commitment. I thank Mark Ruskell for bringing forward this motion on restoring nature to tackle climate change. It provides us with an important opportunity to recognise importance and success of the nature restoration fund. It is incredible to think that the fund has already supported 150 projects across Scotland working to protect watercourses, restore coastal habitats and so much more. I thank organisations who submitted briefings for today's debate and I acknowledge in particular the Royal College of Physicians that calls for the climate and nature crisis to be recognised as one global health emergency. I look forward to reading the editorial reference in the briefing and I hope that we can return to consider this at a future date. Like many colleagues, I am in my peaceful space in the outdoors. In a single walk I have encountered deer, hare, foxes, herons, woodpeckers, raptors and even red kites. Truth be told, my love and respect for nature has probably been a little bit one way and more about what I was getting out of nature rather than the other way round. That was until I became nature champion for the freshwater pearl mussel and it is through this role that I now better appreciate the importance of projects such as those referred to in the motion. Today I want to highlight another project, the Belt and Burn, a successful nature restoration project in the north-east that I was pleased to visit this summer. This project was funded through the biodiversity challenge fund, which I understand and I stand to be corrected was a precursor to the nature restoration fund but nonetheless, thank you minister, but nonetheless is funded through the biodiversity challenge fund, the de-catchment partnership, the de-district salmon fishery board and the James Hutton Institute worked tirelessly to remeander a 1.5 kilometre section of river channel and reconnect it to four wetland ponds previously straightened to accommodate the dayside railway. Wetlands are an incredibly rich food larder for fish, a vitally important aspect of the river habitat and what has now been created is an improved habitat for fish and other wildlife whilst also allowing the river to expand and contract during periods of high water and this was all done at relatively modest cost. So just weeks after work completed in 2020, 15 spawning reds created by salmon and sea trout were seen and I pay tribute to in particular Susan Cooxley and Edwin Third and all the other stakeholders for their utter commitment to the project and for their vision that belty burn must not just be a demonstration site but an example of what we need to do more of across Scotland. In their briefing, Scottish Environment Link recognised the importance of the nature restoration fund in tackling biodiversity loss but they also highlighted the impact of funding cuts to Scotland's environmental agencies. The fiscal landscape is immensely challenging but I hope that the Scottish Government is able to protect funding for those agencies especially in light of the expertise and experience that they will potentially contribute. Mark Ruskell. I thank the member for giving way. I was wondering, obviously we do have an incredibly challenging fiscal deal coming from the Westminster Government that doesn't keep pace with inflation but I'm just wondering if she would also reflect on the fact that because of Brexit, because we've lost all that European funding now, including life funding, then carrying out these nature restoration projects is even more challenging now because we don't have that support, that fiscal support from the European Union that was so critical. The Scottish Government's had to step up in order to make these things happen. I thank the member and I completely agree with the point that he made and in fact this was something that we reflected on when I visited this particular project and also the site of some pearl mussel survey work that is going on on the River Dee so it's a very strong point well made. To conclude, I hope that nature does indeed feature as a key theme in the forthcoming UN climate change conference in Dubai and that the conference will indeed provide a platform for Governments, NGOs and others to demonstrate strong leadership and genuine commitment in tackling the twin nature and climate crisis so that Scotland can indeed contribute to support projects like the Bellty Burn, reduce emissions, reverse nature loss and meet our ambitious climate change targets. There's not going to be a lot of disagreement in the chamber about the value of our natural endowment in Scotland and certainly as a Scottish Conservative I believe in conserving and indeed restoring nature and I also recognise and agree that there is a correlation between our happiness and our mental health and the environment in which we're living. Especially the natural environment and therefore I think there's a lot of common ground so it's very disappointing but not surprising to hear Mark Ruskell's last intervention in Audrey Nicholl where somehow rather we managed to get Brexit into this and another go at the UK Government. This but it's worth saying that this Scottish Government, this SNP Government, Scottish Green Government is doing a polling job at delivering against its own ambitious plans in terms of Scotland's nature and I think the problem we've got in Scotland frankly is that a lot of good things do happen but they get lost because of the emphasis particularly from the Scottish Greens around more controversial aspects of nature restoration and I wish that specifically mentioned rewilding because while absolutely we should be focused on nature restoration it is important that we bring people along with us in respect to this very important aspect of the stewardship responsibilities we have for Scotland's natural endowment but rewilding I'm afraid is problematic because what we are effectively seeing happen before our very eyes in Scotland is a new wave of clearances where vast tracks of our countryside where people have been living are being vacated because there is no space for people with rewilding. Yes, of course. Mark Ruskell? Point, I mean it's very disappointing to hear Mr Kerr invoke the clearances. Is he honestly saying that rewilding projects that are brought forward by communities many of whom have applied successfully to nature restoration fund should be stopped? Is that what he is saying? That he doesn't support communities doing the rewilding, doing this work? Stephen Kerr? Against faceless organisations usually with headquarters outside of this country that are buying up tracks of land and then basically neglecting it and in the course of doing so you see, yes, you see clearances. You see people being taken out of those areas of our country because if you have rewilding on the scale that is happening in many parts of our country, what you have is you basically see jobs going, communities going, all the social infrastructure going, it's going to be done. The infrastructure going, it is a reckless piece of environmental vandalism. Of course I will. John Swinney? I'm grateful to Mr Kerr for giving me. I wonder if you could name an example of any area that he's concerned about? Stephen Kerr? Well there are many areas that I'm concerned about and I'm sure I can more than happy talk to John Swinney in subsequent to this debate about areas of interest that we share his mutual interest but can I just say that it's important that we listen to Scotland's farmers? That's the point I wish to make in my speech. I wish us to acknowledge that there are genuine concerns that are held by Scotland's farmers. There was a recent meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and a group of farmers sponsored by NFUS where one farmer was greeted with applause when he highlighted the fact that there were grave concerns about the nature of rewilding as it impacted their businesses. The quote that I have here from the article that I'm referring to from the courier last Saturday is that a farmer called Andrew Steele said that species such as golden eagles and beavers were all eradicated for a reason because they are vermin to farmers. In my opinion, the white elephant in the room today is that the SNP went into coalition with the Green Party to run the country. How can you actually run the country with statements? I will if I have time. I appreciate the member's being generous with his time but will he also reflect on the fact that there are farmers who have applied to the Nature Restoration Fund for species reintroduction, for riparian planting because it benefits their farms and it benefits the local community. Will he acknowledge that there are farmers who support the agenda and are financially benefiting from it? If Mark Ruskell were to listen rather than think about how he can next make an intervention, he would hear me say that I generally support nature restoration but I am raising genuine concerns that are being raised by Scotland's farmers and they deserve to be listened to and they also need to be worked with. You cannot work against the grain of opinion and I specifically want to mention the issue surrounding beavers because that has also been highlighted by NFUS. Particularly in relation to the recent flooding, Martin Kennedy has had something to say about that. Let me just conclude with this quote if I might. We need the Scottish Government and NatureScot to recognise that in some instances the scale of damage, flood damage, was exasperated by growing beaver activity, burying into and significantly weakening long-established flood banks. There is a whole bunch more that I could quote from, but the point is that we need to work with those who are currently the stewards of the land. We need to trust them and work with them and not against them as they currently feel threatened by the agenda of the Butehouse agreement. Thank you Mr Kerr. I now call Foisal Choudry to be followed by Mikey Chapman. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Nature can be used as a first line of defence against the impacts of the global climate crisis, but we cannot just look at protecting the existing nature and species that we have. We must also make targeted moves towards restoring what has been lost. This means building spaces in urban areas. It means investing in our rural lands and nature reserves. It means taking and integrating targeted and cross portfolio approaches. Scottish Pitlands holds unique carbon catching properties. In its 2023-2024 programme for government, the Scottish Government made a commitment to restore 10,700 hectares of degraded pitlands over the course of the next year. I welcome this investment in nature and climate restoration and hope to see the targets achieved this year. We need to focus on this just much as prevention in the fight against climate change. Presiding Officer, the climate and nature emergencies are deeply connected and must be tackled together. We are at a crucial turning point for nature restoration in Scotland. Investment in nature and our natural space is vital to reduce biodiversity decline. Scotland's native species inspire and sustain our health and culture. However, Presiding Officer, currently in Scotland, one in nine wildlife species are at risk of extinction. We need to evaluate and abundance and distribution of species in our natural spaces and monitor the extinction risk to ensure we are taking the right course of preventative action. We must also monitor the extent and quality of habitats for these species are up to standard. Targets for nature restoration must drive ambitious action across Scotland, across multiple levels and portfolios. Similar to the successful mainstreaming of climate change targets. However, finally, Presiding Officer, we must pair this great investment in Scottish nature with efforts to tackling climate change across the globe. A recent report on climate inequality by Oxfam outlined that the richest 1% of humanity are responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%. This week, I returned from a CPG visit to Bangladesh. There, we can see firsthand the impact that climate inequality is having in the global south. Going into COP 28, we must ensure that climate justice is also on the forefront of our minds. Nature restoration targets should also involve helping those countries disproportionately affected by the climate crisis adept to long-term climate related changes. Scotland needs to engage in multifaceted response. This means climate mitigation, adeption and support to ensure that climate justice for all countries can be realised on our global path to net zero and nature restoration. Thank you. I now call Maggie Chapman to be followed by Arianne Bridges. I congratulate my colleague Mark Ruskell on securing today's debate. As world leaders and others gather in Dubai at COP 28, it is right that we in Scotland's Parliament take some time to talk about the twin crises of climate and nature and the all-encompassing work that we need to do to create a liveable planet for future generations, both here in Scotland and around the world. It is clear that the climate and nature crises share the same underlying cause, our economic system that is based on extraction and exploitation of resources without regard for externalities, future consequences or the deterioration of the commons, because our climate and our natural resources are our commons. They also have intrinsic value and should not merely be considered important because of some commodified value that economic structures we create deem appropriate to give them. So today's debate is important to think carefully about how economic, social and environmental justice are inextricably linked, and therefore how we, as policy makers, need to consider the links and connections across the often messy web of life. The north-east of Scotland, the region I'm privileged to represent, has benefited significantly from the Nature Restoration Fund, mostly in rural areas, as might be expected. I'd argue that we need a wider view of what natures are worth supporting and restoring and not be limited by thinking that only some natures in some geographies matter. So I want to spend the rest of my time talking about a little spot in an urban environment that I think is worth championing, protecting and sustaining, the award-winning wetlands and reedbeds in Sudfertych's community park in Torry. The brainchild of SEPA as a way of making space for biodiversity and supporting local people, these reedbeds are relatively small, in a relatively small urban green space in Torry, surrounded by a community which is one of the most deprived in Scotland, with a life expectancy a decade lower than elsewhere in Aberdeen. Squished between industrial land and sewage works, a landfill site and incinerator, the park is the only accessible green space for this community. It is well-loved and well-used by people who live locally, mostly in tower blocks and flats. In stark contrast to the greyness of the heavy industry around them, the park and its wetlands and reedbeds are vibrant, varied places with a range of habitats, species, facilities and amenities for all to enjoy. Sudfertych's has what you might expect from a community park, but it also boasts areas of woodland, wet meadow, reedbed and diverse dried grasslands. And then there's the staggering biodiversity, over 40 species of breeding birds including nine red list and eight amber list species, over 115 plant species including a wonderful array of orchids, hundreds of invertebrate species that are still some of which being documented, and otters, deer and other mammals can be spotted in the reeds and woods. As autumn shifts into winter, we see migratory birds stopping over in the green spaces. Over winter we'll see substantial snipe populations. All the work done a little over a decade ago by the Aberdeen ranger service and SEPA has rarely paid off. What was a polluted, poor quality and inaccessible area is now an award-winning, bi-diverse wetland. This nature too is worth protecting and restoring. We must not compromise already marginalised people's health and wellbeing and the restored nature they currently enjoy in the mistaken belief that these smaller natures don't matter to the grander natures others have already spoken about. It would be, I think, a travesty for the wetlands and reeds and the wider park to be lost in the name of a so-called just transition. If this nature is lost, any transition will not be just. Thank you, Ms Chapman, and I now call Arianne Burgess. Ms Burgess. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I speak in this chamber at a time when we are deep into a nature emergency. That is the unavoidable backdrop to everything we do in this Parliament, but somehow it's not always foremost on the agenda, so I am grateful to my colleague, Mark Ruskell, for focusing our minds on it today. COP 28 starts tomorrow and there will be a renewed focus on how countries will meet their targets in the Paris Agreement to maintain a safe operating space for humanity and the nature that supports us, that makes our lives possible. That's why it is so important that we proceed with ambitious environmental policies, like the proposals on clean, green heating and warm green homes led by Green Minister Patrick Harvie. But despite Scotland leading the UK on decarbonisation of buildings, there is no way we can meet our climate targets without giving the same level of attention to nature. When our natural world is healthy and thriving, it's a key ally in our fight against climate change. But if humanity does not reverse rising emissions and nature loss soon, we will reach tipping points setting off a cascade of global warming and species extinction that we can't undo. The good news is that we still have a small window of time and we have people working tirelessly across Scotland to ensure our depleted natural world, to raise us up the global biodiversity league tables from our current spot, 28th from the bottom, out of 240 countries. Seagrass restoration work on Loch Creadnish is doing just that. It's led by the community with help from seawilding supported by the Nature Restoration Fund. Globally, seagrass captures carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. That project not only boosts biodiversity, but it also sequesters carbon and creates good green jobs. The Nature Restoration Fund, spearheaded by Green Minister Lorna Slater, is supporting several more projects in the Highlands and Islands this year. Protecting Gia's Woodland project will remove invasive species and create a system of hydro corridors across the island. Scots burns farms in Invergordon will plant aspen trees to provide habitat for our precious capricalee, and the Glencoe Habitat Recovery Project will restore woodlands, wetlands and peatlands in Glencoe National Nature Reserve. Llewyng and Scarba host the Turning the Tide project and in Baddanoch and Strasbeth there is work to restore five feisty species. Projects at least could go further and faster with multi-year funding, especially for a non-abased species, eradicating and preventing and prevention work, to benefit seabirds and other island wildlife and to eradicate rhododendron from rainforest habitat. A great deal of the work on the ground to meet our climate targets will take place in the Highlands and Islands. The Highlands and Islands has the land and the nature that is pivotal in this national effort, so we need to welcome and accommodate more people in the region to deliver more and more projects like these. That is why affordable rural housing is crucial. We need housing for workers and long-term homes to support stable growing communities. We also need to continue increasing support for farmers to integrate trees on their farm, restore peatland, manage water quality and create habitat mosaics. Finally, we must remember to keep our side of the bargain. Nature is powerful, but it cannot stop climate change alone. We humans in Scotland must continue to play our part by reducing emissions, supported by policies that we can pass in this Parliament. Let's work with nature, not against it, to stop climate change and protect our shared home. I now call on Minister Lorna Slater to respond to the debate around civil servants. Thank you very much to Mark Ruskell for bringing this debate and to all the members who have contributed today. It warms my heart so much to hear my colleague Maggie Chapman speak about how nature is our commons and that we should be celebrating the intrinsic value of nature. So many of my colleagues in the chamber here today have done exactly that, celebrating specific species that they have enjoyed seeing otters, specific projects that they have enjoyed seeing, specific champions of nature that they have been doing. Audrey Nicholl saying that she is the champion of the freshwater pearl. It is just wonderful to hear the commonality of treasuring nature and valuing it for its own sake, although we all acknowledge that restoration of nature can have benefits for us in terms of benefits for our communities and health, tackling this global health challenge, which is the consequence of our climate and nature emergencies, as well as sequestering the carbon that we know we need to do to keep global temperatures within a livable boundary. This is so much of a contrast to what Stephen Kerr was saying, calling golden eagles and beavers vermin. That is a real contrast to most people in the chamber who was valuing nature for its own sake. I think that that is a shame. Please, Stephen Kerr. To be absolutely clear, I was quoting a Scottish farmer who was using his experience of what he is having to deal with in terms of running his business. That is who said that. Would the minister not agree that we should be listening to Scotland's farmers when it comes to species like beavers and others that are causing their businesses and the landscape in which our food is growing damage? Absolutely, we need to be listening to farmers. I will give him the specific example of Argati, the site where they have received 65,000 pounds of nature restoration fund and had one of the first beaver sites in Scotland. I have seen their posts on the internet and their challenge to other farmers to match them and meet their goals of thriving nature alongside thriving and profitable farm businesses. So many farms in Scotland are doing terrific things. I have met within Nature Friendly Farming Network farmers doing organic farming, regenerative farming. There is really good work here, land managers who absolutely get that we can have thriving biodiversity alongside sustainable food production in Scotland. We have huge opportunities ahead of us to bring all farmers along on this journey as we reform agriculture subsidies to ensure that farmers get paid to do the right thing to produce sustainable food and to do the work to restore Scotland's biodiversity. I enjoyed very much the contributions of my fellow members when talking about the link between the nature emergency and the climate emergency. I am so glad that the conversation has moved to a point where we are discussing these things together and how they interconnect, how increasing global temperatures increases the risks to our nature, more diseases, more pests, more invasive species, native species struggling to thrive in warming climates. Mark Ruskell highlighted the issues, particularly around wild salmon and fish, which we know are so sensitive to temperatures and, of course, declining fish numbers affect our seabirds. The statistics on our seabird decline, 50 per cent decline in the seabirds, is absolutely devastating, sickening decline, and that is before the effects of avian flu have been taken into account. Those are absolute emergencies in our nature space. Things such as the Nature Restoration Fund and all the work that we are doing across Parliament on wildlife and mureburn bill, land reform, agriculture reform, the natural environment bill, all of those things together to turn that tide from one of loss and decline and damage. Mark Ruskell rightly pointed out that there has also been a 50 per cent decline in flowering plants in Scotland, as illustrated by the latest publication of the Plant Atlas. That's really something to think about, that our parents and grandparents lived in a world that had more flowers in it, and therefore more insects and therefore more birds. We live in a damaged and declined, a decimated nature space. We talk about how beautiful nature in Scotland is, but how beautiful it used to be when there was just more of it. So, working to stop that decline, to halt it by 2030, to substantially restore nature by 2045 is the goal of the Scottish Government, and the Nature Restoration Projects highlighted today are part of that goal, of course. Foil of Childry rightly mentioned our role as global citizens, and that we should consider in our nature targets how we interact with the global community. I would really be interested in hearing more on that, as we go forward to developing our targets in the natural environment bill. Of course, how we interact with the world as global citizens is important to tackling the climate and nature emergencies. Arianne Burgess highlighted the work that volunteers and workers do all over Scotland in restoring nature. That is true whether it is tackling invasive species, trapping mink, whether it is farmers planting wildflowers down the sides of their fields. So many people in Scotland are spending their free time and their working time to restore nature in Scotland. This is something that I absolutely celebrate. Arianne Burgess also highlighted that so much of our nature restoration funding is going to rural areas, to farmers and to our coastal communities. This is creating jobs, and Arianne Burgess gave us a specific example on the Seagrass project of job creation. Also, I can give further examples. For example, the Cairngorm Connect project, our largest landscape scale restoration project, now employs more people on that nature restoration project than were previously employed when that land was under other management types, which is a direct contradiction to what Stephen Kerr is claiming, without any concrete examples brought that jobs will be lost and the number of people reduced. Arianne Burgess is exactly right. We need more people in our rural areas, more people in islands and islands to do this work. We've got peatlands to restore, we've got forests to plant, we've got wildflowers to plant, we've got rivers to remiander, we have species to monitor and we have farmers and rural communities to support. That's a lot of work, that's a lot of jobs and I'm very proud of the work that the Nature Restoration Fund is doing for nature, jobs, rural and coastal communities in Scotland. Thank you very much. Thank you minister. That concludes the debate and I'll spend this meeting until 2.30pm. Thank you.