Scotland's seabirds face 'dire' future as five more species added to endangered red list
dailyrecord.co.ukScotland's seabirds face a “dire” future without urgent action, conservationists warn, after five more species joined the red list of threatened species.Climate change, loss of food sources, overfishing and avian flu have piled pressure on wild Scots birds and contributed to declining populations, a new RSPB report found.
And its findings have seen five new seabird types, the Leach’s storm petrel, common gull, great black-backed gull, Arctic tern and great skua all join the UK’s red list of greatest conservation concern - meaning they’re at risk of national extinction.Half of all the UK’s seabirds are found in Scotland.
The research means that of the 23 seabird species that make their home and raise their young in Scotland, nine are now included in the red list with 12 on the Amber list and two on Green.Scotland’s great skua population - a species particularly badly hit by bird flu - amounts to more than half of the whole world’s population.Meanwhile, Scotland’s gannets, which were already on the red list, are about half the world total.Helen McLachlan, head of marine policy for RSPB Scotland, said: “This latest health check on our seabird populations reveals devastating declines in the overall status of the UK’s breeding seabirds.“As Scotland is the UK’s seabird stronghold it is clear that this is a ‘house is burning’ moment and the time for action is now. Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. "As an island nation it is perhaps not surprising that we are globally important for seabird populations but what has really shocked us is the sheer number of our seabird species now on the red list.“We need urgent action from the Scottish Government to
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