That the Parliament notes that 2 February 2025 marked the 29th annual World Wetlands Day, with this year’s theme being "Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future", and appreciates that it has been 54 years since the adoption of the Ramsar Convention; celebrates Scotland’s wetlands as important sites for biodiversity that provide unique and productive habitats to a range of rare, threatened and declining species of plants, mammals, birds, fish and invertebrates; welcomes the carbon storing capability of wetlands, which, it understands, can act as a frontline defence against the climate crisis; highlights that wetlands provide a host of essential ecosystem services to society, including filtering drinking water and mitigating flood risks; understands that 51 wetland sites across Scotland are designated under the Ramsar Convention, including Insh Marshes, Nigg and Udale and Forsinard Flows in the Highlands and Islands region, and welcomes the commitment of the Scottish Government to protect at least 30% of Scotland’s land and sea for nature by 2030, in addition to restoring the appropriate level of protection to those of Scotland’s wetlands that are Ramsar sites.
Supported by:
Karen Adam, Maggie Chapman, Jackie Dunbar, Kenneth Gibson, Emma Harper, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, John Mason, Stuart McMillan, Marie McNair, Audrey Nicoll, Alex Rowley, Mark Ruskell, Paul Sweeney, David Torrance, Evelyn Tweed