Seabird Census

That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the global importance of Scotland’s seabird populations; underscores what it believes is their status as one of Scotland's, and the world’s, most precious biodiversity treasures; welcomes the publication of the latest Seabird Census across Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which provides evidence on the status and trends in those populations; understands that the census reveals that, of the 20 species for which there is confidence in the trends in Scotland, 14 species (70%) have declined since the last census 20 years ago; further understands that Scotland's seabird abundance index declined by 49% between 1986 and 2019; considers that the census was conducted before highly pathogenic avian influenza further devastated the seabird population; notes with concern reports that, of the three Scottish seabirds shown by the census to have increased, two of these, the northern gannet and great skua, are thought to be most severely affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza; believes that the success of conservation measures, such as the Shiants Islands Seabird Recovery Project, the Biosecurity for LIFE project and the monitoring and mitigation of seabird bycatch globally, signal that it is possible to take constructive action for seabirds that will help them recover and build their resilience to current and future pressures, and believes that the forthcoming Scottish Seabird conservation strategy and the strategic framework for biodiversity, which is currently under consultation, should deliver urgent and ambitious action to reverse what it sees as the catastrophic trends in Scotland’s seabirds.