Scotland faces a defining moment in balancing food production, nature recovery and economic prosperity, cabinet secretary for climate action and rural affairs Gillian Martin has said, warning that the collapse of nature poses a direct threat to human survival.
Speaking at a NatureScot reception at the Royal Highland Show, Martin backed a new statement of common ground produced by NatureScot’s Food and Nature Roundtable, bringing together food producers, environmental organisations, land managers and fisheries representatives.
She argued that Scotland’s long-term prosperity depends on breaking down traditional divides between environmental protection and food production.
“Scotland’s long-term food security, prosperity and public wellbeing 100% depend on healthy natural systems,” Martin said. “It is not a choice between production or the environment.”
Highlighting the scale of the challenge, she added: “If Steven Spielberg made a disaster movie that wasn’t about alien invasion or the world freezing over, but about the collapse of nature, we might finally focus minds – because the collapse of nature will have an impact on human survival.”
Martin said the previous parliamentary term had focused on setting targets, but that the current Parliament must focus on delivery through partnerships rather than government action alone.
The statement, developed through NatureScot’s Food and Nature Roundtable, commits signatories to work together on regenerative agriculture, nature restoration and sustainable sea management while maintaining profitable food production and thriving rural communities.
NatureScot chairman Colin Galbraith described the initiative as an attempt to find common ground in what can often be a polarised debate.
“We’re in the midst of a nature and climate emergency, and from my point of view we’re really just at the beginning of that emergency,” he said.
Galbraith argued that food security and ecosystem restoration should be viewed as matters of national resilience, warning that Scotland’s ability to produce food would be threatened if ecosystems continue to decline globally.
“Healthy nature and a successful economy go hand in hand – it’s nature and the economy, not nature or the economy,” he said.
Support for the approach came from across the food, farming, fisheries and environmental sectors. Scottish Land & Estates chief executive Sarah-Jane Laing said the process had ensured rural voices were heard, while Scottish Food Commission chair Dennis Overton praised NatureScot for bringing together groups that would not normally share the same table.
Scottish Environment LINK chief executive Gemma Long said there was ‘hope’ in collaborative action, while Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Elspeth Macdonald stressed that sustainable food production at sea depended on healthy marine ecosystems and adaptive management in the face of changing conditions.
The statement’s signatories said urgent action was needed but insisted that environmental recovery, food production and rural livelihoods could be advanced together rather than in competition.
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