A recent trip to Scotland drove home to me the crisis we can create if we ignore our abuse of the environment.
Scotland looks like an idyllic land of “Highlands and Heather” in tourism photos, but a recent national research program run by the government confirmed that the Scottish environment is bordering on total collapse.
Less than one percent of its land mass still maintains its natural diversity of plants and animal life. Deforestation of the country during the 18th and 19th century eradicated vast tracts of forestland with no plans to replant. The lumber was used to build England’s massive fleet of sailing ships. What was left of the landscape was turned into pastures for sheep and cattle grazing, further degrading the soil.
When World War I and World War II came along, the UK realized they were cut off from other sources of lumber on the continent, so the government then planted large swaths of trees most suitable for the industries they wanted to serve. Single-species tree plantations popped up all over the country, further overwhelming natural biodiversity.
The result of three centuries of colonial exploitation and bad land management? Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, ranking 28th from the bottom out of 240 countries/territories in terms of biodiversity. Animal life has declined by 15% in the past 30 years, with some species declining as much as 43%. Barely 3% of wooded land in the country is in what is called “favorable conditions“.
Many Scots are disturbed by the condition of their nation, and they are making strides to reverse this degradation. Yet they are running up against exploitation practices by their own government in the form of offshore oil drilling. Much like here in the United States, the campaign to run interference on climate restoration has to do with major oil industries who argue with economic reasons, much like they did in the 18th and 19th centuries . The song remains the same: money over nature.
Increasingly, the Scots are having none of it. They are so adamant in their opposition to more oil wells off the shores of their nation it has revitalized the separation movement of Scotland from the rest of the UK. They intend not to repeat the mistakes of the 18th and 19th centuries.
We would do well to keep our eye on what’s going on in Scotland, and learn from them how to reverse the trend that has put them in such a precarious position. If we are aware of what’s happening in our economy and culture, we can see that we may be looking at our future as we look to Scotland's condition today. Let us hope that the future for Scotland is good, for that means that our future can be good as well, if we have the courage to face it.