We confronted NatureScot at their biodiversity conference.
We had to point out the elephant in the room.
Yesterday morning, as delegates arrived to the Biodiversity + Business live conference in Edinburgh, they were greeted by a chorus of protestors.
Protesting a biodiversity conference? What’s that about?
We weren't protesting biodiversity - we were protesting the fact that NatureScot, the conference co-host, is giving out licences for the Guga hunters to bash Gannet seabird chicks to death every year. I can hardly believe this is the reality we find ourselves in, that Scotland’s nature agency is allowing native, amber-listed seabirds to be decimated for a deeply cruel and outdated tradition, then get on stage and present themselves as champions of biodiversity.
Well yesterday morning we made sure that contradiction couldn’t be ignored.
The conference brought together ‘senior leaders in Business biodiversity’ and was attended by NatureScot, Scottish government ministers, and UK business leaders.
The vast majority of delegates responded positively to the demonstration, with many smiling, giving a thumbs-up or expressing a few words of support. I’m not sure why that surprised me. Maybe I'm just used to seeing institutions close ranks. But it gave me hope that many of the people inside that conference and rubbing shoulders with NatureScot expect better from them too.
Another cool and unexpected thing happened when staff from the venue at the Royal College of Physicians came out and asked if they could have one of our placards to put into their museum archives. We hope that placard becomes a historical artefact sooner rather than later.
Only one attendee reacted angrily, lashing out at us and threatening to call the police on the lawful protest. We think the outrage would have been better directed towards the people brutally killing Gannet chicks every year - or towards NatureScot for permitting it.
We were targeting the wrong people, she said. But that’s where she’s wrong - NatureScot are the principal decision makers on the Guga hunt licence. They could easily stop it from going ahead. And they must.
August 3rd is their decision day. The countdown is officially on. And we’ll be doing absolutely everything in our power to ensure that decision ends with the Guga hunt licence being refused, giving Sula Sgeir’s Gannets the chance to spread their wings and fly.
We’re closer than ever. But it’s not over yet.
On 3 August, NatureScot will decide whether to end the Guga hunt - or license it again.
We’ll do everything we possibly can to secure the right decision. But if NatureScot gets it wrong, we need to be ready to take the fight further, including through legal action, and that costs money.
Please help us get this campaign over the line by becoming a monthly donor. If you donate today, we’ll send you a limited edition Gannet plushie as a reminder of the birds that you are helping to save :)
I am really worried that if they do not "BAN" the "GUGA HUNT", someone, sometime, somewhere, will take the decision into their own hands and do something drastic and someone will get hurt, that's the last thing we need, but things are really "HOTTING" up, over the "KILLING/MURDER" of the innocent chicks, they are "NATURES CREATURES", and deserve life, not their heads being "SMASHED" in, "SICK" "SICK" "SICK".
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that NatureScot actually does the decent thing, protecting the wildlife they are responsible for instead of actively permitting its slaughter. I'm astonished that there's even a discussion about it. Conserving nature should be second nature to these people. There is no valid argument in favour of carrying on the Guga hunt. 'Tradition' is never enough. If they allow this barbarism to continue it will seal the deal: NatureScot is not fit for purpose, and the people who run it should be replaced asap before they can do any more harm.