Following the elections for the Scottish Parliament the Scottish National Party (SNP) have returned to government but with some interesting changes. Roseanna Cunningham the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform retired at the election. Fergus Ewing did not retire but his post as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism no longer exists. Instead the post of Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands has been created and Mairi Gougeon has been appointed to this challenging role.

Probably few in conservation will be sorry to see Fergus Ewing lose a cabinet role. Many would see his approach to gamekeepers and fish farmers amongst others as too accepting. Roseanna Cunningham tried hard but most of her achievements in wildlife protection came as a result of actions by others in particular the Green Party MSPs. It will be interesting to see how much legislation on wildlife crime is pushed to the fore now that Alison Johnstone from the Green Party is Presiding Officer. The role gives her a casting vote but precludes much of the work she has previously undertaken in support of wildlife. Hopefully others will move to fill the gap and maintain the pressure without which little may happen.

Andy Wightman who stood as an independent candidate for the Highlands and Islands following his resignation for the Green Party was not returned to Holyrood. This is a loss as Andy has done much good work on land ownership, land reform and wildlife crime.

We will watch with interest to see how things pan out. Clearly for some in Scotland wildlife crime will be seen as a small matter amidst the turbulent seas of Covid and an independence referendum. Others will wish to see a recovery from Covid that puts nature at the heart of all lives rather than seeing it as a special area that is the province of a few landowners and their servants to the exclusion of everyone else. No doubt the S.N.P. government will also be giving consideration to demonstrating what differences independence would make to Scotland. Perhaps presenting a country where the natural heritage is managed by and for the many rather than destroyed by a selfish few might be a line they would wish to take? To some it might seem over ambitious to seek to run all the aspects of a modern country when you can’t even manage to protect its wildlife effectively.