Hansard

We move to the next item of business, and I ask those who are leaving the public gallery to please do so quickly and quietly—thank you.

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-10364, in the name of Jackie Dunbar, on world rivers day 2023. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament marks World Rivers Day 2023, which takes place on 24 September and is a celebration of the world’s waterways; commends the organisations, communities and land managers implementing landscape scale initiatives that improve stewardship of rivers; appreciates what it sees as the value of catchment scale initiatives and networks in connecting projects and communities together to maximise the benefits; considers that nature-based solutions, when successfully implemented, can lead to healthy, dynamic, resilient river systems, delivering multiple benefits to interconnected species such as sea trout, Atlantic salmon and freshwater pearl mussels, among others; recognises what it considers the seriousness with which the Scottish Government is treating Scotland’s declining salmon stocks; further recognises the Wild Salmon Strategy and its objectives and priority themes; understands the interconnectivity within the ecosystem, where pressures such as water temperature, extreme flow events, nutrient enrichment and pollution can be substantial and cumulative; acknowledges Scottish Water’s improving urban waters route map, which is backed by £500 million of investment; understands that SEPA’s recent results show that 66% of Scotland’s water bodies are in good condition or better, compared with just 16% elsewhere in the UK, and considers that implementing nature-based solutions can mitigate such pressures, delivering multiple benefits by boosting biodiversity, reducing diffuse pollution and reducing river temperatures in the Aberdeen Donside constituency in Scotland, and in the rest of the UK.