Tuesday, 1st July 2008
Scotland leads the way in Europe on environmental issues
Dear Sirs,
It is good to see Scotland leading the way in Europe on environmental issues. As European officials are considering resurrecting a controversial soils directive that was thrown out by farm ministers six months ago, Scotland has made the leap and launched a consultation on a new soil framework.
The heavily criticised European Soils directive that caused so much anger from Member States before it was ditched last December, would have imposed a one-size-fits-all approach to soil management – and considerably added to the legislative burden – across Europe. A soil framework is a useful tool to help combat erosion and protect one of Scotland’s most valuable assets, our landscape. Soils are currently victims of climate change and poor development – particularly our peat bogs, which are attracting relentless development pressure from windfarm companies, oblivious to the fact that they actually release more CO2 than they save by building giant turbines on peatland. I have been a strong campaigner against the building of windfarms on peat and feel this consultation is a step in the right direction.
Soil management seems to make sound environmental sense and is an important step in maintaining Scotland’s unique landscapes.
Struan Stevenson MEP
