Latest Briefing
Marine litter issues, impacts and action-contributing to a marine litter strategy for Scotland
Increasingly, policy makers and the public are experiencing the problem of litter in our seas and on our beaches. Marine litter has a substantial impact on Scotland’s society, economy and marine environment - in 2010, a total of 53,162 items of litter were collected on a sample of Scottish beaches (along a length of only 22.3 km.)
The term marine litter covers manufactured or processed solid material disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment from land- and sea-based activities. The majority consists of plastics, and is highly persistent in the marine environment, with the lifetime of plastics estimated between 100-1000 years.
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At the global scale, studies estimate that the greatest proportion (up to 80%) is from land-based sources, with similar proportions in Scotland. The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) (2010) revealed that the greatest proportions of litter originate from the public and non-sourced sectors (figure 1). In the MCS survey, an average of over 2380 items per km were found in Scotland, higher than the UK average of 1969 items/km. Plastic is dominant, accounting for 63.3% of marine litter at the UK level; an increase of 25% since 2009.
Published on 2 February 2012 in Sustainability and Communities , Climate, water and energy , Ecosystems and biodiversity
Recent Briefings
Putting 'Good Practice' in Context - Lessons for Catchment Management
In recent years, collaborative and cross-sectoral approaches have been recommended as the most effective and equitable way to achieve better water quality in catchments. Read more
Published on 6 December 2011 in Sustainability and Communities , Climate, water and energy , Ecosystems and biodiversity
Designing effective flood warning systems in Scotland
The risks from flooding can never be completely eliminated but the harm caused by floods can be greatly reduced or mitigated by effective flood warning systems. Read more
Published on 2 November 2011 in Climate, water and energy
High Nature Value Farming Indicators established for Scotland
A previous Knowledge Scotland Research Briefing (Identifying And Supporting High Nature Value Farming Systems, May 2009) has provided a background to the development of the European High Nature Value (HNV) farming systems concept. Read more
Published on 17 October 2011 in Ecosystems and biodiversity , Food, health and wellbeing
Clubroot in Oilseed Rape
Recent work at SAC, in collaboration with ADAS, has revealed that half of all oilseed rape fields in Scotland are infected with clubroot. Read more
Published on 26 September 2011 in Ecosystems and biodiversity , Food, health and wellbeing
Raising the competitiveness of Scotland's agri-food industry
This briefing discusses the results of a research project which aimed to indicate how Scottish agriculture and the wider agri-food industry can improve its competitiveness through raising productivity at both the farm production and food chain level. Read more
Published on 20 September 2011 in Food, health and wellbeing
River Basin Planning meets Spatial Planning
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), seen by many as a 'Sustainability Directive', strongly emphasises the need for closer ties between river basin management and land use planning. Read more
Published on 18 August 2011 in Climate, water and energy
Encouraging land-manager contributions to protecting and enhancing the water environment
The Scottish Government recognises water as a key resource that is “vital to life, to Scotland's economy and to our environment". Read more
Published on 9 August 2011 in Climate, water and energy
How to expand the market for ethical food products?
This note discusses ways in which the market of ethical food can be expanded based on lessons extracted from several pieces of research carried out by SAC Food Marketing Research team. Read more
Published on 19 July 2011 in Sustainability and Communities
Addressing farmland biodiversity concerns effectively in the Common Agricultural Policy
Farmland is one of the dominant land covers in Europe, covering over 45% (173 million hectares) of the European Union’s 27 Member States. Read more
Published on 19 July 2011 in Sustainability and Communities , Ecosystems and biodiversity
Nutrients, bioactive compounds, and immune function
Persistent, low-grade inflammation is associated with an impaired immune function. This is a key factor in the development of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and dysfunction of the gut. Read more
Published on 8 June 2011 in Food, health and wellbeing
