Mr
Fergusson said the ecosystem had been "virtually wiped out" by the
crayfish in Loch Ken
A
Scots loch has seen its biodiversity virtually wiped out by an "invasive
alien species", according to an MSP.
Alex
Fergusson said North American signal crayfish had "almost completely
destroyed" the biodiversity of Loch Ken in Dumfries and Galloway.
Holyrood
is updating its strategy on the subject with a a global target to halt
biodiversity loss by 2020.
Mr
Fergusson said the situation on the loch showed there was a "lot of ground
to make up" on the problem.
"I
look out on to Loch Ken in Galloway from my home, a loch within which the
biodiversity has been almost completely destroyed by the frighteningly rapid
and completely unchecked and uncontrolled expansion of American signal
crayfish," said the Conservative MSP.
Ecosystems
under threat
"An
ecosystem has been virtually wiped out, ironically, within the Galloway and
South Ayrshire biosphere now recognised by Unesco as 'a good way to demonstrate
good nature conservation'.
"This
is a slightly odd way to demonstrate it."
He
said it mirrored the situation worldwide where ecosystems were under threat.
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