Meeting of the Parliament

Time for Reflection Mike Pilavachi MBE, Senior Pastor, Soul Survivor, Watford Church followed by Topical Questions Rhoda Grant S6T-00750 1. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect communities from off-market land sales by so-called green lairds. Graham Simpson S6T-00745 2. To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans it has in place should train drivers reject the latest pay offer, in light of the reported hundreds of cancellations at the weekend. followed by Ministerial Statement: Investing in Scotland's Future followed by Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and Social Justice and Social Security Committee Debate: Tackling Drug Deaths and Drug Harm followed by Decision Time followed by Members' Business — S6M-03023 Colin Smyth: Ethical Principles in Wildlife Management That the Parliament notes reports that thousands of animals and birds are taken and killed in wildlife management operations every year, including in the South Scotland region; considers that these are sentient beings that are capable of experiencing pain and suffering; notes the view that Scotland should lead the way in sustainable and humane interaction with the wild animals in the environment; notes the belief that wildlife management should be governed by ethical principles, such as the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control, which recommend that efforts to control wildlife should, wherever possible: alter the human practices that cause human-wildlife conflict and develop a culture of coexistence, be justified by evidence that significant harms are being caused to people, property, livelihoods, ecosystems, and/or other animals, have measurable outcome-based objectives that are clear, achievable, monitored, and adaptive, minimise animal welfare harms and be confined to the fewest number of animals, be informed by community values as well as scientific, technical, and practical information, be integrated into plans for systematic long-term management, and be based on the specifics of the situation rather than negative labels such as “pest” or “overabundant”, and notes the view that there are opportunities to integrate ethical principles into the Scottish Government’s strategic approach to wildlife management and its species licensing review.