An insect found only in the north of Scotland, and under threat from a new golf course development, has been been put on the global Endangered list. The assessment means that Fonseca’s seed fly now joins tigers and Blue whales on the list of species at risk of global extinction.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published a global assessment for Fonseca’s seed fly (Botanophila fonsecai) which found the species to be globally Endangered.
The classification is the second most severe category in the internationally adopted system and is used for species that are likely to become extinct if current threats to their survival are not removed or avoided.
Fonseca’s seed fly is found on a short stretch of coast in northern Scotland and nowhere else in the world. It lives on the fragile dune systems that line the coast between Dornoch and Loch Fleet where it is thought to depend on plants such as ragwort and sow-thistles.
The IUCN assessment lists recreational pressures, development and climate change as the principal threats to the survival of the species. Nearly a third of its global range is currently threatened by proposals for a golf course at Coul Links north of Dornoch.
Craig Macadam, Conservation Director of Buglife said “This assessment places Fonseca’s seed fly in the same conservation category as the Asian elephant, Tigers and the Blue whale. We must do everything we can to ensure that the threats to this unique Scottish species are avoided and the species is allowed to thrive. We can start by throwing out damaging plans for a golf course at Coul Links that will see this species lost from a third of its global range.”
