Interview with Gillian Mcknight

Head of Conservation at Scottish Agricultural College

Gillian Mcknight is knowledgeable about agriculture in Scotland. She is also an expert in Scottish species and those that are at risk or endangered. In response to my questions she talked about climate change and food security as being the major ecological problems in Scotland today. In a culture of cheap food and materialism it is easy not to look beneath the shiny surface to the chemicals and harmful effects. Industrialized food has high inputs in terms of chemicals. Degraded landscapes lead to loss of biodiversity as wildplants are killed off or lose their native habitat. She mentioned the decline of bee populations which will contribute to lower yields and loss of fertility. Global warming in Scotland also contributes to loss of mountain alpine habitats and therefore to the fragile species that live in these unique zones.