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Green candidate visits wildlife sanctuary

Scottish Greens Shetland by election candidate Debra Nicolson visited Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary on Saturday to discuss the impacts of climate change and plastic pollution on local wildlife.

Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary has been rescuing and rehabilitating sick, injured and abandoned seals and otters so they can be safely released back into the wild where they belong for over thirty years. The centre also helps coordinate a network of volunteers who rescue whales, dolphins and porpoises that occasionally strand or become entangled on the Shetland coastline.

Debra Nicolson said:

“I was pleased to visit Hillswick at the weekend to see the tremendous work undertaken to protect and rehabilitate our precious wildlife. We know that the climate crisis and the scourge of plastic pollution means that it is far more likely that our marine wildlife could be injured.

"The Greens have produced a comprehensive plan for tackling plastic pollution and only recently our proposal to introduce a levy on disposable cups was adopted by the Scottish Government, meaning we can reduce the 200,000 of these that litter our towns throughout Scotland.”

Pete Bevington of Hillswick Wildlife Sanctury said:

“We speak to hundreds of visitors from all over the world who come to Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary every summer and these days the one subject on almost everyone’s lips is climate change. People are extremely concerned about the future and the lack of action being taken by governments to address the climate crisis.”