The big issues
Restoring Nature
Most people agree that wildlife and wild places are valuable for their own sake. We now know from research across the globe that a healthy, wildlife-rich natural world is essential for our wellbeing and prosperity. But wildlife has been getting less and less common, on land and at sea, for decades. Wild places are more scarce, smaller and more isolated. There is less nature and greenery in the places where we live and work. And not everyone has equal access to nature or the benefits it brings. Nature needs to recover – for the sake of wild plants and animals, and for everything it brings us: better health, climate control, flood management, enjoyment, employment and more. To make this happen, we need to change the way we look after our land and seas. We need a Nature Recovery Network to put space for nature at the heart of our farming and planning systems; to bring nature into the places where most people live their daily lives.
The State of Nature Reports
The UK is now one of the “most nature-depleted countries in the world” with more than one in seven species facing extinction and more than half in decline, according to the State of Nature Report 2016. Species at risk of extinction include one of the icons of the British countryside: the kingfisher. Other animals in decline include the water vole, curlew, hedgehog, turtle dove and willow tit. Of the nearly 8,000 species assessed using modern Red List criteria, 15 per cent are threatened with extinction from Great Britain. “A new measure that assesses how intact a country’s biodiversity is, suggests that the UK has lost significantly more nature over the long-term than the global average. The index suggests that we are among the most nature-depleted countries in the world.” The UK’s wildlife continues to decline according to the State of Nature Report 2019. The latest findings show that since rigorous scientific monitoring began in the 1970s there has been a 13% decline in average abundance across wildlife studied and that the declines continue unabated.
Natural England Chair Tony Juniper said: “More needs to be done to achieve the ambitions of the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan to reverse nature’s decline so that our children can experience and benefit from a richer natural environment.” But there is hope. Well-planned conservation projects can turn around the fortunes of wildlife. The report gives examples of how governments, non-governmental organisations, businesses, communities and individuals have worked together to bring nature back.
Engaging with nature
More people than ever before are concerned about damage to nature, new national statistics published today (3 September 2019) by Natural England show.
In the world’s biggest scientific study of its kind, Natural England’s ‘Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment’ (MENE) report shows that nine out of ten adults in England are concerned about increasing threats to the natural environment, with nearly two-thirds specifically worried about biodiversity loss:
Strategies for Nature
Government strategies for biodiversity have been contained in various documents. They are important because they help determine how biodiversity can be influenced at the local level.
Government Strategy
The Government published its 25-year Environment Plan to improve the environment on 11 January 2018. Launching the plan, the Prime Minister identified "the protection and enhancement of the natural environment as a "central priority" for the Government as part of delivering its manifesto pledge to “be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it”.
A number of changes to government policy have been emerging as a result of this strategy:
The Agriculture Act will set out how farmers and land managers will in future be paid for “public goods”, such as better air and water quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding.
The Environment Act will mandate "Net Biodiversity Gain" through the planning system.
The Act will require the preparation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies, a tool to direct action for nature, and place an emphasis on supporting local leadership of nature improvement.
Public authorities will have a greater duty “to conserve and enhance biodiversity”. Under the amended clause public authorities will have to consider what action they can take to “further the general biodiversity objective” of conserving and enhancing biodiversity.
Somerset Wildlife Trust
Somerset Wildlife Trust launched a project in October 2019 to define key priorities for wildlife in Somerset.
It states: "Despite huge efforts by ourselves over the past 50 years, and the work of other statutory and NGO partners, biodiversity continues to decline across Somerset in all but a few protected sites, there are fewer wild places, and those that exist are smaller, less wild and more polluted, making it harder for wildlife to survive. Climate breakdown is exacerbating these pressures, further threatening the survival of many species. We simply need to do more. And faster."
South Somerset District Council
SSDC published an environment strategy in October 2019:
"We will work with the County ecological team and Local Nature Partnership to ensure the principles of nature recovery networks are understood at a local level and can be translated into action on the ground.......For nature conservation to be truly effective each resident and community must be enabled to make a difference in their garden or parish. This grass roots effort must be linked into county and regional nature networks that will bring the biggest and most powerful outcomes for ecosystems."