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Hurrah! Boris has announced new nature targets to help dodge the imminent ecological crisis!
Wait.
That's because we completely bombed on the last set of goals, which we had a DECADE to meet and now wildlife is clinging on by the skin of its teeth
Let's take a closer look: 1/10
Wait.
That's because we completely bombed on the last set of goals, which we had a DECADE to meet and now wildlife is clinging on by the skin of its teeth
Let's take a closer look: 1/10
Boris said 30% of the UK’s land will be protected by 2030.
In England 26% is already protected by law as national parks or AONBs, so it's really only a 4 percentage point increase here. 2/10
In England 26% is already protected by law as national parks or AONBs, so it's really only a 4 percentage point increase here. 2/10
Even then, such designations count for little, according to some, because the existing protections have not stopped widespread habitat and species decline. National parks have been described as 'barren landscapes'. 3/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1694818/national-parks-barren-landscapes-beacons-hope
RSPB says the government has overplayed its performance on existing intl goals. DEFRA said it had hit 7/20 but the RSPB puts the number at 3, claiming that while land is designated, much of it is in poor health and is not adequately monitored 4/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1694324/uk-nature-decline-much-worse-reported
DEFRA’s figs show UK nature locked in decline. The abundance & distribution habitats & species is crashing, farmland & woodland birds struggling, insects & pollinators deteriorating. In GB, 15% of species are classified as at risk of extinction 5/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1666529/sixth-extinction-uks-at-risk-species-fight-halt-natures-decline
Public ££ on UK biodiversity is evaporating
Money spent on nature crashed 2012-18. In 2017/18, £456m of UK public funding was allocated to biodiversity, a 29% decrease over the prev 5 years. It has slashed Natural England's budget to the bone. 6/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1683629/difficult-times-natural-england-overhauls-planning-licensing-monitoring-activity
Money spent on nature crashed 2012-18. In 2017/18, £456m of UK public funding was allocated to biodiversity, a 29% decrease over the prev 5 years. It has slashed Natural England's budget to the bone. 6/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1683629/difficult-times-natural-england-overhauls-planning-licensing-monitoring-activity
@julian_glover who led the gov’s landscapes review which concluded that national pks & AONBs are underfunded, poorly managed & in need of major reform, said the goals needed to be “backed with money & reform, not spreading what we have more thinly” 7/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1660303/overhaul-national-landscapes-governance-says-landmark-review
Gov knows what to do. It's had lots of reviews and reports on what must be done to arrest and reverse the decline in nature: Glover review, Dasgupta review, so many NGO reports, Nat Cap Com reports, NE reports, Lawton to name just a few! 8/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1682022/treasury-review-mismanagement-nature-institutional-failure-writ-large
There's hope in the form of the Ag and Env Bills. Ag contains a new subsidy scheme for farmers based on payments for env outcomes. Env contains a framework for setting long term env targets and mandates biodiversity net gain in new developments. 9/10 https://www.endsreport.com/article/1692214/environment-bill-government-unveils-initial-thinking-new-binding-targets
But it remains to be seen whether any of it will make a tangible difference. It is possible that we're at a turning point. It's just as possible that it turns out to be nothing but hot air. Let's hope it's the former. 10/10
