New campaign calls for a ‘legal right to local nature’ in Levelling Up reforms

New campaign calls for a ‘legal right to local nature’ in Levelling Up reforms - Wildlife and Countryside Link

Government levelling up plans will fail unless they include levelling up access to nature, warn 60+ organisations in a major new cross-sector campaign
New research finds 85% of people in nature-deprived areas say more natural spaces would improve their quality of life
83% of Brits want greater protections to stop nature loss to development, and 85% say accessible natural spaces should be a much higher priority in new developments.
80% of Brits want a ‘legal right to local nature’, with 83% saying having access to local natural spaces is more important post-pandemic

More than 60 nature, planning, health and equality organisations have today (21 Feb) launched a new ‘Nature For Everyone’ campaign, calling for a ‘legal right to nature’ to be a key component of the Government’s Levelling Up reforms.

The calls follow the recent publication of the Levelling Up White Paper, by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Local Communities. The coalition behind the campaign have today launched a petition and written to Secretary of State Michael Gove calling for Government to:

make equal access to thriving natural spaces a key measure of success for Levelling Up
set legal duties in Levelling Up legislation for developers and public bodies to provide equal access to nature-rich green and blue spaces for everyone
provide funding for locally-accessible nature-rich spaces including extending the Levelling Up Fund to green and blue infrastructure projects.

New research from Wildlife and Countryside Link on access to nature, has also been published today. This shows: a huge public demand for more and better natural spaces; the massive benefits this could have for our communities (particularly the most deprived and excluded); and the need for national and local leaders to deliver. See detail below and a full breakdown here.

Our new research shows that: 80% of the British public support a legal right to local nature; 83% want greater protections to prevent valued natural spaces being lost to building development; and 85% say it should be a priority for all new housing developments to include accessible natural spaces. The ‘Nature For Everyone’ coalition is calling on the Government to respond to this huge public demand, and need, for more local accessible nature-rich public spaces and better planning protections for nature, by adding a ‘legal right to local nature’ to forthcoming Levelling-Up legislation.

Find out more about the campaign and sign the petition to the Government for a ‘legal right to local nature’ at www.wcl.org.uk/nature-for-everyone or bit.ly/nature-everyone