Eighty one per cent of UK adults believe nature is under threat and that more needs to be done urgently to protect and restore it, according to polling out today from the National Trust, the RSPB and WWF.
Almost half (48%) are willing to take action themselves to reverse the damage but 42% don’t feel empowered to do so.
The results come as three of the UK’s biggest conservation charities join forces with celebrity champions Maisie Williams and Cel Spellman to launch the People’s Plan for Nature, inviting the nation to have its say on how the UK solves the ongoing nature crisis.
Through both a UK-wide conversation and the UK’s first ever citizen’s assembly for nature, the charities are inviting people to share their ideas and together develop a set of public demands to tackle the nature crisis - calling on Prime Minister Liz Truss and new Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena to take rapid action.
This summer the UK has seen an unprecedented heatwave, drought and an ongoing failure to address pollution across UK waterways, yet nature and climate remained low on the priority list in the Conservative leadership hustings. The new Prime Minister has already moved towards an expansion of fossil fuel extraction in the UK, instead of prioritising a rapid shift to renewables and a drive towards energy efficiency in our homes that would make us truly energy secure while cutting bills. If the Prime Minister also delays supporting farmers in adopting nature friendly approaches, it does not bode well for our struggling natural habitats, nor the wildlife that depends on them.
Respondents to the poll released today were asked to select up to three things they’d most want to see in their local area to improve nature and wildlife; the suggestions with the highest percentages were, in order:
More on:
Posted On: 30/09/2022