Dramatic increase of £1.2bn extra per year is needed to restore nature say The Wildlife Trusts
Today (Tuesday 31 January) the Government’s much anticipated Environmental Improvement Plan is published. It sets out how the Government is going to achieve their manifesto commitment to ‘deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth’. But with less than seven years left to meet the Government’s target to halt the decline of nature by 2030, this plan must deliver a huge shift in action and ambition to reverse the chronic loss of wildlife.
New legally-binding targets for nature were recently passed under the Environment Act and a landmark international agreement was reached at COP15 – so today’s new policy measures must be capable of ensuring that nature can recover. It is widely acknowledged that wildlife declines will persist for several years before reversal can be achieved, even under optimal conditions.
It’s been five years since the UK Government launched the 25 Year Environment Plan, their first Environmental Improvement Plan. Despite its guiding promise to “leave the environment in a better state for the next generation” the plan has failed to stop the catastrophic loss of nature. Recently the Office for Environmental Protection warned that the Government was not on track to meet any of its 23 environmental targets set out in the Plan.
While The Wildlife Trusts welcome the Government’s renewed focus on delivery of nature restoration and improving people’s access to the natural environment, there are significant concerns.
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Posted On: 31/01/2023