Transform UK land use approach for a sustainable future - British Ecological Society

A new report published today (12 June) by the international environmental charities Zoological Society of London and the British Ecological Society shows how changes to our land use can benefit nature, climate and people.

Reorganising land use in the UK to secure a sustainable future that works for both people and nature will require coordinated action and systems level changes with profound ramifications for food, energy production and housing development. This is according to the new report: Prioritising Land Use in the Midst of a Climate and Nature Emergency, published today by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the British Ecological society (BES).

The report, which sets out both the benefits of a coordinated approach to land use and how this can be achieved at scale, is the result of discussions at the Land Use Summit held at ZSL, London, earlier this year.

The report calls for the next UK government to take the lead on land use and adopt an integrated approach across departments. The report also makes clear that with the finite land we have, we need to be smart and prioritise land use opportunities with multiple goals such as farming productively but in ways that maximise biodiversity and including nature-friendly spaces within new housing developments.

We also need to underpin all of this with strong science and good data so that we understand what works and what doesn’t and where we have gaps in our knowledge. This will require investments in efforts to monitor ecological, economic and social changes relating to land use, and using these to build reliable models that can be used to guide decision-making.