Natural Environment White Paper

The UK's wildlife is under threat

For decades we have been slowing the decline in biodiversity by protecting small oases of wildlife in nature reserves, as an emergency measure. Some wonderful places have been saved but outside these protected areas, natural habitats have been lost on an unprecedented scale. 97% of our wildflower meadows have disappeared, and 90% of our heathland too. As the demand for land for agriculture, housing and development increased, so the space for wildlife and natural processes decreased. Woodlands have been cleared, wetlands drained, rivers straightened and hedgerows removed. As a result:

• Water now flows more quickly through the landscape into our towns and cities
• Valuable soils have been washed or blown away, undermining the ecological security of our communities
• Statistics abound of how wildlife is struggling to thrive, restricted as it is to such isolated patches. That struggle will get harder as our climate changes.

We need a healthy natural environment

People are suffering too from a profound separation from the natural world. This is bad for our health, our happiness and our future. We depend upon natural processes for clean water, food, flood protection and climate control – for our ecological security and economic stability.

A recovery plan for nature

A Living Landscape

The Wildlife Trusts have a vision for A Living Landscape. This is a recovery plan for nature, championed since 2006, to help create a resilient and healthy environment rich in wildlife and provide ecological security for people.

Nature needs to work at a landscape-scale

At the heart of this vision is the restoration of the natural environment. However, we find ourselves working amidst an array of policies and mechanisms that determine how land is used and managed. Few of these were designed with nature in mind and there has been scant legislation for the creation of new habitats on a significant scale or to encourage restoration. The Wildlife Trusts are now looking for the Government to deliver real improvements and invest in the long term to help society achieve its ambitions for nature.

Foundations for the Future

We have produced a document which sets out seven steps that we see as Foundations for the Future and which should be included within the White Paper:

1. Set out a new vision - be ambitious about the restoration and recovery of the natural environment and all the systems which underpin it.
2. Protect and enlarge ‘core’ wildlife-rich areas - value and conserve existing protected places such as Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) which lie at the heart of this new era for nature conservation. They cannot be allowed to be traded in or to erode.
3. Put wildlife back on the map - map out priority areas for restoration on a landscape scale. To create connections between core wildlife areas in the form of corridors and stepping stones to provide connectivity for wildlife across the landscape.
4. Give wildlife room to manoeuvre - set out policies and incentives which protect and maximise the value of areas already rich in wildlife. Expand and buffer these areas and make the wider landscape more wildlife-friendly.
5. Restore natural processes - such as flood protection, carbon absorption, crop pollination and water filtration, so they can operate to their full potential for people and wildlife. All are fundamental to our health, well-being and a successful economy.
6. Ensure there is wildlife everywhere - inspire every community to develop local solutions to the particular challenges for restoring nature in their area.
7. Inspire a new type of partnership - act together with central and local government, agencies, the private sector and voluntary bodies to inspire and enable cross-boundary co-operation. And support the voluntary sector in its delivery.