2024 will be a defining year for nature recovery because of the General Election. If the existing 2030 targets, of halting nature’s decline and protecting 30% of land and sea are to be met, the next government will have to do the bulk of the work. The Wildlife Trusts want to see all party manifestos include commitments that will trigger a new approach to restoring nature – at a time when the scale of wildlife decline has never been greater.  

Published in September 2023, the State of Nature report revealed that one in six species is in danger of going extinct in Great Britain; putting nature at greater risk than in previous iterations of this report. Despite this, there were repeated attempts to weaken regulations that protect nature such as the nutrient neutrality rules that prevent excessive pollution our streams and rivers through new development.  

The UK Government reneged on major environmental promises such as the ban on the sale of bagged peat compost, which has yet to be implemented despite years of consultations and missed targets. More positively, COP28 saw multiple references to the importance of nature including reference to the Global Biodiversity Framework and implicitly its 30 by 30 goal, as well as halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 – the first time the target date has been included as a formal outcome in the COP text. 

Nature is in desperate need of restoring – for wildlife, for our food security and for our climate – and Britain’s love of wildlife spans across the political divide. Surveys of Wildlife Trust members and the wider public demonstrate that, irrespective of voting choice, nature matters to everyone – with many calling out for political parties to offer bold plans ahead of the next election.  

While The Wildlife Trusts are at the forefront of helping nature recover on the ground by leading seagrass, rainforest and peatland restoration, community engagement and wildlife recovery programmes, it is vital that all political party manifestos reflect the scale of the task.  

The Wildlife Trusts would like to see politicians of all parties sign up to: 

1. Protect land for nature and tackle wider societal problems 

Implement a clear delivery plan to protect at least 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030 – part of which should include establishing a temperate rainforest programme. The UK Government has committed to do this but has only protected around 3% of land and a maximum of 8% at sea so far and has yet to come up with a clear plan to cover the shortfall.  

Delivering this ’30 by 30’ target would use nature-based solutions to buffer us from the worst effects of climate chaos, restoring and re-wiggling rivers to reduce flooding and drought, expanding tree cover to cool our towns and cities, bring back missing species like beavers that help slow down floodwater and reduce river pollution. 30% of land and sea means we can give Britain a secure future with greater safety and prosperity. 

2. Embrace nature to address the climate crisis 

Embrace the affordable, natural carbon solutions to the climate crisis by creating a proper set of unified government policies to address climate change and nature habitat restoration in tandem. This means prioritising the expansion of carbon-storing habitats like woodland and saltmarsh whilst reducing emissions and damage to nature by, for example, banning the sale of peat.  

This approach reduces conflict and unifies the goals of net-zero and nature restoration across all policy, as well as supporting greater resilience to climate change impacts. We must avoid undermining our net-zero goals through damage to the most precious protected ecosystems – for example, by setting a presumption against development of offshore wind farms in legally designated marine areas. 

3. Invest in the restoration of Britain’s rivers 

The state of our rivers is a national disgrace. The UK is ranked as one of the worst countries in Europe for water quality due to a toxic cocktail of sewage and agricultural pollution, which makes them unfit for people and wildlife. This is a crisis – and one that the public wants to see urgently resolved in 2024. 

Investing in the creation of natural habitat buffers for wildlife alongside rivers would help the natural world, improve water quality and protect both farmland and housing from devastating floods. A new river restoration programme could create protected Wildbelt areas alongside rivers and help to tackle the river pollution crisis.  

4. Build the homes that renew people’s right to nature 

People across Britain lack access to the wildlife-rich natural world that should be supporting their health and well-being. Young people lack access to affordable housing and children lack access to education that connects them to the natural world all around them. This is the social contract between generations, and it is being broken – there is less nature, fewer homes and less hope for our future. 

We need a planning system that ends the nature and climate crisis, and enables everyone to live longer, healthier, happier lives. This can be done by ensuring the planning system embraces housebuilding that properly protects vulnerable ecosystems and creates new communities with access to the vibrant, nature-rich environment that is fit for the future. Through a joined-up Land Use Framework, Marine Spatial Planning process, ambitious biodiversity net-gain and robust nature protections, we can give back the hope that building Britain’s future will add to rather than deplete the UK’s natural heritage.  

5. Secure the future of British farming 

The destruction of nature and the impacts of climate change are the biggest threats to food security in the UK. Food production relies on healthy soils, pollinators and resilience to a changing climate. But many farmers and land managers have gone to great lengths to support wildlife without being adequately rewarded. 

Farmers deserve to secure their future by accessing the well-funded, nature-positive farming schemes that restore our depleted nature whilst preserving food security. Through high quality advice, and robust and fair rules to protect nature on all farms, we can drive innovation and secure the future of a resilient rural economy. 

The Wildlife Trusts await, with great anticipation, the coming manifestos from the UK’s political parties, and hope to see the very serious issues facing nature and climate given due consideration and thought.  
For more information of our five priorities, see Our priorities for the next UK Government.