David Cameron sets out plans to improve biodiversity

17th April, 2009

In a speech to the Wildlife Trust today, David Cameron will set out practical ways the Conservative Party is looking at improving biodiversity. Below are the key extracts from his speech.

David Cameron will say:

“We have to make sure that our approach to development is consistent with developing biodiversity. We have to find a way to build the houses we need and the infrastructure our communities require whilst preserving the parts of nature that can so easily be destroyed in the name of progress.

At the moment we have a pretty unimaginative system where every new development has to tick boxes in terms of protecting habitats and wildlife. Yes, some of those boxes must be ticked, but there are no real incentives for conservation. It’s time to be more imaginative.

Instead of regulation alone, it would be better to give communities and businesses the incentives to do the right thing and pool the resources from development to create larger conservation projects that can benefit everybody. We should look at international examples of systems of conservation credits to see if we can establish a new approach here that helps communities take action to improve biodiversity when development takes place. In the same way in which we are now recognising the importance of putting a price on carbon, society needs to recognise the significance of attributing a value to biodiversity.

The idea, to put it simply, is that any cost to biodiversity, through something like development, is compensated for by at least an equivalent investment in biodiversity elsewhere. So instead of simply planting trees on a small patch of land on the edge of a new housing development, for example, conservation credits would allow several developments in one area to be pooled to create large habitat projects. This could be a new country park or community woodland, so there was somewhere for local children to play and learn about their environment. It could be new wetlands, or a new wildlife reserve. These projects would not only provide significant enjoyment to people, they would also create new habitats in which nature can survive and thrive.

Conservation credits are about placing a value on biodiversity for the first time, because only if you place a value on something can you truly compensate for loss. This is potentially an incredibly exciting idea to enhance biodiversity, but the practicalities need careful consideration. Any system must be consistent with our local objectives. We must take care not to put unaffordable burdens on home ownership. It will have to be fully consistent with our plans to expand the number of affordable homes.

The system mustn’t make it more difficult for responsible businesses to make green choices and invest in local conservation projects. And it mustn’t create a new bureaucracy - in fact, it should do the opposite the aim should be to give companies and voluntary organisations a new way of engaging in enhancing biodiversity, without a complex apparatus of state regulation.

We also need to find ways to make it easier for local people to create wildlife habitats close to home which families can enjoy. I’m confident these details can be worked out – I want them to be worked out.

So today I am delighted to announce that Nick Herbert will set up a review into the scope for introducing a system of conservation credits in England.”

Story by Lisa Thomas

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