Step-change for nature’s recovery needed
Friday 19th August 2011
The Wildlife Trusts' Head of Living Landscape Paul Wilkinson
As the Government today announces the England Biodiversity Strategy (EBS), The Wildlife Trusts welcome the ambitions within it.
The Wildlife Trusts believe it is now imperative for the commitments outlined in the EBS to be pushed through with urgency, and to be embedded across Government.
Paul Wilkinson, Head of Living Landscape for The Wildlife Trusts, said:
"We must not underestimate how much nature matters to both people and the economy. The evidence for why it is important is stronger then ever before.
“We know what needs to be done to restore the natural environment, and we know how to make it happen. We welcome the commitment in the EBS to ‘learn from the experience of organisations and partnerships … such as The Wildlife Trusts’. The Wildlife Trusts’ vision for A Living Landscape has seen 99 schemes set into motion across England. These schemes involve a partnership led, landscape-scale approach to restoring the natural environment. We need Government to help make this possible on a much wider scale.
“The Government must see through its commitment in the EBS to ‘deliver a real step change’. We need a sense of urgency to secure nature’s restoration and recovery through taking a landscape-scale approach. People and communities should be at the heart of this approach, as outlined in the Natural Environment White Paper (NEWP).
“The Wildlife Trusts will take an active role in the next step, which is to shape the delivery plan. We see this is an important step towards achieving the ambitions of the NEWP.”
-ENDS-
Contact information:
Anna Guthrie (Media & PR Manager)
Office: 01636 670075
Mobile: 07887 754659
Email: aguthrie@wildlifetrusts.org
Tanya Perdikou (Media & Campaigns Officer)
Office: 01636 670057
Mobile: 07887 754657
Email: tperdikou@wildlifetrusts.org
Notes for editors:
England Biodiversity Strategy
The strategy can be downloaded from the Defra website here:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2011/08/19/pb13583-biodiversity-str...
The Wildlife Trusts (TWT) wildlifetrusts.org
There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts covering the whole of the UK and the Isle of Man and Alderney. All are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. We have more than 800,000 members including 150,000 members of our junior branch Wildlife Watch. Our vision is to create A Living Landscape and secure Living Seas. We manage around 2,300 nature reserves and every year we advise thousands of landowners and organisations on how to manage their land for wildlife. We also run marine conservation projects around the UK, collecting vital data on the state of our seas and celebrating our amazing marine wildlife. Every year we work with thousands of schools and our nature reserves and visitor centres receive millions of visitors. Each Wildlife Trust is working within its local communities to inspire people about the future of their area: their own Living Landscapes and Living Seas.