In response to the publication of a new government 30 by 30 delivery plan, Matt Browne, head of public affairs at The Wildlife Trusts, says:
"It’s Groundhog Day for nature. Another announcement, another set of promises, but still no credible plan to bring wildlife back. The Government’s ‘Delivery Plan’ for protecting and managing 30% of England’s land for nature by 2030 offers little more than a new way of counting and recycled ambitions. What’s missing is how it will actually happen. Without tighter rules on land management, and landowner incentives to restore nature at scale, 30 by 30 will remain out of reach.
"We have had years of announcements like this: bold words but little action. We could have been welcoming real progress for nature, such as the ban on devastating bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas and coordinated action to restore upland peat habitats before they are lost forever. Instead, in this summer of heatwaves, we have more political hot air.
"The next Prime Minister must change this cycle of failure and replace aspiration with action. People watching their local green spaces wither in the heat and seeing the absence of beloved wildlife need tangible intervention to protect nature - which is essential to our health, communities and our future - no Westminster theatre."
The Government commissioned report Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security – A national security assessment leads with the stark reality that “Global ecosystem degradation and collapse threaten UK national security and prosperity” and that “…Without major intervention to reverse the current trend, this is highly likely to continue to 2050 and beyond.”
The Resilience Taskforce, recently set up to tackle the growing threat nature loss and climate change pose to our national security, does not include Defra, the very department responsible for averting environmental collapse. The new Prime Minister must therefore urgently seek to join up efforts to address this crisis for the benefit of wildlife and people alike.