BirdGuides - Government has "mountain to climb" in fulfilling nature crisis pledge
A new House of Lords report,
published on 26 July 2023, has revealed that the UK Government faces a mountain
to climb if it is to deliver its international commitment to protect 30% of
England's land and sea for nature by 2030.
This extent meets the
so-called “30 by 30” target agreed at the Montreal COP15 Biodiversity Conference in 2022.
The House of Lords Environment and Climate
Change Committee's report warns that, with 7 years remaining, the extent of
land protected for nature in England that can count towards “30 by 30” sits at
just 6.5%, requiring an area almost one and a half times the size of Wales to
hit the target.
The
Committee's report, “An extraordinary challenge: restoring 30 per cent of our
land and sea by 2030”, also found that protected sites in
England, which can include land that has multiple uses, are often in a poor
condition and in many cases inadequately monitored.
While welcoming the Government's
ambitions to meet the stretching target by 2030, the Committee's report
concludes that it is not clear how the Government plans to achieve “30 by 30” and
that a major step change in its approach to protected areas is required to
deliver the commitment it made.
The Committee is calling on the
Government to create more protected areas, retaining all existing designations,
whilst ensuring existing protected areas are better managed to achieve
favourable condition.
Additionally, it wants the
Government to confirm that areas should be protected for nature for more than
30 years to meet the “30 by 30” criteria.
It argues that a management plan
needs to be put in place with effective monitoring for protected areas on land
based on an up-to date condition assessment which must be updated every 6
years.
The report also suggests that
there should be an expansion to the current marine monitoring programme, both
inshore and offshore, to develop a robust baseline of data that should be made
publicly available.
It also says that public awareness of local
protected sites must be raised and communities engaged so that local residents
can play their role in preserving them, including unleashing and harnessing
citizen science for data collection.
The report also recommends that
there is a statutory duty on Natural England to monitor Sites of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and ensure the resulting data is published.
Baroness Parminter, Chair of the
Environment and Climate Change Committee, said: "Our report makes it clear
that the Government faces a huge challenge to meet the “30 by 30” target it
signed up to last year.
"The Government must designate more areas to be protected, meeting international criteria, and manage and monitor all protected areas better to achieve favourable condition.
"Time is running out to halt species decline and recover nature for the public good. We are therefore calling on the Government to act urgently as it has just seven crucial years to fulfil its nature crisis pledge."
#DefendNature .... Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
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