Nature under threat

Amid fresh revelations of a catastrophic global decline in wildlife population, three UK conservation groups are combining to challenge what they describe as a government U-turn on protecting nature. The National Trust, the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts, none of which are known for militant action, say all options are on the table and that they could urge millions of members to take to the streets in protest demonstrations. The groups claim that new government policies backtrack from Conservative manifesto promises. Proposals to loosen planning rules to release more land for commercial use and housing, creating up to 38 “investment zones,” were described by Hilary McGrady of the National Trust as an “unprecedented attack on nature.” She said that her organisation is “stepping forward” with the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts and added: “We choose our battles very carefully – and we don’t do it very often.” The groups also list the potential reintroduction of fracking for shale gas, the granting of as many as 100 new licences for companies to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea and the review of environmental farm subsidies, as areas of massive concern. Craig Bennett of Wildlife Trusts and Beccy Speight of the RSPB claimed they would be prepared to organise a march in London if the government fails to provide the environmental guarantees they are seeking. Labour too has added its weight to the criticism of the planned investment zones, but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has responded in a tweet: “It is not true to claim we are attacking nature nor going back on our commitments.”

The three organisations, as well as militant, direct action environmental groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, may take some convincing, as a new World Wildlife Fund report reveals that global wildlife populations have plummeted by more than 70 per cent in less than 50 years. The alarming new report monitored wildlife populations around the world between 1970 and 2018 and found that without halting and then reversing the loss of the natural world, the climate fight will be lost. The WWF-UK chief executive, Tanya Steel, gave a stark wildlife warning in an interview with the Independent newspaper, stating, “If wildlife and nature can’t survive, then neither can we.” She said the government needs to set out plans to meet its commitment to protecting 30 per cent of land for nature by 2030 and to a scheme that aims to pay farmers for enhancing nature. The WWF says it is particularly concerned about data from tropical regions, including the Caribbean and Latin America, but the UK is also amongst the most nature-depleted countries on earth. Steele stressed in her interview that the UK should be aware of its environmental footprint around the world through our trade deals and the goods we import. “We cannot have the government complicit in the destruction of nature here in the UK or globally,” she added.