Nature charities say Environment Bill needs to be more ambitious

Last week Theresa May announced that the new bill will set out the legal framework to improve the UK’s environment over the next 25 years.

 

Wildlife and Countryside Link say it is vital that the new Environment Bill lifts protection standards higher than in Europe, including giving powers and resources to the new watchdog to really hold government and businesses to account.

 

Dr Elaine King, Director of Wildlife and Countryside, welcomes the bill but says we need clear targets:

“The erosion of our natural world harms us all. Healthy nature is not a luxury, it’s essential. We need a thriving environment to ensure we have sustainable food to eat, safe waters to drink and clean air to breathe. The announcement of a new Environment Bill is really welcome, but we need clear and binding targets, strong protections, and robust enforcement to transform this vision of a better environment for the next generation into a reality.”

 

The coalition of charities believe that in order to take major steps to nurse our environment back to health we need to:

·   create a new comprehensive Environment Bill, which enshrines and strengthens EU environmental protections in law, delivers a strong watchdog, and sets out ambitious and measurable short and long-term targets for nature’s recovery and a healthy environment (separate Acts may also be required in the devolved nations)

·   delivering a strong Agriculture Bill which helps put the environment back on track. This should include: binding targets backed up with funding and clear mechanisms; the environment and animal welfare put at the heart of future public-funded farm payments; a well-resourced watchdog with teeth to enforce effective regulations; and collaborative work with devolved administrations to make policies joined-up.

·   Ensuring the Fisheries Bill has strong and specific targets on how sustainability will be achieved on important issues such as reducing bycatch of vulnerable species and achieving an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. Governments across the UK must work closely together to jointly develop, and agree on how to deliver, a fisheries management policy which works across all UK waters.

 

Half of our hedgehog population has disappeared since 2000. Emma Marrington from Sustain member the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said:

“Our countryside was once stitched together by an almost complete network of hedges. Fast forward to today, and the picture is pretty bleak. Habitat loss is the driving force behind dwindling biodiversity, and it’s no coincidence that the fall in hedgehog numbers correlates with our loss of hedgerows. It is imperative that future agricultural policy supports the management and restoration of our hedgerows, as well as other important habitats for wildlife, if we are to halt the decline in biodiversity, along with the landscape that we identify as home.”

Find out more about the work Sustain is doing to secure a positive Brexit for food, farming and fishing, including how to tell your MP that you want a say in future trade deals.