Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about biodiversity.
The Environment Act 2021 responds to a clear and urgent scientific case, and growing public demand, for action to address environmental challenges. This landmark legislation sets a new and ambitious domestic framework for environmental governance. The Act requires a new, historic legally binding target to be set to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, as a core part of the UK’s commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it.
Other targets through the Environment Act include improving the Red List Index for England for species extinction risk by 2042, as well as restoring or creating over 500,000 hectares of a range of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042. The Act also introduces a requirement to demonstrate biodiversity net gain on all development sites.
I was pleased to become a CPRE Hedgerow Hero last year and you can find out more about the previous government’s plan to increase the number of hedgerows in England here: 'Hedgerow Hero' Richard Fuller welcomes government announcement of an ambitious target to create and restore hedgerows | Richard Fuller MP.
Further, I know that local nature recovery strategies are key to restoring nature. 48 responsible authorities have been appointed to lead on preparing a local nature recovery strategy for their area. These authorities are supported by £14 million of funding and will work closely with landowners, farmers and land managers in preparing the strategies.
Regarding rewilding and the restoration of ecosystems, I support initiatives to create wilder landscapes across England, as part of a broader approach to nature recovery. Rewilding in England is spearheaded by the last Conservative Government’s plan to rewild 300,000 hectares of habitat across England, which you can read more about here: Government unveils plans to restore 300,000 hectares of habitat across England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This plan includes the previous Conservative government’s Local Nature Recovery Scheme which pays farmers for locally-targeted actions which make space for nature in the farmed landscape and countryside such as creating wildlife habitat, planting trees or restoring peat and wetland areas. You can read more here: Local Nature Recovery: more information on how the scheme will work - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The previous Conservative Government’s Landscape Recovery Scheme also supports more radical changes to land-use change and habitat restoration such as establishing new nature reserves, restoring floodplains, or creating woodland and wetlands. You can read more about the scheme here: Local Nature Recovery: more information on how the scheme will work - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
However, I am aware that rewilding is not appropriate in all situations, and it is important to balance this with other priorities, such as food production. I hope that the new Government will assess how land use change, including the restoration of natural processes, can contribute to net-zero, food security and support the farming sector.
Finally, I welcome that at COP15 in December 2022, nearly 200 countries supported a new deal to protect nature. The agreement includes a global commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and also to protect 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
