Bid to help save planet must be at heart of May 6 elections

The new mayor will be uniquely placed to make these things happen...

FIVE of the West Midlands’ leading conservation charities have issued a challenge to the candidates in the West Midlands Metropolitan mayoral election in May.

They are challenging the candidates to demonstrate their understanding that a healthy economy relies on a healthy environment by committing to ensure that more people improve their connection to nature, and that a wildlife-rich natural environment is restored.

To achieve this a strategic approach is vital, and the mayor, covering the whole conurbation from the Black Country to Coventry is well placed to facilitate this.

The five organisations are the Wildlife Trusts for Warwickshire and Birmingham and the Black Country, Friends of the Earth, the Woodland Trust, and the RSPB.

Their manifesto says that we are facing an ecological emergency, with over 40 per cent of UK species declining since 1970, with 133 of them becoming extinct.

The impacts on wildlife and its habitats of, among other things, pollution, modern farming methods, and climate change are profound and must be addressed and mitigated.

Chris Crean, of West Midlands Friends of the Earth, said: “The old normal was bad for people and bad for the planet.”

A better direction for people, our climate and our nature must be at the heart of these elections.

Boris Johnson himself has said that we need to see nature recovering in 30 per cent of our land and seas by 2030.

The West Midlands is ideally placed to help to lead this recovery.

Its rivers and their tributaries, such as the Stour, the Blythe and the Tame, flow into three of England’s most important rivers, the Trent, Avon and Severn.

The quality of their water is therefore of paramount importance.

There is an abundance of post-industrial land (brownfield land) with enormous potential for habitat improvement, whilst fragmented grasslands, woodlands and wetlands can be reconnected to provide wildlife corridors.

Delia Garratt, Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trust, said: “It’s crucial that the needs and benefits of a healthy natural world are understood by all of us and especially by those who are in positions of authority, like our mayor.”

Support and resources for both the public and voluntary sectors are critical.

The processes necessary to give that support have to be driven by the political system, from framing and implementing policies, through developing and enforcing regulations, to providing and levering funding.

The new mayor will be uniquely placed to make these things happen, hence the call to mayoral candidates for commitment.

Candidates for the West Midlands mayoral elections are:

■ Liam Byrne (Labour)

■ Steve Caudwell (Green Party)

■ Pete Durnell (Reform UK)

■ Andy Street (Conservative)

■ Jenny Wilkinson (Liberal Democrats)