HS2 ‘a massive scar that will destroy our wildlife’
AN ALARMING number of ancient woodlands and wildlife species are at risk from the high-speed rail project HS2, environmental campaigners say.
The Wildlife Trusts describe the train line as “a massive scar that’s coming through the landscape, which is damaging wildlife right the way along”.
Sites being blighted or destroyed include 108 ancient woodlands, 21 nature reserves, three special areas of conservation and two wetlands designated of international importance by Unesco, say environmentalists.
The trusts also claim the £100billion-plus project puts several species at risk, including the European-protected white-clawed crayfish, the willow tit and the dingy skipper butterfly.
Construction for phase one of the railway line, from London to Birmingham, began last year after a judicial review of the project failed.
Mark Vallance, reserve manager at The Wildlife Trusts’ Calvert Jubilee Nature Reserve, said: “I cover Buckinghamshire so I see the impacts of HS2 right the way along my patch
and it’s truly devastating. There’s this massive scar that’s coming through the landscape, which is damaging wildlife right the way along.”
His colleague NikkiWilliams said the project contradicted the Government’s plans to “build back greener” following the pandemic.
The trusts’ lead campaigner Jack Taylor added: “There’s a massive difference between what HS2 is destroying and what they’re potentially creating to make up for what they’ve
destroyed. When you destroy an irreplaceable, ancient woodland, you can’t just recreate that.
“You’ve lost centuries, potentially millennia worth of natural history.”
HS2 Ltd said it would put Britain on track to a net zero carbon future by removing cars from the road and reducing the number of domestic flights.
The trains, carrying an estimated 300,000 people a day, will be powered by a grid that uses increasing amounts of energy from zero carbon sources,
such as renewable energy from solar and wind generation.
A spokesman for HS2 said: “We will reduce the number of domestic flights by 1.2 million journeys, or 379 million passenger miles, cutting carbon emissions by 83,000 tonnes.”
But Ms Williams said: “Are we genuinely saying that somebody in London will not take a quick flight to Glasgow [but] they’ll take a longer rail journey? I think you can only look at that sceptically.”