Halting wildlife decline will also protect 750,000 jobs, says MP
MINISTERS can stop an “ecological catastrophe” by making a legal commitment to halt wildlife decline within a decade, a Tory insisted yesterday.
Crawley MP Henry Smith, a member of the Conservative Environment Network, said the Environment Bill going through Parliament does not set a legal deadline for halting wildlife declines.
He also pointed out the natural environment supports nearly 750,000 jobs and more than £27billion of the country’s economic output.
Mr Smith said strong action is urgently needed to protect nature in the UK, with nearly half of our species, including hedgehogs and water voles, in decline as well as birds such as the turtle dove.
He said: “The shocking truth is that Britain’s wildlife has been in sharp decline for decades, and this lost heritage threatens our economic prosperity and security.
“Thankfully, the Government has committed to halt the decline of nature by the end of this decade.
“This has the potential to turn the ecological catastrophe around. But only if this target is written explicitly into law as the Environment Bill currently progresses through Parliament.
“A failure to act on these warnings will hit the Treasury’s coffers, and our pockets, hard.
“But putting nature into recovery can create jobs and save us money we would otherwise have to spend in the future, such as on flood defences.”
The Conservative Environment Network, which is backed by 104 Tory MPs, campaigns for greener policies.
Support for a legal commitment to halt nature’s decline in the UK is strong.
Last month, the Wildlife and Countryside Link handed in a petition to Environment Secretary George Eustice signed by 208,000 people demanding a legal pledge to stop wildlife declines.
A central part of the Daily Express’s
Green Britain Needs You crusade is a call to make more space for nature.
As part of this, the Express is fundraising to help the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds buy a nature reserve in the New Forest.
Kit Stoner, the chief executive of the Bat Conservation Trust, stressed how important protecting nature is in the UK.
She said: “In this country, 41 per cent of species are in decline and 15 per cent are at risk of disappearing from our shores.
“Eleven of the 47 native mammals are classified as being at imminent risk of extinction, including species like the water vole, dormouse and grey long-eared bat.
“We need to get a legal handle on this right now, so surely it’s time for a State of Nature target?”
RSPB chief executive Beccy Speight said: “The Government has repeatedly promised to halt the decline of nature by 2030. So far, though, they have failed to put those promises into law.”
A Defra spokesman said the Environment Bill’s species abundance target for 2030 will be legally binding and will help halt the decline of nature.
A spokesman said: “Our Environment Bill will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth and drive forward action to protect nature and improve biodiversity.
“We are leading the way internationally with our 2030 species target, which will help to demonstrate our commitment to ambitious domestic action. This is alongside our £640million investment in the Nature For Climate Fund.”