Council’s ‘important step’ to help nature

Wildlife Trust pleased to see recovery motion passed

STAFFORDSHIRE Wildlife Trust is welcoming a commitment by Staffordshire County Council to take action to tackle the crisis facing the natural world.

During a meeting of the full council last Thursday, members voted unanimously to pass a Motion for Nature’s Recovery, which was proposed by Councillor Simon Tagg, the Staffordshire cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change.

The Trust has worked closely with Councillor Tagg to shape the Motion – advising on actions the authority could take to help to reverse the decline of wild species and provide a more hospitable landscape for wildlife.

Liz Peck, advocacy and campaigns manager for the Trust, said: “The natural world is in crisis, and populations of many of our best-loved species are in freefall. Our landscape is becoming increasingly inhospitable for wildlife, primarily due to habitat loss and fragmentation, the impacts of climate change and pollution.

“By pledging to support nature’s recovery, Staffordshire County Council have taken an important step towards ensuring nature is given the focus and resources it needs.

“It is encouraging that our decisionmakers are pledging to take action to address the ecological emergency, and that it receives the same prominence in policy as climate change.

“The climate and nature crises are inextricably linked, and we can’t fix one without fixing the other. It is imperative that we take action now to reverse the continuing collapse of our natural world.”

Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change Simon Tagg said: “Our Nature Recovery Declaration recognises the role the county council will play in leading the recovery of nature across Staffordshire, as recently confirmed in the Environment Act 2021.

“We will now develop a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) with our partners in the districts and boroughs, working closely with our communities and other partners across the county, such as Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.

“Halting the decline of wild species, and the preservation and enhancement of Staffordshire’s natural habitats and environment, is beneficial to everyone and is central to our aims to tackle climate change. This underpins a healthy, happy, prosperous society which we want all people in Staffordshire to enjoy.”

The Council’s pledge comes at a pivotal time for nature. The most recent comprehensive study into wildlife populations, The State of Nature Report, 2019*, revealed that 41 per cent of species are in decline and an alarming 15 per cent face extinction.