UK must join in tackling nature crisis which threatens our future
FOR a nation of animal lovers, Britain is sadly considered one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with worrying declines among a whole host of species.
Habitat loss, alongside numerous other factors, has pushed far too much of our flora and fauna to the brink as inclusions in red lists for everything from birds to butterflies rise from one report to the next.
However, well targeted conservation measures – with the right resources and focus – can deliver results. In the Westcountry the comeback of a farmland bird known as the cirl bunting along southern coasts is something of a national success story, while protection for the Atlantic bluefin tuna means that impressive shoals can now regularly be spotted offshore in our region through summer and autumn.
There is no doubt that more needs to be done, both at home and overseas, to address dwindling biodiversity. And in doing so we go some way towards helping alleviate climate change – given solutions to both are very much interlinked. Conserving forests, for example, is beneficial for wildlife while helping to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide.
As Tanya Steele, chief executive of WWF-UK, puts it: “Nature is our biggest ally in the fight against climate change and the source of our health, security and prosperity.”
Which is why the charity is rightly calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take a leading global role in reversing nature losses.
WWF – the Worldwide Fund for Nature – is urging Mr Sunak to attend talks to drive forward negotiations at a crucial UN Biodiversity Conference next month in Montreal, and ensure agreement over a treaty to restore the natural world.
Mr Sunak nearly opted out of the recent Cop27 climate talks, so it is to be hoped he decides to take the global biodiversity crisis seriously and finds time in his diary to join in addressing issues which stretch beyond our shores and will have an impact for decades to come.
WWF is calling for countries, including the UK, to commit to the goal of conserving at least 30% of the world’s land, wetlands and oceans by 2030.
It warns that a failure to reverse the huge losses in wildlife and habitats – with up to a million species of plants and animals assessed at being at risk of extinction – will put humans at increased risk from pandemics, worsen food and water insecurity and make it impossible to prevent global warming.
It is heartening that the Government
has pledged to be a leader in the negotiations and to be hoped that it can steer meaningful change. The UN conference has already been postponed four times, because of the pandemic, and opportunities for action delayed.
In the UK more than one in seven native species face extinction and more than 40% are in decline. WWF argues: “As a major economy, the UK must deliver on its nature promises by publishing targets to restore our vital habitats at home and take a leadership role on the world stage.”
As with climate talks, the stakes are high and the price of inaction will be paid by future generations.