New Environment Bill needs support and urgent progress to stop nature’s decline says Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust

The long-awaited Environment Bill has now been published. Whilst this is welcome news, Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust are concerned that the Bill must not be further delayed if we are to tackle the serious environmental challenges we face. Cross-party parliamentary support is needed urgently in order to begin nature’s recovery.

The 2019 State of Nature Report recently revealed that one in seven species in the UK are at risk of extinction and 58% of species are in decline, and we know many local species are at threat from the results of our own Sheffield State of Nature Report.

Through our Wilder Future campaign, Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust have been calling for ambitious new laws to allow nature to recover, so it is pleasing to see that the new Environment Bill will include legally-binding targets for biodiversity, but we remain concerned about some aspects of the proposals.

Liz Ballard, CEO of Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust, said:

“We are pleased to see local nature recovery strategies to support a Nature Recovery Network included in the Environment Bill. This is a very positive commitment which will help identify opportunity areas in Sheffield and Rotherham to restore our wild places and enable nature’s recovery. We also welcome new measures to strengthen the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act.

“It is, however, extremely disappointing that biodiversity net gain will not apply to major national infrastructure projects. This means that schemes such as HS2 will not be subject to the legal requirement to improve the habitats they impact upon, despite being the most damaging proposed development in our area. If there is no requirement for biodiversity net gain on national infrastructure projects like HS2, it is unclear how the Government can say they have applied the strengthened Biodiversity Duty when they determine the planning of these projects.

“We also remain concerned about the lack of guarantees on the independence, resource and powers of the Office for Environmental Protection. These proposals need to be much more robust and ambitious to ensure that our natural environment is adequately protected and help us begin nature’s recovery.”

In a short film for The Wildlife Trusts, calling for powerful new environmental laws and for a Nature Recovery Network, Sir David Attenborough, president emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts, said:

“A wildlife-rich natural world is vital for our wellbeing and survival. We need wild places to thrive. Yet many of our systems and laws have failed the natural world. We now live in one of the most nature depleted places on the planet. Nature urgently needs our help to recover – and it can be done. By joining up wild places and creating more across the UK we would improve our lives and help nature to flourish – because everything works better when it’s connected.”

Why a Nature Recov