New Environment Bill needs support and urgent progress to stop nature’s decline says Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust17 October, 2019 25 June, 2024 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