Defend Nature campaign update

By Jess Price, Conservation Officer

A lot has happened in the last few weeks but we’re pleased to report a couple of real wins for wildlife.

Thanks to your support and the thousands of emails sent to MPs, the government will now stick to its manifesto commitment and maintain the ban on fracking – so fracking should be off the table for the time being.

The government will also be reviewing the new concept of Investment Zones, announced a few weeks ago, to ensure they will not water down environmental protections. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said “under no circumstances will we weaken environmental protections” and “anything that might in any way undermine environmental protections is out.” This is a welcome step in the right direction but we will need to see the detail to be certain, so will keep monitoring this closely.

Our Conservation Policy team has had three positive meetings with MPs Sally-Ann Hart, Henry Smith and Caroline Lucas. All of these MPs have understood our concerns about the potential impact of the government’s recent policy announcements on nature, and have promised to do all they can to Defend Nature. We are arranging further meetings to speak to every Sussex MP, and will keep you updated.

We have also met, or will be soon, with most of the council leaders in Sussex, to keep them up to date with the campaign and discuss the likely local impacts of what is proposed. We think it is vital that the Sussex Wildlife Trust works with decision makers to give nature a voice.

Despite these positives, there is still a lot more work to do. The government’s Retained EU Law Bill is still hurtling its way through Parliament. This damaging piece of legislation could remove hundreds of environmental rules and strip away many of our environmental protections, so we will keep urging MPs to stop this Bill in its tracks. If it proceeds, we would have to rely on nature-conscious MPs to make sure the most important bits of environmental legislation are prioritised, which just isn’t good enough - the task is too big and the potential unintended consequences too severe to risk.

The government is also expected to announce the future of new schemes to support farmers to restore nature, which they are currently renewing, so we need to keep the pressure on to make sure these schemes really deliver for wildlife.

And we must also hold the government to account for missing its own deadline to set new legally binding environmental targets, which should have been published on 31 October. These targets are a requirement of the government’s 2021 Environment Act, and are supposed to drive real and measurable progress to stop the decline of biodiversity by 2030 (just eight years away) and start restoring nature. Missing its own deadline does not inspire confidence in the government’s commitment to delivering the ambitions set out in the Environment Act and, crucially, the urgent action needed to protect and restore nature has been delayed - when there is really no time to lose.

So the campaign to Defend Nature continues. Thank you for your support so far and please do send a postcard to your MP if you haven’t already.