‘Get a move on’: UK Government ‘not on course’ to protect 30% of nature by 2030

The government “needs to get a move on” after a new report found that England needs an area almost one-and-a-half times the size of Wales to hit its 2030 nature target.

Ruth Chambers, senior fellow at Green Alliance, said the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee report “offers a blueprint for action” and the government must make a “huge effort” to “better protect, manage, monitor and fund nature over the next seven years”.

The report, published on Wednesday (26 July), warned that the UK is “clearly not on course” to deliver its international commitment to protect 30% of England’s land and sea for nature by 2030 and it has a mountain to climb.

Peers found that the extent of land protected for nature in England is currently 6.5% which means a further area of almost one-and-a-half times the size of Wales is needed to hit the target within the next seven years.

They also found that protected sites in England are often in a poor condition and inadequately monitored.

The UK has also seen a 41% decrease of species in abundance since 1970 and 15% of species have been classified as threatened with extinction, according to government figures.

Baroness Parminter, chairwoman of the Environment and Climate Change Committee (CCC), said the report “makes it clear” that the government “faces a huge challenge.”

She said “time is running out to halt species decline and recover nature” and so the CCC is calling on the government to “act urgently to fulfil its nature crisis pledge.”

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, told NationalWorld that the target “remains a distant dot on the horizon” and “an extraordinary challenge like this requires extraordinary leadership.”

The report included evidence from the government, academics, farmers, landowners, non-departmental public bodies, organisations, societies and conservation bodies.

Overall, the committee concluded that there is a lack of clarity over how the government plans to achieve “30 by 30” and said citizen science is “an untapped resource” which could support increased monitoring and generate public engagement.

It recommended expanding the current marine monitoring programme, both inshore and offshore, to develop data that should be made publicly available, and urged ministers to put in place a monitoring plan for protected areas on land which must be updated every six years.

Peers added that the government should raise public awareness of local protected sites and communicate how people can play a role in protecting them.

They also urged ministers to place a statutory duty on Natural England to monitor Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and ensure the resulting data is published.

Joan Edwards, director of policy for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “The longer we leave it, the harder and more expensive it will be to reverse wildlife declines.

“Government signed up to legally binding targets for nature’s recovery yet appears intent on casually kicking the can down the road. How many species need to go extinct before it finally wakes up?”

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said the government is on track to deliver the commitment.

The spokesperson said: “Delivering this commitment for England will ensure our most important natural sites have the long-term, effective management needed for biodiversity to thrive.

“We are already going further and faster for nature than any other government before, with our Environmental Improvement Plan and the inclusion of legally binding targets in the Environment Act.”