A Delicate Balance

Climate action needs nature. Nature needs climate action. Neither will succeed if we don’t prepare for a changing world. Erin McDaid, Head of Communications & Marketing, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

Last month, ahead of the global COP26 climate conference The Wildlife Trusts issued a report calling for the nature and climate crises to be tackled at speed.

With the UK holding the Presidency of the conference, The Wildlife Trusts are calling for the nature crisis to be addressed alongside the climate emergency – spelling out that without action for nature, neither will be solved.

To ram the message home we published a special COP26 edition of our nature-based solutions report, Let Nature Help, which explains how climate change is driving nature’s decline, whilst the loss of wildlife and habitats leaves us ill-equipped to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing world.

Speaking as the report was launched Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts said:

“Net zero needs nature. Nature needs net zero. Both need to be resilient to the climate of the future. Nature’s fantastic ability to trap carbon safely and provide other important benefits is proven – peatland, woodland, saltmarsh and other wild habitats are vital carbon stores. But these natural places are in decline and face even greater risk of degradation from the extreme climatic conditions that are already inevitable over the next 30 years.”

Our natural places are in decline and sadly face even greater risk of degradation from extreme climatic conditions – conditions that are becoming all too familiar and which will remain inevitable over the next 30 years. The urgency in Craig’s message is underpinned by the fact that we now face the prospect of a vicious spiral of damage – so we must take action to stop it right now.

Governments have been talking for decades and it is now clear that the current decade must be one of action.

As well as urgently cutting carbon emissions we also need an enormous increase in the area of land and sea that is protected for nature. To be effective this increase must be to at least 30% by 2030. We’re also calling for the Government to embed climate action – both in terms of mitigation and adaptation – across all departments and swiftly take steps to stop carbon-emitting activities such as new road building, peat burning and trawling the seabed. Failure to act urgently in critical areas will have a massive impact on the likely success of future action

Other measures The Wildlife Trusts wish the Government to deliver on include a ban on the sale and use of peat in gardening and compost products, alongside an immediate ban on peatland burning and a significant increase peatland restoration.

In our seas we’re calling for a ban on bottom-trawling England’s seabed and giving all seagrass habitats highly protected status. We also want the renewal of pledges to protect coastal habitat and to invest in natural sea defences.

Woodlands and other habitats are natural carbon stores cpt Andy Jamieson

We want the Government to provide a boost to sustainable farming that locks carbon into our precious soils and helps wildlife to recover. We also feel that it is vital that they urgently publish details on how Environmental Land Management Scheme will incentivise farmers to harness nature-based solutions on their land. Across the county, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is working with farmers who want to support wildlife on their land but from experience we know that complicated and bureaucratic schemes can be a real barrier to action.

In our woodlands we want to embrace the power of natural regeneration and where this isn’t possible, the planting of a resilient mix of native trees. When the opportunity arose for us to extend our much loved Treswell Wood Nature Reserve near Retford we opted to allow nature to do the work, with seeds from trees perfectly suited to the local climate and conditions regenerating naturally. This approach also removes the risk of introducing tree diseases that have been decimating our woodlands in recent decades.

Our planning system must be reformed to ensure that we have more space for nature and that people have access to wildlife rich greenspaces on their doorstep. The Wildlife Trusts are already caring for over 2000 nature reserves and working with many other partners to increase natural areas to store carbon and help wildlife fightback, but it is clear that we need to make much more space for nature. By 2030 we need to have 30% of our land and seas protect for nature and to help make this happen across our landscape we are calling for a new designation, Wildbelt, which protects places, including degraded land, whilst nature recovers. Here in Nottinghamshire we’ve called for a total rethink of the redevelopment of the former Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham – with natural greenspace at its heart and we’re working with local planning authorities across the county to ensure that opportunities to link and create habitat are ‘built in’ to new developments.

We must make more room for nature across our landscape cpt Neil France.

The planning reforms – currently on hold - must also deliver the Government’s legally binding target in the Environment Bill to halt species decline by 2030. We cannot continue to lose wildlife whilst holding out an aspiration for its future recover.

Alongside our calls for action by Government, The Wildlife Trusts recognise that we can all be part of the solution and have published a list of things people can do about climate change. These range from choices about the food we eat and the way we travel to making our homes more energy efficient.

As the scale and urgency of the threat to our environment becomes ever clearer it can be all too easy to throw up your hands in despair, but by taking simple, positive steps you can feel good that you are at least doing what you can.

Whilst it is difficult to measure the impact of a personal decision to lower energy consumption, taking action for nature can deliver

We need a legal duty for planning authorities to consider Local Nature Recovery Strategies so we can link up habitats.

almost instant results. We can help nature by planting more around our homes – this will also lower high summer temperatures and soak up floodwater – giving a win-win for nature and climate. Reducing the amount of water, we use at home will also help save our precious rivers and the array of wild species that depend on them.

For decades the Government has largely treated mitigation and adaptation separately – but if we are to finally get to grips with these defining issues they must take a joined up approach. Adaptation is fundamental to reaching net zero – we urgently need policies that will improve the resilience of natural carbon stores. This can be achieved by reducing the risk of wildfires, addressing the numerous threats to our freshwater habitats and providing advice and support to enable landowners to manage woodlands and farmland during periods of extreme hot weather and drought.

Well planned reintroduction of beavers can help enhance wetlands and mitigate impacts of climate change such as flooding.

Whilst future targets for reducing carbon emissions are vital, it is the action plans and the necessary investment that have been lacking to date and there is a danger that aspirational future targets give politicians something to hide behind.

As we get nearer and nearer to critical dates when action on climate and nature’s recovery must be achieved, we all need to take a step back and consider whether the pace of change really matches up to the tough targets. Do we really feel that big issues such as food production and distribution, our transport infrastructure and the way we heat our homes can be transformed soon enough at the current pace of change?

Treswell Wood showing the area which is now regenerating. Image courtesy of Stuart Eggerton.

If we’re honest I think we would all agree that whilst change can be uncomfortable we are very much behind the pace in a race that we all have a stake in. In the race to tackle climate change and the ecological crisis, setting a pace that will eventually get us over the line may not be good enough. If we jog comfortably along for much longer, events could overtake us and the final result may no longer be in our hands.

We must end the use of peat in garden products and increase the restoration of peatlands. Image courtesy of 2020Vision.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Tel: 0115 958 8242

E-mail: info@nottswt.co.uk www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org