Image:
The Gower peninsula was the first designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty | Credit: iStock
The UK government has made a string of policy announcements designed to boost public access to nature, as it pledged to champion the environment at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai that kicks off tomorrow.
The package, unveiled by Environment Secretary Steve Barclay today, sets out plans to invest £15m in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which last week were rebranded as National Landscapes.
The government also pledged to establish 34 new landscape recovery projects through its sustainable farming subsidy programme, adding to the 22 already underway, and reiterated its manifesto commitment to create a new National Park. The search for the new park will begin in the New Year, it said.
Defra also confirmed £2.5m of funding to helping children experience the benefits of the great outdoors, £750,000 for the protection of temperate rainforests in Cornwall, Devon, and Cumbria, and highlighted previously announced plans to launch a competition for a new National Forest and establish two Community Forests in Derbyshire and the Tees Valley.
Meanwhile, the government confirmed the first batch of statutory instruments underpinning new Biodiversity Net Gain requirements for developers are to be laid in Parliament on Thursday, ahead of the rules coming into force next year. The rules will require developers that have an impact on nature to fund biodiversity improvements elsewhere, creating a major new source of funding for nature restoration projects across the UK.
“Through our Environmental Improvement Plan and today’s announcement, we are creating more opportunities for people to access nature, spend time outdoors and enjoy our beautiful countryside – as well as supporting wildlife,” Barclay said. “A healthy natural environment is critical for our wellbeing, our economy and combatting climate change.”
Last December at the COP15 Biodiversity Summit, the UK pledged to halt and reverse the decline in species abundance and to protect 30 per cent of land and nature by 2030.
Today, the government said England protected landscapes – the collective term for National Parks and National Landscapes – covered nearly a quarter of England’s land area.
However, environmental campaigners have questioned whether National Parks should qualify as being protected for nature, given the degradation of some upland habitats. They have also called on the government to expand and enhance protections in order to deliver on the 2030 target.
The government said the UK would champion nature recovery at the COP28 Climate Summit, which officially opens tomorrow with King Charles set to deliver a speech alongside scores of world leaders.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho, and Energy Minister Graham Stuart are all due to attend the climate negotiations.
Sunak said he had “shared in the nation’s profound sense of anger” in response to the felling of the tree of the Sycamore Gap in Northumberland in late September.
“The public’s outrage fundamentally demonstrated just how much love the British people have for the natural world,” he said. “From Yorkshire’s historic rolling moors to ancient rainforest on the Cornish coast, we are home to many globally significant landscapes.
“We must do all it takes to protect these much-loved spaces and ensure that love for the natural world continues into the next generations. As I head to COP28, we are reasserting the UK’s leading role in promoting our iconic landscapes and keeping nature at the centre of our action to tackle climate change.”
The announcement comes less than a week after the rebrand of AONB to National Landscapes was announced, a change recommended in a recent report into England’s protected landscapes produced for the government by Julian Glover, which also called for AONBs to be “strengthened with new purposes, powers and resources”.
Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, welcomed the governments new commitments. “As we look ahead to COP28 it is timely to set out practical actions that reflect the deep connections between nature and climate change,” he said. “The wide-ranging measures announced today mark a positive step forward and we look forward to supporting the government in delivering them.”
Want to understand what is going on at the cutting edge of sustainability? Check out BusinessGreen Intelligence – the premier information for professionals focused on the UK’s green economy.