It’s been good to be at work today. It usually is but today was a bit special. For the last six months we’ve been planning (with a bit of plotting and scheming) developing our evidence, engaging, advocating and campaigning to set out argument that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was fundamentally wrong when, in his 2011 Autumn Statement he claimed that environmental regulation placed a ridiculous cost on business.
His acerbic words were a prelude into a review of the ‘Habs Regs’ by DEFRA. The Habitat Regulations are the legal mechanism by which the European Birds and Habitats Directives are delivered in British law.
Important stuff.
The Nature Directives are progressive and effective legal frameworks that have stood the test of time (the Birds Directive came into force in 1979) and are the cornerstone of protecting the best of British wildlife (not to mention wildlife across the rest of the EU).
Any weakening of the Habs Regs would be a serious blow to all those of us who treasure nature and those special places that are home to our rich diversity of wildlife.
We knew, because we work with planners, developers and the Directives on a daily basis, that the Chancellor was wrong. Of course there’s always room for improvement in any walk of life. But fundamentally the Directives work and are not an unreasonable burden on decision making or economic activity – but they are essential for driving wise decision making and stopping bad development decisions.
The outcome?
Our view has been fully endorsed ... here’s the first paragraph:
‘The Government strongly supports the aims of the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives to protect our rarest and most threatened habitats and species, which contribute to the economic value of our natural environment’. You can read the whole thing here and our reaction here.
Children exploring RSPB Rainham Marshes - a site saved by years of dogged determination - and wise application of the regs Photo Dave McHugh RSPB Images
We made our case ... our policy advocates don’t often have such a day in the sun.
Step up and take a bow.
Our creative teams produced our Wake up George video – and over 19,000 of you e-mailed the Chancellor.
Today we can pause and celebrate the ascendance of evidence over rhetoric. But the hard work is yet to come. Getting our Government to accept evidence that we need to have a regulatory framework to protect the natural world is actually standing still. The UK is signed up to stopping the loses and beginning to turn round the fortunes of nature by 2020 – RSPB’s Stepping Up for Nature has, at its heart, this challenging but achievable goal.
It’s been a good week for ensuring we still have a framework of regulation to safeguard nature – the big question that has let to be answered is how will this play out in the face of intense and growing development pressure?
What’s certain is that you will be able to follow the story as it unfolds in these posts.
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