Government has today offered new licences for onshore oil and gas, many of which are expected to result in exploration for and production of oil and gas using fracking.
27 licences have been offered, with a further 132 that have been assessed for their environmental impact announced and opened up to consultation.
Government's claim is that the 132 licences that remain up for consultation are the environmentally sensitive licences. They rightly identify potential impacts on sites such as Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas that are important for wildlife at a European level and designated as such.
But in the 27 licences that are going ahead without this extra scrutiny, there are 53 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and three RSPB reserves. This is clearly the first manifestation of Government dropping a promise to ban fracking in SSSIs.
RSPB Fairburn Ings, Dearne Valley and Langford Lowfield are all included in the 27 new licences. I visited Fairburn Ings a few years ago and it's a beautiful reserve on the site of a former coal mine, but we definitely don't want to see fossil fuel extraction return here. It's now the site of a huge lake and beautiful woodlands that are home to woodpeckers, swans and kingfishers. Fracking at these 53 SSSIs or RSPB reserves could put birds like godwits, goldeneyes and bitterns at risk.
Amber Rudd, now Secretary of State for Climate Change, made the to rule out SSSIs promise back in February, but dropped SSSIs from the list of Protected Areas when it issued new secondary legislation in June. It still promises to rule out fracking in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites, but hasn't done so yet.
Government should attach conditions to fracking licences banning surface activity in all Protected Areas including SSSIs.
But, protecting our most important wildlife sites wouldn't be the end of the chapter on fracking. We still don't think the regulatory regime for fracking is fit for purpose, and we're yet to see a compelling case that fracking is compatible with our climate change targets (we await a report the Committee on Climate Change must make to Government on this issue by 2016).
Government appears to be rushing ahead with fracking, putting some of our most precious and sensitive wildlife at risk. Instead, their priority should be ensuring long-term support and certainty for the low-carbon and renewable industry that can help to drive down our climate change emissions.
We will be looking very closely at the detail of the 132 licences, sharing more analysis, and responding to Government's consultation in the coming days.
Matt Williams, Assistant Warden, RSPB Snape.