Meriel Harrison, RSPB Senior Policy Officer, considers an important new report from the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee ...
During the long run up to last year’s COP15 global biodiversity summit, one front where the UK was genuinely showing international leadership was its championing of ’30 by 30’ – a target to effectively protect and manage 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030. The UK Government was a leading advocate, making an early commitment to achieve 30 by 30 at home, and along with other parties was successful in securing the target as a keystone of the new Global Biodiversity Framework that was agreed at COP15.
But leading the way in setting targets is one thing; leading the way in delivering them is quite another. A welcome new report from the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee has looked in detail at what the Government is actually doing, and what it needs to do, to meet what it calls the “extraordinary challenge” of 30 by 30 in England.
Three years on from committing to 30 by 30, progress has been minimal. At most, says the Committee, only 6.5% of England could be counted as effectively protected and managed for nature. And this seems an optimistic assessment; taking into account the poor condition of much of this land, Wildlife and Countryside Link puts the figure at just 3.22%. Turning this into 30% over the next seven years will require an unflinching focus on improving the quality and quantity of areas protected for nature, and the report contains a raft of recommendations to achieve this.
Taken together, these recommendations – which include better and more frequent monitoring of protected sites, more resource and incentives for managing sites well, and strengthening of safeguards around the vital Habitats Regulations that prevent damage to sites – set a blueprint for a plan of action that Government can adopt and build on. Alongside improvements to protected sites, the Committee calls for a consultation on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) that may be able to contribute to 30 by 30.
Defra has committed to publishing a map of what it plans to count towards the 30% by the end of the year and Natural England’s evidence contributing to the report confirms that discussions with Defra on assessment criteria are underway. We need to see these criteria published alongside the map, so that decision-making on this crucial target is fully transparent and there is no risk of greenwash. And as the Committee’s report notes, many of our existing protected areas are in poor condition and so as well as mapping the pipeline towards 30 by 30, the Government will need to set out clearly how it will make the changes needed on the ground so that all do count – in line with international criteria – by 2030.
While more widely-applied tools such as the new Environmental Land Management Scheme and Biodiversity Net Gain have potential to play a significant role in improving the state of nature across the country, the Committee’s findings set out the challenges for these in terms of counting towards the 30%; not least, that in their current form these levers are simply not operating over a long enough timescale, and aren’t sufficiently ambitious to secure biodiversity benefits for the long term.
The report pays particular attention to the challenges of delivering 30 by 30 in the marine environment, where the overall area currently designated is much larger than on land but the current effectiveness of these designations is questionable. Taking up the Committee’s steer to increase funding for an expanded marine monitoring programme, better regulate bottom trawling, and increase momentum behind the designation of Highly Protected Marine Areas would make a big difference to the state of nature in our seas.
To get off the starting blocks and make some real strides towards 30 by 30, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill currently passing through the House of Lords offers a vehicle to deliver at least two of the Committee’s recommendations. Giving National Parks stronger purposes and duties in law to set them up to deliver more for nature is urgent unfinished business, and it is heartening to see the Committee repeat this recommendation first made in the Landscapes Review a full five years ago, and most recently made in Wildlife and Countryside Link’s Nature 2030 report which sets out key asks for nature ahead of the next Parliament. The Bill could also deliver on a stronger legal underpinning for Local Nature Recovery Strategies, to ensure they have the clout they need to make a difference.
The UK talked a good talk at COP15. Our Government’s international credibility now rests on how they walk the walk. We’ll be watching with interest to see how Ministers respond to the recommendations of the Lords’ Committee.