Last week the UK Government published its Protected Landscapes Targets and Outcomes Framework. This is a welcome and important recognition of the importance of our National Parks and National Landscapes for the significant contribution they can make to restoring nature … But is it sufficient to ensure a nature rich future for these special places? Meriel Harrison, RSPB Senior Policy Officer takes a look …
Protected Landscapes – National Parks and National Landscapes (the new name for AONBs) - are some of our most iconic landscapes. These include much loved places such as the Lake District, the Peak District, the Mendips and the North Wessex Downs. They hold huge potential to be at the heart of recovering nature in England. And there is overwhelming public support for nature recovery to be a priority in these places.
However, in many of them, nature is struggling. For example, the condition of protected wildlife sites within National Parks is worse than outside them! For example, 26% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in National Parks are in favourable condition compared to the national average of 38%. Unlocking their full potential is vital if the UK Government is to reach its national targets to halt and reverse the loss of nature.
Targets
The publication of this new Outcomes Framework is an important step toward this, as it clearly sets out the collective contribution that the 44 protected landscapes must make towards meeting a number of national environmental targets.
The targets addressed in the framework come from the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan and cover habitat creation and protected site condition; nature friendly farming; actions to address climate change; access, heritage and engagement. In many cases the targets require protected landscapes to deliver a proportionally greater amount of the national targets - for example, protected landscapes cover around 25% of land in England but will be expected to deliver 50% of the national target for habitat restoration and creation. This is a welcome recognition of the vital role protected landscapes need to play over the coming years if we are to succeed in halting and reversing the loss of nature.
Yet there are still crucial gaps in the framework. There is nothing to specify what contribution protected landscapes will make to towards the UK Governments legally binding target of delivering 30% of land in good condition for nature by 2030. There is also nothing on what they are expected to contribute to the legally binding target to halt the decline in the abundance of species – described by UK Government in its Environmental Improvement Plan as the ‘most critical target of all’ . With one in six species threatened with extinction in the UK surely their contribution must be significant – but there’s no clarity on this, and thus no real impetus for meaningful change at the scale needed.
More Nature?
Will this framework result in more nature in National Parks and National Landscapes? To make a real difference not only must the glaring gaps in the framework be addressed, but there must be funding and accountability in place.
Protected landscape bodies, such as the Park Authorities, are in the driving seat but many other partners will need to be involved in delivery once the individual contributions for each landscape have been agreed and, as required, captured in National Park and National Landscape management plans.
We believe that it is vital that the UK Government now sets out a clear timetable for urgently introducing regulations to secure a direct connection between environmental targets and protected landscape management plans. This was promised during the passage of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, and it would require all public bodies to play an active role in delivering these plans.
Taking these next steps, as well as properly resourcing protected landscape bodies to deliver action for nature and climate at scale and pace, will kickstart the transition towards National Parks and National Landscapes that are at the forefront of nature’s recovery.
If you’d like to show your support for National Parks, our friends at the Campaign for National Parks have just launched a petition calling on politicians to commit to an ambitious programme that transforms our National Parks for the benefit of people, nature and the planet … https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-our-national-parks