More local authorities should declare a nature emergency – Inside track

This post is by Louise Wilkinson, nature recovery lead policy advocate at The Woodland Trust. 

The old adage ‘think globally act locally’ still rings true for nature. Bending the curve on the decline of our habitats and species is all about what happens on the ground, field by field and hedge by hedge. And yet, the decline of the UK’s nature is an all too familiar, still as heartbreaking, headline.

Just two per cent of local authorities have committed to protecting and managing 30 per cent of their land for nature by 2030. Meanwhile, wildlife species have declined by an average of 19 per cent since 1970 and the four countries of the UK are some of the most nature depleted in the world.

Those changes are now apparent every day, too. The dawn chorus is quieter and once common species such as hedgehogs and bullfinches are now rarely seen. Shifting baseline syndrome means we don’t even expect to see them or know that they are missing.

Local authorities are vital to nature protection
To start to recover wildlife populations and natural systems it is vital that international targets such as those in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and national legislation, such as the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill or the Nature Bill in Wales are translated into policy and action at a local authority level. Localism is becoming an increasingly important part of the Westminster government’s agenda with the English Devolution White Paper and the expectation that Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) will be the vehicle to deliver many of its ambitions for nature. The development of LNRS is well underway in some areas, with two front runners, West of England Authority and North Northamptonshire, having already published theirs. 

Local authorities as policy makers, landowners and local champions have a vitally important part to play in protecting and restoring nature. Guy Shrubsole’s book Who owns England shows that English councils own a surprising amount of land, about 1.3 million acres, or around four per cent of England’s 32 million acres, including large areas of the Green Belt, golf courses and even areas of moorland. 

Making a nature emergency declaration is an essential first step for local authorities in acknowledging the challenge and turning it into nature recovery on the ground. By putting nature on an emergency footing, councils have the mandate to take meaningful steps to reverse decades of decline and create healthier, greener spaces for people and wildlife. 

Nature’s loss is as critical as the climate crisis
The Woodland Trust’s newly published Nature Emergency Scorecard produced with Climate Emergency UK and mySociety shows the actions taken by the 395 UK local authorities to restore nature and gives people the tools to put pressure in their local authority to make the change. 

Local authorities were scored on whether they had declared a nature emergency and on the quality of their declaration. The findings are revealing. Only 26 per cent (103 of 395) of local authorities in the UK have declared a nature emergency. 

Just 13 per cent (51 of 395) have committed to develop an evidence-based action plan for pushing nature into recovery and only eight per cent have committed to embed nature’s recovery into all strategic plans and policy areas.

One trailblazer is Doncaster City Council. Their mayor, Ros Jones, says: “In 2021 I committed to see a million trees planted across Doncaster over a ten-year period. So far, a grand total of 339,795 trees and over 247,000 tree seeds have been planted across the City of Doncaster. We’re improving our green spaces and creating the woodlands and treescape for current and future generations. Working in partnership with residents, businesses and landowners, we are determined to meet our ‘million tree challenge’ and increase our tree coverage across Doncaster from 13 per cent to 17 per cent by planting more trees in urban areas, community spaces, town centres, gateway green areas and woodlands.” 

The nature crisis is every bit as critical as the climate crisis. We have seen the benefits of local authorities declaring climate emergencies and taking climate action, which is why the Woodland Trust is calling on all local authorities to join more than 100 trailblazers, like Doncaster, and make their own nature emergency declarations.

Find out more about The Woodland Trust’s Nature Emergency Scorecard and urge your council to declare a nature emergency and take action for nature.