Written evidence submitted by The Wildlife Trusts and RSPB

1. Summary

1.1              This submission has been developed jointly by The Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB and is based on our commitment to work together to seek the policy and legal reforms required to ensure the recovery of nature and a greater connection between nature and people.

1.2              Our natural environment is in decline, with urgent improvements required in many of the areas identified by the Committee. 60% of species are in long term decline and just 37% of SSSIs are in favourable condition. The Government should introduce new mechanisms that not only improve environmental protection but drive its recovery from past and present declines. Investment in nature is part of the solution to wider social and economic objectives and should be sustained into the future not only for its own sake, but for the many benefits it provides to society.

1.3              The Government should introduce a Nature and Wellbeing Act to provide the statutory drivers needed to set a long-term trajectory for nature’s recovery, with powers to incorporate the value of nature in decision-making; empower local communities to incorporate nature in local planning and spending decisions, create an ecological network from the bottom up; and connect people more closely with nature.

1.4              To restore nature in a generation, we need to value, protect and connect with nature:

(1)   Value nature properly for our economy: Our economic recovery needs nature. We waste our natural resources and make bad decisions because nature is treated as if it has no value. Government should establish the Natural Capital Committee in law, with new powers to hold government to account on our use of natural resources and propose ways to build the value of nature into decision-making. Government should report to Parliament each year on the state of our natural capital.

(2)   Protect nature for our communities: Nature is valuable for what it means to people. We must complement our national/international protection by giving communities power to look after the places that matter most to them. Local ecological network strategies would guide local planning and spending decisions. At the same time, we must defend the Nature Directives, which provide vital international protection.

(3)   Connect people with nature for our health and wellbeing: Nature is good for health, wellbeing and education. A degraded environment affects the most vulnerable people most. We would oblige local authorities to provide fair access to quality greenspace and amend the Education Act 2002 to make an understanding of the natural world a basic purpose of schooling.

2. Areas in which environmental protection has worsened since 2010

2.1              This submission focuses primarily on nature (biodiversity) in England and the levers required to ensure its improved protection and recovery in the future.

2.2              The NAO briefing to the Committee in June outlined performance against Biodiversity 2020 indicators as a measure of performance in the protection of nature.  It identified a mixed picture with some improvements and some deterioration.

2.3              However, when read alongside the conclusions of other important pieces of research and monitoring work published since 2010, a clearer picture emerges.

-          Many of our protected sites (such as SSSIs) are in poor condition[i]

-          Over the past 50 years our native wildlife has been in decline and in the case of 30% of species this decline has been sharp[ii]

-          One in 10 of species monitored are on the brink of extinction[iii]

-          There has been a worrying decline in the flow of vital services we receive from our natural environment – such as clean water, pollination, carbon storage and so on[iv]

2.4              DEFRA’s biodiversity indicators also indicate: a decline in the proportion of SSSIs in favourable condition between March 2010 and March 2013; the status of habitats of European importance declined between 2007 and 2013; and the status of UK priority species has shown short-term decline between 2005 and 2010. The status of UK species of European Importance showed improvement between 2007 and 2013.

2.5              At a local level, we have over 40 000 Local Sites in England many of which are of SSSI quality in terms of their nature conservation value. Yet local experiences and observations by Wildlife Trusts across the country indicate that many are being lost and/or degraded every year due to lack of effective protection from development or resources to ensure their management or monitoring.

2.6              So whether based on scientific evidence or local intelligence and observation, the general trend is one of decline across species, habitats and sites.

2.7              However, the picture is not all bleak and there have been some notable success stories – as the increase in 13 of the 37 Biodiversity 2020 indicators suggests.

2.8              The nature that we have left is a testament to the policy and legislative drivers that we have in place in England to protect our species and natural sites. Without the present framework, some of which has domestic origins that date from the 1940s and some of which has been introduced through the transposing of EU legislation, the picture would be much worse. But even with this in place, all that we are managing to do is “hang on to what we have left” (John Lawton)[v]. And even then, this applies only to some habitats and species and not others.  So the challenge that still remains is not only how to better protect nature – but to turn this trajectory around and to achieve its recovery. 

2.9              In parallel to this environmental challenge we are also facing significant social and economic challenges. For example, as a population we are experiencing increasing levels of obesity and physical inactivity[vi]. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives[vii] . Improvements in overall health are skewed towards wealthier sections of the population, causing health inequalities to increase[viii]. Within our economy, we continue to use many of our ‘natural assets’ in an unsustainable way[ix], thus placing their future and our long-term economic prosperity at risk.

2.10              It is clear that in tackling these problems, there is an important role to be played by the natural environment and that it is in fact part of the solution. It underpins our economy[x], it provides us with a range of vital ‘services’ (such as clean water, pollinators, food production, carbon storage and so on) and it provides attractive locations for outdoor recreation.  Participating in physical activity outdoors can help to combat obesity and other diseases linked to lack of activity. Spending time in nature also improves our mental health and general sense of wellbeing[xi].  A continued decline in our natural environment will have social and economic consequences but equally, its recovery will deliver many benefits for society.

2.11              The Natural Environment White Paper (2011) (NEWP) articulated for the first time why we should protect and restore nature – both for its own sake and because of what it does for us. This recognition of the critical connection between people and nature was a very positive step towards seeing nature, and its recovery, as a key strategy in the tackling of wider social and economic challenges.  The NEWP also contained an ambition for this government to “be the first generation to leave the natural environment of England in a better state than it inherited” and made a specific set of commitments to help to achieve this. 

2.12              However, whilst the ambition of the NEWP is indisputable – in our view the policy levers it contains will be insufficient to fulfil its ambition. They are a good start but don’t go far enough or have the strength to provide the fundamental changes in how we value, use and interact with nature that will be needed to halt the decline in nature, let alone reverse this trend.

Box 1 provides our brief analysis as to why we believe the policy interventions within the white paper for the protection and improvement of nature are insufficient.

3. Which policy levers are most (and least) appropriate to enable improved protection

3.1              In our view, a strong statutory driver is required to realise the ambitions of the Natural Environment White Paper and to provide the strength and longevity required to bring about real change — a Nature and Wellbeing Act.

How would it work?

• It would be a piece of modern, progressive legislation - positive and enabling in its design and with the objectives of achieving the recovery of nature and increasing our connection to nature at its core. It would thus be very different to a more traditional piece of ‘restrictive’ regulation.

• Akin to the Climate Change Act 2010 in its style and approach, it would provide the shell within which to wrap and embed the various mechanisms and emerging approaches that are needed to meet its objectives.

• It would build on, rather than replace, existing legislation for the natural environment (which is mostly focused on protecting nature) – by introducing a commitment to its recovery and mechanisms through which we can better value nature and better ‘connect’ people to it. These are all elements that are reflected in the White Paper but currently lack a statutory foundation. 

• Like the Climate Change Act, it would use duties, mechanisms and reports to create the accountability and political pressure necessary to generate the cultural shifts necessary to achieve the purpose of the Act. Also like the Climate Change Act, it would ensure that its implementation was the concern of all relevant government departments and not seen simply as a responsibility of the ‘environment’ department.

• By necessity, it would be multi-faceted - containing a variety of legislative approaches and tools necessary to tackle the complex “system problem” that is the decline in our natural environment and our increasing disconnection from it. 

• But importantly, it would also strive to create a clearer and more coherent and strategic approach to the recovery of nature on the ground thus reducing the confusion, inefficiency and complexity currently inhibiting delivery at the local level.

4. The areas in which the need for improved protection is most urgent, and the nature of the improvements required.

4.1              In order to achieve the ambitions within the white paper, stronger and more strategic policy levers are required in four key areas:

-          Long-term commitment to and framework for the protection and recovery of nature

-          A national ecological network – created locally and ecological networks, knitted together across boundaries

-          Better valuation of nature (and more widely, natural capital)

-          Improved connection of people to nature

4.2              A strong framework for the recovery of nature must have national oversight and commitment in combination with effective local design and delivery that when ‘knitted together’ across the country will meet national objectives. A balanced bottom-up/ top-down approach is needed, not simply a reliance either on a completely local approach or national top down direction.

Long-term commitment to and framework for the recovery of nature

4.3              A strong long-term commitment by government to nature’s recovery is needed to drive action across all departments and sectors.

4.4              In England, we have a well-established body of legislation for the protection of our natural environment. However, this focuses primarily on “hanging on to what we have left” rather than driving the positive recovery of nature. 

4.5              We need a statutory commitment to restore nature, with a set of targets against which the government’s progress can be assessed and reported on a regular basis. Policy commitments (such as the 2010 biodiversity targets) have proven ineffective; a long-term legislative target is needed for biodiversity and site condition.

4.6              More could also be achieved from our existing legislation and policy if it were better implemented. Regular reporting to Parliament on the government’s progress against key targets for the recovery of nature would go far to increase accountability and contribute to the implementation of key commitments and responsibilities.

4.7              A framework of commitments and targets should also provide for specific planning and action for the protection and recovery of the national populations of our most threatened species, highlighting species and habitats of particular concern, within overall trends.

A Nature and Wellbeing Act should introduce:

• Statutory targets for the recovery of nature in a generation, including:
• An increase in the species watchlist indicator by 10% by 2040
• At least 80% of SSSIs are in favourable condition by 2040 (current level is 37%)
• Reporting mechanisms to monitor progress against targets
• A duty on the Secretary of State to keep an up to date list of species threatened with extinction, publish the actions needed to improve the status of those species, and report to Parliament on their status and trends.

Creation of a national ecological network

4.8              What is needed in an effective mechanism for creating a national ecological network – designed and built from the ‘bottom up’. 

4.9              This would include a national strategy for the delivery of an ecological network across England that would then be created through the ‘knitting together’ of local ecological networks developed at the local level.  It would embed local ecological networks within local plans and enable these to be used as a much needed ‘blueprint for investment in local nature’ – referred to by public and private sectors alike and ensuring that funding and resources for nature are targeted in the geographical areas where they are needed most and will make the greatest strategic contribution. At present, a policy approach has not been effective in positioning ecological networks as the key spatial and strategic tool at the local level, through which a multitude of environmental, social and economic goals can be achieved in the long term.  This is a key intervention required to ensure delivery of the ambition of the NEWP and a strong commitment to its application on the ground is essential.

A Nature and Wellbeing Act should introduce:

• A requirement on national government to produce a framework for the creation of a national ecological network to be built at the local level and ‘knitted together’ across administrative boundaries. This would include guidance for local authorities on how to identify, map and deliver an ecological network, to ensure a consistent approach across England.
• A reporting requirement on relevant ministers of state to ensure that Parliament is kept informed of progress towards creation of the national network.
• A duty on local planning authorities to identify, map and embed these local ecological networks within local plans from the outset of their development. Networks need to be woven into a wide range of local policy and investment decisions, from the design and location of new housing, flood alleviation, preventative health delivery, outdoor education, recreation, job creation and so on.
• New ways of working between adjacent local authorities, and clarification of the role of the Duty to Cooperate in developing connections between local ecological networks.
• A duty on all relevant public bodies (e.g. Natural England, Environment Agency) to contribute to the planning and delivery of local ecological networks as part of their strategy towards fulfilling both national objectives for nature and the wider social objectives related to the services that local ecological networks provide.

Better valuation of Nature (and more broadly natural capital)

4.10              We derive a multitude of benefits and “services” from the natural environment. Some of these have a financial value in the marketplace (such as food and fuel for example) whilst others that are equally essential for economic stability and human wellbeing (such as climate regulation, flood control, space for relaxation and recreation) do not[xii]. This has led to an over-exploitation of the unvalued or undervalued elements of the environment for short-term gain and has resulted in their steady degradation over time.

4.11              ‘Natural capital’ includes those goods and services that we receive from the natural environment. It provides both vocabulary for talking about the economic value of the natural environment and an evolving metric for its measurement. The term has global recognition and has been adopted in England within the Natural Environment White Paper.

4.12              The White Paper contained an ambition to develop a set of national Natural Capital Accounts and establish a Natural Capital Committee to advise government on the state of our natural capital.  This independent committee, formed of leading economists and ecologists, has subsequently produced two annual ‘State of Natural Capital Reports’ and will follow this in 2015 with the publication of its third and final report containing a 25 year plan to maintain and improve our natural capital. This is very important work. However, as it stands, the Natural Capital Committee only remains in existence until the end of this Parliament.

A Nature and Wellbeing Act should introduce:

-          The establishment of the Natural Capital Committee in law, with new powers to:

• scrutinise the environmental impact of new laws,
• propose new policies for incorporating the value of nature in decision-making, and
• exercise oversight of national natural capital accounts, to be published annually by the Treasury.

Improved connection of people to nature

4.13              There are huge opportunities for people to be more connected with nature and we know that increased contact with the natural environment offers substantial health and wellbeing benefits. Health inequality is a serious issue in England and yet improving access to natural green space for all communities could make an important contribution to tackling this issue[xiii].  Improving people’s access to natural greenspace can help to shift our public services away from disease treatment to prevention, helping to address growing public health crises (such as childhood obesity), improve mental health, and save up to £2.1 billion annually. A small redistribution of public health spending to preventative care based on access to natural greenspace could bring significant rewards.

4.14              Natural England has recognised the importance of nature ‘nearby’ and has published a set of standards for access to natural green space targeted at planners, decision-makers and managers of green space[xiv]. This is designed to communicate the minimum extent of green space that our developments and settlements should contain to ensure that all communities have access to natural green space close to their homes.

4.15              We believe that this is so fundamentally important to our quality of life – rich and poor – that the government should go further and formally commit to increasing the extent, accessibility and quality of natural green space in and around our settlements.  This commitment would again be delivered at the local level.

A Nature and Wellbeing Act should introduce:

-          Improved connection of people to nature

• A commitment by government to increase the extent, accessibility and quality of natural green space close to homes.

4.16              In terms of improving our understanding of nature and the benefits it provides us with, the white paper stressed the importance of creating greater contact with nature for children through education. It set out interventions to encourage more outdoor learning and remove any barriers to this. However, a powerful additional intervention in our view, would be to embed an understanding of the natural environment and our connection to it, as a fundamental part of what a school must impart to all children as part of their delivery of the curriculum. 

4.17              The current obligation on all maintained schools (under s78 of the Education Act) is to promote spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society – and to prepare pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.

A Nature and Wellbeing Act should introduce:

• Amendment of section 78 of the Education Act to make contact with and appreciation of nature part of the core function of schooling.