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UK risks embarrassment on global stage at COP15 as wildlife declines at home

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is urging county MPs to back ambitious nature recovery targets as a global summit for nature begins.
The Retained EU Law Bill risks more than 570 laws which protect the natural environment, including rivers. This Bill needs to be scrapped or the quality of our waterways is likely to get even worse. More pollution means less insects and fish, which means less herons, kingfishers, and otters that depend on the fish for food.
Liz Peck, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is urging county MPs to back ambitious nature recovery targets as a global summit for nature begins.

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity, also known as COP15, starts in Canada this week (Wednesday 7 December) and will run for 13 days.

World leaders will meet to agree how countries will work together to stop the decline of wildlife. What happens there will directly affect wildlife in Staffordshire.

The timing couldn’t be more important, as the latest study suggests the Earth’s wildlife has plummeted by almost 70 per cent in the last 50 years. And the UK is one of the most nature-poor countries in the world with 41 per cent of species decreasing in abundance since the 1970s.

In Staffordshire wildlife has suffered from river pollution, more intensive farming, and habitats being lost to building development. Many species are also struggling to survive and their future hangs in the balance. 

To bring nature back, it needs space. In 2020 the UK Government signed the Leaders Pledge for Nature, committing to protect 30 per cent of land and sea for nature by 2030 (the 30by30 pledge). However, there is still no clear plan of how this will happen.

Recent Government actions risk making a bad situation even worse. The Retained EU Law Bill threatens to remove vital wildlife protections, putting this goal further out of reach.
A male kingfisher sits on a branch with its beak wide open as though calling to the left of the shot

By Clive Wood

An otter standing on a large pile of kelp

Otter © Danny Green/2020VISION

A heron stands on the edge of a calm river with green trees behind the shoreline

Heron by Bertie Gregory

The Retained EU Law Bill risks more than 570 laws which protect the natural environment, including rivers.

In Staffordshire, most of our rivers are already in a bad way, with poor ecological health and high chemical levels. For example, stretches of the River Trent in Burton and between Knypersley and Milton near Stoke-on-Trent, are in bad and poor condition.

This Bill needs to be scrapped or the quality of our waterways is likely to get even worse. More pollution means less insects and fish, which means less herons, kingfishers, and otters that depend on the fish for food.

The Bill also threatens to weaken protection for some of the county’s most special wildlife habitats. Parts of Cannock Chase and the incredibly unique Pasturefields Salt Marsh in Hixon near Stafford could be lost. Pasturefields is the only known place in the UK with a natural salt spring and inland saltmarsh vegetation.

We need the UK Government to lead by example at COP15. They must fulfil commitments to nature at home.
Liz Peck, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust

The Government were due to publish Environment Act targets to restore the abundance of nature at the end of October, but missed their own deadline. Current proposals will mean even less wildlife in 20 years than there is now.

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is calling on the UK Government to:

  • Set a target to increase wildlife by at least 20 per cent by 2042, compared to 2022 levels. Current proposals for a 10 per cent increase on 2030 levels will mean even less biodiversity by 2042.
  • Help set ambitious global targets to halt and reverse catastrophic declines in habitat and wildlife by 2030 at COP15. The agreement must include targets to protect 30 per cent of land and sea for nature by 2030 across the planet.
  • Scrap the Retained EU Law Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament. It threatens the laws which protect wild places and species across the UK.

Liz added: "We're urging Staffordshire communities to contact their MPs urging them to defend nature. There are three quick and easy ways to do this on our dedicated campaign webpage."

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