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£6 million investment to trigger new phase for UK nature recovery

The Wildlife Trusts ramp-up plans to combat nature crisis with new rewilding programme

Today, The Wildlife Trusts unveil a new programme which will accelerate UK nature recovery and help to reverse catastrophic declines in wildlife.  £6 million from the Ecological Restoration Fund will support rewilding projects, the reintroduction of keystone species and better protections for marine and coastal habitats.  

The funds come at a time when more than 40% of species in the UK are in decline and over 15% are threatened with extinction. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Seas are at risk from over exploitation and development, rivers are dying from agricultural and sewage pollution, and many people suffer from lack of access to nature. 

Hadrian's Wall

The Wildlife Trusts’ new programme, Transforming Nature’s Recovery, seeks to address these challenges on three fronts: 

Keystone species reintroduction

Wild habitats are fragmented and have lost many natural processes that are fundamental to healthy ecosystems. This includes the loss of predators such as lynx and wild cats, and wild herbivores such as tarpan, aurochs, and bison. Funding will contribute towards applications and release programmes of free-living beavers to restore wetlands and low-level grazing with large herbivores such as Exmoor ponies, Welsh blacks, and highland cows.  

Marine conservation

The UK’s cold and nutrient-rich seas were once some of the healthiest and most productive on earth, but pressures from development, pollution and overfishing have led to huge wildlife declines. Welsh seas double the size of Wales and it is vital that these pressures are reversed. New funding will enable the development of partner support to deliver nature’s recovery in 30% of Welsh seas by 2030.  

Rewilding

The UK has committed to protecting 30% of land for nature by 2030. The programme targets creating bigger and more connected wild areas for nature’s recovery, to allow natural processes to help restore nature’s abundance, resilience and diversity. Funding will launch a landscape recovery programme along Hadrian’s Wall, back projects in Hertfordshire, the Welsh Marches, Peak District, and Northern Ireland, and complement nature recovery work across the River Severn catchment. 

The programme is designed to help the UK achieve its existing target of protecting at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 and reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Research shows there is a funding gap of an estimated £56 billion to achieve the UK’s nature-related targets over the subsequent decade. 

Dr Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, says: 

“Our bold approach to nature recovery is a highly necessary change of gear that will benefit every single one of us. Restoring and expanding wild places tackles problems of flooding, drought and pollinator decline; this is critical for farming, healthier rivers and seas, and adapting to the changing climate. 

“Extinctions, pollution, and wildfires make headlines with increasing frequency and so it’s vital to go much further with nature recovery across the UK. We must create a place where wildlife, farming and people thrive together; where beavers work their magic and benefit communities; where seas are abundant with marine wildlife, and where there’s easy access to nature to improve people’s lives. This game-changing donation from the Ecological Restoration Fund will bolster our work when nature needs us most.” 

Daniel Hotz, chair of the Ecological Restoration Fund, says:  

“We're proud to support The Wildlife Trusts in their ambitious vision for UK nature recovery. Recognising that our collective futures are intrinsically bound to the health of our environment, the urgency to address the UK's troubling species decline and habitat degradation is paramount. By knitting together and rejuvenating wild spaces, we're not only creating richer habitats for wildlife but also bringing tangible benefits to local communities.” 

A briefing about The Wildlife Trusts’ new programme, Transforming Nature’s Recovery is available here. To find out more about each of the programmes listed above please see here. A list of 10 threatened species that will benefit from the programme is available here. 

Editor’s notes

Ecological Restoration Fund 

The Ecological Restoration Fund is a new fund dedicated to supporting organisations that protect biodiverse hotspots, rejuvenate degraded landscapes and promote environmental activism. We aim to re-establish nature’s essential interconnections while fostering cultural, social and economic opportunities for the communities inhabiting those landscapes. ecorestorationfund.org

30 by 30

The Wildlife Trusts launched their ambition to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030 in September 2020 – media release here. Our campaign takes its lead from The UN  Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which proposes that at least 30% of the world’s land and seas should be restored for nature by 2030 to prevent the destruction of the planet’s biodiversity, as part of a global framework to protect the Earth’s plant and wildlife. At less than 30% cover, habitat patches are too small and isolated, and species richness abundance and survival rates decline. This is what has led to the UK becoming one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.  In 2020, the UK Government committed to the 30x30 target – see here. 

Global Biodiversity Framework 2030 Targets 

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has 23 action-oriented global targets for urgent action over the decade to 2030. This includes:  

  • Target 2 – by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and marine and coastal ecosystems are under effective restoration, to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions, ecological integrity and connectivity. 

  • Target 3 – by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and of marine and coastal areas, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. 

Protected areas and 30x30 progress

A 2022 report by Wildlife & Countryside Link found only 3.22% of England's land is effectively protected and managed for nature, a small increase from 3% in 2021. At sea, a maximum of 8% of  

English waters can be classed as protected from bottom-towed fishing, which damages the seabed. Other impacts, like offshore developments, pollution, and poor monitoring to assess nature’s recovery in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) mean this figure could be lower.  

Across the UK, 44% of the area or features of terrestrial and freshwater Sites of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) are in favourable condition. JNCC 

The UK Finance Gap

The finance gap to meet the UK’s nature related outcomes is at least between £44 billion and £97 billion over the next 10 years – with a central estimate of £56 billion. 

Wildlife and nature loss 

NB The 2023 publication of the State of Nature is expected in late September 2023. 

Beavers

Beavers are a keystone species and have a highly positive impact on their environment.  They are native to Britain but were hunted to extinction, contributing to the loss of the wetlands. The Wildlife Trusts are at the forefront of beaver reintroductions and released a record 17 beavers in 2021, twenty years after Kent Wildlife Trust brought the first beavers back. In Scotland and Devon, Wildlife Trusts pioneered licensed trial releases of beavers into the wild, backed by scientific research and strong partnerships, which demonstrated the many benefits of beavers and the most effective tools for beaver management. In both trials, beavers were allowed to remain and spread naturally. The trials showed how well-trained and licenced volunteers can resolve issues that might arise from beavers in river systems. 

In July 2022, news of beaver kits was announced by Derbyshire, Cheshire and Dorset Wildlife Trusts. There are now more than 20 wild beaver territories on the River Otter catchment, monitored by Devon Wildlife Trust. In 2023, Cheshire Wildlife Trust announced the birth of three more beaver kits at its Hatchmere Nature Reserve, while kits were also born at Idle Valley in Nottinghamshire. 

On 1st October 2022, legislation came into force in England that made beavers a ‘European Protected Species’ and classed them as a native animal. Protected status makes it an offence to harm beavers or their habitat, and classification as a native species means that measures to ‘control’ beavers as a non-native species do not apply.  

Low intensity grazing 

The Wildlife Trusts want to see a greater use of low-level grazing akin to how primitive cattle and horses affected landscapes pre-agriculture, causing natural disturbances, and supporting a greater diversity of wildlife. Creating a mosaic of different habitats is better for pollinators, which is better for farming. Projects will employ primitive species of horses and cattle, such as Exmoor ponies, Welsh blacks, and highland cows. The Wildlife Trusts already run various experimental grazing projects with large herbivores, including with bison in Kent and water buffalo in Hertfordshire. 

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