Yorkshire Wildlife Trust lose patience over new attack on nature

Wednesday 30th November 2011

Flamborough cliffs - David Nichols

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust voices deep frustration at George Osborne's Autumn budget statement, which includes plans to review the protection afforded to wildlife in England.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts’ Chief Executive Dr Rob Stoneman said,
“We welcomed the Government’s White Paper which put nature at its heart; however the opposite now seems to be the case and the Government risks going down as the one that trashed the British countryside.”

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is deeply concerned about the new announcement regarding government policy.

The Government’s own National Ecosystem Assessment2 and Natural Environment White Paper3, both published in June this year, promised us much more than this. They were to herald a step change in nature’s fortunes. And Special Areas of Conservation (SACs4) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs5) are a key part of the foundation upon which nature’s recovery across England will depend. Yet taking England’s much depleted wildlife into a more positive future is clearly far from the Chancellor’s agenda.

Rob added: “Yorkshire Wildlife Trust continues to be alarmed by the National Planning Policy Framework Directive which appears to give a green light to trashing important wildlife sites. The recent announcement to unpick the Habitat Directive is a bridge too far.”

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) were established under the EU Habitats Directive and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) established under the EU Birds Directive. Such sites are the very foundation of environmental protection on land and at sea in England. They are key to our quality of life and to the future of iconic places in a densely populated country like our own.

Designated areas in Yorkshire include key sites like the North York Moors, the Humber Estuary, the Lower Derwent Valley and Thorne and Hatfield Moors. Other much-loved areas include Robin Hood’s Bay, Craven Limestone Complex and Skipwith Common. Coastal and marine sites include Flamborough Head and Hornsea Mere. Famous rivers benefiting from protection include the Derwent which supports populations of otters, kingfishers as well as many ducks, geese and swans.

Rob concluded:
“Yorkshire’s special areas of conservation are the jewels in the crown of our landscape. The idea of destroying sites as iconic as Spurn Point National Nature Reserve, Flamborough Head, the Humber estuary or Yorkshire’s limestone pavements is simply unthinkable.”


Notes to editors:

1 Local Wildlife Sites: There are more than 40,000 Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) in England which cover an area of at least 711,201 hectares; equating to an area 4.5 times the area of Greater London (assuming Greater London is 1,572km2). The number of Local Wildlife Sites lost to, or damaged by, built development in England in 2010 was at least 172. Of these, at least 25 were lost completely. This figure could have been much higher without the degree of protection under the current planning system. All 37 individual Wildlife Trusts in England are actively engaged in the planning system, reviewing more than 70,000 planning applications last year.

Collectively, Local Wildlife Sites play a critical conservation role by providing wildlife refuges, acting as stepping stones, corridors and buffer zones to link and protect nationally, and internationally, designated sites. Together with statutory protected areas, such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), they support locally, and often nationally, threatened species and habitats. With SSSIs they are the starting point for Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs).

2 The UK National Ecosystem Assessment states: “The natural world, its biodiversity and its constituent ecosystems are critically important to our well-being and economic prosperity, but are consistently undervalued in conventional economic analyses and decision-making.”

3 The Natural Environment White Paper (chapter three paragraph 3.6) states “The Government is committed to putting the value of natural capital at the heart of our economic thinking.”

4 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)
SACs are areas which have been given special protection under the European Union’s Habitats Directive. They provide increased protection to a variety of wild animals, plants and habitats and are a vital part of global efforts to conserve the world’s biodiversity. Find out more about them on http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/sac/default.aspx

5 Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
SPAs are areas which have been identified as being of international importance for the breeding, feeding, wintering or the migration of rare and vulnerable species of birds found within European Union countries. They are European designated sites, classified under the ‘Birds Directive 1979’ which provides enhanced protection given by the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status all SPAs also hold. Find out more about them on http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/spa/default.aspx


 

Tagged with: Government, National Planning Policy Framework, Natural Environment White Paper, NPPF