Matt Shardlow, Chief Executive of Buglife, said: ‘The horrendous decline in wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators impacts on people and the economy, as well as eroding the intrinsic beauty of our environment. Change is urgently required, and a new Environment Bill with binding targets and an increase in resources committed to saving wildlife are the first steps.’
John Sauven, Executive Director, Greenpeace UK said: ‘We cannot continue to bury our head in the sand about the state of the country’s wildlife. Evidence shows that protected areas, such as marine reserves, provide huge benefits for the climate and local economies as well as biodiversity and yet the natural world is facing more pressure than ever before. Government must prioritise the protection and restoration of the UK’s natural environment, and match its rhetoric on issues like plastic pollution with ambitious action to stop plastic flowing into our oceans and harming wildlife.’
Patrick Begg, National Trust Outdoors and Natural Resources Director, said: ‘We all need to play our part in restoring a healthy, beautiful natural environment for future generations to enjoy. The Prime Minister’s commitment to a new Environment Bill is just the first step – we now need whole Government backing for the right level of protections and enforcement to really deliver the reversal of nature’s decline and create the thriving countryside this country needs".
Kit Stoner, Chief Executive of Bat Conservation Trust, said: ‘We know that if the right actions are taken it is possible to help wildlife and the environment on which we all ultimately depend. An integrated approach will maximise the benefit to agriculture as well as some of our most endangered species. The Government now has a huge opportunity to put in place the protection that will allow our environment to thrive.’
Emma Marrington, Senior Rural Policy Campaigner at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: ‘Our countryside was once stitched together by an almost complete network of hedges. Fast forward to today, and the picture is pretty bleak. Habitat loss is the driving force behind dwindling biodiversity, and it’s no coincidence that the fall in hedgehog numbers correlates with our loss of hedgerows. It is imperative that future agricultural policy supports the management and restoration of our hedgerows, as well as other important habitats for wildlife, if we are to halt the decline in biodiversity, along with the landscape that we identify as home.’
Sarah Dolman, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said: ‘Data on the status of many of the UKs dolphins and whales are lacking, particularly those found further offshore, including endangered blue and fin whales and vulnerable sperm whales. In coastal waters, marine species face pressures from a number of sources including pollutants, entanglement in fishing gear and noise pollution, yet there is inadequate monitoring and consideration of multiple impacts to their health and welfare. Future laws must include robust long term monitoring and protection through clear, ambitious and enforced targets.’
In this section: