The plea follows the publication of targets within the Environment Act, which will set the legal framework for restoring nature for years to come, and a Nature Recovery Green Paper, which focusses on the protection of our most precious sites for wildlife. Consultation on these papers ends on Wednesday 11 May.

The proposals will fail to stop nature’s decline, let alone enable it to recover. Therefore, the Trust and colleagues around the country are campaigning for significant changes to ensure better protection for sites and species.

For the past 50 years, habitat loss has led to a drastic decline in nature. UK wildlife populations are the lowest they have ever been, and once common species such as the water vole could be lost forever.

Under its new proposals, the Government’s target is to halt wildlife decline by 2030 and increase species abundance by 10 per cent by 2042.  If, as expected, wildlife continues to decline for the rest of the decade, it could mean that wildlife is less abundant by 2042 than it is now.  

The current targets could see Staffordshire lose species such as snipe, curlew, lapwings and willow tits. Already threatened species such as water voles, white-clawed crayfish, black oil beetles, bilberry bumblebees and welsh clearwing moths would also face extinction.

Instead, the Government should set a target to increase the abundance of species by at least 20 per cent by 2042 compared to 2022 levels. 

The Government’s Nature Recovery Green Paper – which relates to the protection and management of our best sites for nature - also falls short.  

The extent and quality of our most precious wildlife habitats are crucial to nature’s recovery, and in its 25 Year Environment Plan, published in 2021, the Government previously committed to achieving ‘favourable condition’ for 75 per cent of protected sites. Favourable condition’ means that sites are being managed so that the wildlife living there is thriving and populations can expand. However, a target for this is missing from the Nature Recovery Green Paper entirely.

In Staffordshire, we have 67 designated Sites of Special Scientific Interests (SSSIs) including iconic places such The Roaches and Cannock Chase. However, only a third of these sites are classed as being in a favourable condition. Many are home to threatened species so if they aren’t improved, or their protection is removed, those species will be lost.  

The Government should set a habitats target for at least 75 per cent of our finest wildlife sites to be in ‘favourable’ condition by 2042. 

Using present day levels as a benchmark for a healthy species abundance target is misleading and will not lead to an increase in wildlife. Instead, the Government should set a target to increase the abundance of species (both marine and terrestrial) by at least 20 per cent by 2042 compared to 2022 levels. 

Liz Peck, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager for SWT, said:

“Over the past five decades, our wildlife has dramatically declined and one in ten species in England is on the brink of extinction.  Without positive action and intervention things will only get worse and more species will become extinct. We cannot underestimate the urgency.

“The Government must aim higher and introduce more ambitious targets for increasing the abundance of our much-loved species.

“Habitat loss is one of the main causes of wildlife decline, making the UK one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Now more than ever, protecting habitats is essential to nature’s survival.

“In Staffordshire, we need to improve the ecological condition of protected sites and expand the amount protected, connecting new sites to the existing site network.

“Locally we’re calling for our community to back our national petition for better targets and have also asked MPs to take action on these consultations. We must all demand better for wildlife, or we could see much of it wiped out in Staffordshire.”

Significant gaps also remain in the proposed Environment Act targets, including no overall target for the ecological condition of rivers and streams beyond 2027, when the target mandated under the EU’s Water Framework Directive expires.

Currently, of the Trent Valley watercourses in Staffordshire, only 1 out of 41 is of good ecological status. 14 are rated as ‘moderate’, 22 ‘poor’ and four are ‘bad’.  

Liz adds: “We have some of the worst-quality rivers in Europe. In England, only 14 per cent of rivers achieve ‘good ecological status’. Pollution from agriculture, sewage, roads and plastics is destroying freshwater habitats and making our rivers dangerous for both humans and wildlife. The Government needs to set a long-term target for at least 75 per cent of rivers, streams and other freshwater bodies to reach an overall “clean waters” status by 2042.”

To sign the petition to call for more ambitious legally-binding targets for nature’s recovery click here.