Last year, the long awaited Environment Act finally became law - a piece of legislation that recognises the need for all of us to do more to protect and restore nature in the UK and to address the nature and climate emergencies. The Act contains important new policies and ambition, and it too has a target - a new legally-binding 2030 target on species abundance.

A legally-binding target is great, but what does it really mean in reality? Globally and in the UK, we are failing to hit the targets that have already been set for the climate. So, how will the targets for nature be any different? The wording in the Environment Act around that species abundance target - to ‘ further the objective of halting a decline in the abundance of species’ is already a step down from George Eustace’s speech last year when he committed to the ‘net zero equivalent for nature’.

In 2020 the Government committed to a target of protecting 30% of the UK’s land for nature.  What’s most important here is having  an honest baseline. Many of the sites designated for nature are not even delivering, for example all SSSIs on the Somerset Levels and Moors are in unfavourable condition.  In England, only 8% of land has a designation for nature and of that, only 40% is in good condition. That equates to about 3% of land protected for nature – somewhat different to the government’s claim of 26%.

Important too in the Environment Act are Local Nature Recovery Strategies - strategies that establish priorities and map opportunities for nature’s recovery in each local area of England. Fully embedded in the planning system with legal requirements for them to be implemented could be a positive step, but the planning system only requires applications to just ‘have regard to’ nature recovery - this is next to meaningless.

All new developments are required to deliver at least 10% Biodiversity Net Gain. Crucial to the success of net gain however is monitoring and ensuring it is actually being delivered in practice, not just in theory - which is where the Environment Act and the subsequent DEFRA metrics currently fall down. There isn’t a clear outline on how net gain will be monitored and, more importantly, what happens if it isn’t achieved.  Missing also is the recognition that it shouldn’t be applied to irreplaceable habitats such as ancient woodlands or peatlands.

The Peat Action Plan for England emanating from the Environment Act, including the target to restore 35,000 hectares of peatland is a good start but the importance of our upland and lowland peatlands for nature and the climate cannot be understated. How we manage and protect Somerset’s peat is crucial to nature’s recovery and our actions to mitigate climate change so why are we still allowing peat extraction to continue? At one of our sites, peat extraction is taking place literally next to land that DEFRA are paying us to restore.

The Environment Act is certainly a big step forwards and there is much to welcome. The targets themselves have the potential to be meaningful, but like all targets they also have the potential to deliver nothing. What will make the change is the political will at all levels and the investment in delivery that follows. The government is consulting on these targets at the moment so do have your say on why they must be strong to deliver nature’s recovery. Consultation on environmental targets - Defra - Citizen Space