What felt like an opportunity to think differently against the backdrop of the climate and nature emergencies only weeks ago now feels like it’s in the process of being eroded. Promises made to protect nature and secure its recovery are being broken. At GWT we are strictly non-party political but that doesn’t mean we don’t stand up for nature and speak with a bold voice when we need to. And this is a time when we all need to stand up for nature.

Before unpicking the attacks on nature in the last week, let’s look at the background. In the 2019 Manifesto on which this Government was elected there was a promise to introduce “the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth”. While we have always highlighted room for improvement, we have also been supportive of the direction of travel described in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the Environment and Agriculture Acts that followed. Given the climate and nature emergencies we are facing, these actions felt like a positive start.

However, in the last week three issues in particular have felt like a reversal of previous manifesto pledges on the environment.

‘Investment zones’

The announcement last week of a new planning and infrastructure law introducing ‘investment zones’ represents the weakening of protections that safeguard our wildlife. In these zones environmental protections will be relaxed to encourage more development.

We have demonstrated in Gloucestershire, especially through our Building with Nature initiative, that by working proactively with developers we can deliver both new homes and infrastructure, alongside improvements for nature. Indeed, it can improve the quality of homes and infrastructure – and attract investment. We’ve worked hard with our partners to demonstrate we can deliver gains for wildlife in large schemes like the changes to the A417 at the Air Balloon than already severs a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Why weaken wildlife protections in an ecological emergency and where we and others have proved that improving nature as part of the development process is possible?

Retained EU Law Bill

In the same way, we are deeply concerned about the new Retained EU Law Bill which could see 570 environmental laws repealed. These laws have been the bedrock of environmental protection in the UK for decades, including the Habitat Regulations which have protected internationally important sites for over 30 years. We are already one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We cannot afford to further weaken what little protection we have in place.

Many of these laws provide vital environmental protections for our air, rivers, wildlife and food standards. They helped remove the UK’s 1970’s reputation of being the ‘dirty man of Europe’ by cleaning up our waters. Changing these laws entails extensive procedural change with little benefit for nature and could lead to more litigation and greater costs for developers. If retained EU legislation is replaced with weaker alternatives, our natural environment will be left unprotected from those who prioritise profit over protecting the planet. In Gloucestershire, protected sites like the Severn Estuary or the Cotswold Commons could lose their protection.

Environmental Land Management Scheme

Finally, we were shocked to hear news emerging this weekend about a review of plans to support nature-friendly farming, as pledged in the Government’s Manifesto. We have been supportive of the new Environmental Land Management Schemes that had been set to replace the Common Agricultural Policy – and the idea that public money should deliver ‘public goods’, like environmental improvement. Reversing this change would be a huge, missed opportunity and devastating for nature. Returning to an agricultural system where farmers are paid with taxpayers' money based on how much land they own is unfair and unsustainable. Over 70% of Gloucestershire is farmed. We need that land to produce high quality and sustainable food, but at the same time, we know that we can do this alongside delivering huge benefits for nature.

Along with other partners, we have been working very productively with farmers and landowners across the county to help shape how the new Environmental Land Management Schemes might operate. Gloucestershire has been a real hotspot for innovation about how these might work. While we recognise this is a real shift for many farmers and support is needed for the transition, in our experience, this shift in policy has huge support. Rather than agricultural subsidies seeing nature as the icing on the cake, we were finally moving to schemes that put support for nature first. Now there is a real risk of rowing back on these previous commitments to change the way we support farmers and landowners.

Time to take action

We are in an ecological emergency. If we don’t make concerted efforts to stop and reverse wildlife declines before 2030, the ecosystems on which our lives depend will begin to collapse beyond repair.

Gloucestershire has been a demonstration county in proving that the ambitions of the 25 Year Environment Plan can be delivered. We don’t have to trade nature to deliver prosperity. Investing in nature only improves the quality of our lives. Gloucestershire's MPs have always been supportive of the idea that nature's recovery and growth can go hand-in-hand. I hope they will continue to advocate for this.

In these unprecedented times, we're calling on you to take urgent action. We’re doing this alongside not only the other Wildlife Trusts around the UK, but with the National Trust, RSPB, and many other partners who care passionately about the future of nature. The weakening of environmental protections is a U-turn on the promises of the Manifesto and the commitments in the 25 Year Environment Plan.

Please write to your MP and local councillors and encourage others to do the same. You can find letter templates and what other actions you can take on our Defend nature webpage.