Councils accused of not taking ‘nature emergency’ seriously

Martin Shipton

Just seven of Wales’ 22 local authorities have declared a “nature emergency” in line with Welsh Government policy and only two have devised an action plan to cope with it, according to the Woodland Trust.

The trust has urged the remaining 15 councils to make the declaration and take urgent steps to restore severely depleted wildlife and natural green spaces in their communities.

With UK British wildlife species declining by an average of 19% since 1970 and nearly one in six at risk of extinction, the charity warns that urgent action is needed for nature’s survival.

Scorecard

The Trust has launched a new Nature Emergency Scorecard www.natureemergency.com, which reveals that despite the UK’s nations being among the most nature depleted countries in the world, just 25% of local authorities across the UK as a whole have declared a nature emergency, and only 12% have a nature action plan.

In Wales, the seven councils who have declared a nature emergency are Denbighshire and Wrexham (both in 2019); Cardiff, Newport, Torfaen and Swansea (all in 2021); and Powys (in 2022).

Of those, just Denbighshire and Swansea have devised a nature action plan.

Announcing the launch, Louise Wilkinson, the Woodland Trust’s nature recovery lead, said: “Local authorities – as landowners, policy makers, and local champions – have a unique role in driving the change that nature urgently needs. Many are not doing enough, and a nature emergency declaration is a vital first step in acknowledging the challenge and turning it into nature recovery on the ground. By putting nature on an emergency footing, councils can take meaningful steps to reverse decades of decline and create healthier, greener communities for people and wildlife alike.”

Habitat restoration

The Trust is calling on councils to identify land for habitat restoration and plant trees to improve tree equity – studies show higher levels of tree cover directly relates to better health outcomes. For local authorities facing severe financial challenges, the Trust proposes allowing wildflowers and grass to grow on public land, which costs nothing but provides vital support for struggling wildlife.

The Trust also urges councils to require developers to play their part by committing to 30% tree canopy cover on new housing estates or retrofitting trees in areas with less than 16% cover.”

To demonstrate commitment to meaningful action for nature’s recovery, the Woodland Trust wants to see declarations from local authorities supported by:

* Development of a nature emergency action plan;

* Nature’s recovery being embedded into plans and policies;

* Plans to manage 30% of council land for nature recovery by 2030.

The website offers support and advice to local authorities, including an example motion and case studies, to support them to declare nature emergencies or to strengthen the declarations they have already made.

The Trust is also calling on the public to contact their council leader using our templated e-action found on the website. The templated emails are tailored to whether the councils have declared a nature emergency and ask them to take robust action to recover nature where they live.

The Woodland Trust has worked with Climate Emergency UK and mySociety, to develop the nature emergency website.

Critical

Andy Egan, the Trust’s Head of Conservation Policy added: “The nature crisis is every bit as critical as the climate crisis. We have seen the benefits of local authorities declaring climate emergencies and taking climate action, which is why we are calling on all local authorities to join the 100 trailblazers who have already done so and to make their own nature emergency declaration. And this new website is a great resource to help them do this.”

Meanwhile a report from Audit Wales said that the nature emergency had not been accorded a high enough priority, with many public authorities in Wales failing to comply with key biodiversity requirements, including the Welsh Government itself in one respect.

The report highlights various areas for improvement at a time when the Welsh Government has been considering changes to environmental law. It states: “In 2015, the Welsh Government’s Nature Recovery Action Plan (NRAP) recognised Wales was far from reaching national and international biodiversity goals. Data now shows that Welsh wildlife decreased on average by 20% between 1994 and 2023. And around 1 in 6 Welsh species were at risk of extinction in 2023.

“The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 aims to reverse the decline in biodiversity. Among other things, it places an enhanced biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems duty on public authorities. The Senedd has since declared a nature emergency and the Welsh Government has said it will embed its response to the climate and nature emergency in everything it does.

“More than eight years since the duty came into force, we found that nearly half of public authorities covered by our work have not complied with the requirement to both prepare and publish a biodiversity plan. And approaches to planning vary widely. Around a quarter of public authorities have never produced a biodiversity report. This is despite the Welsh Government providing reporting guidance and an optional template.

“We also found that the Welsh Government has not complied with its own planning requirement, is not effectively monitoring public authorities’ compliance, and is currently unable to assess the overall impact of the duty on biodiversity decline. Meanwhile, weaknesses in the Act and its guidance leave their coverage and intent open to interpretation.

“Our report acknowledges examples of efforts to integrate biodiversity and nature ambitions with wider policies. And public authorities provided positive feedback on aspects of national strategic leadership.

“The Welsh Government has also provided various funding streams that support biodiversity action. These include around £120 million over recent years for the Local Places for Nature and Nature Networks programmes. Nevertheless, there has been far less national focus on biodiversity than on decarbonisation.

“We highlight various areas for improvement. Several of these issues have not been addressed fully since being highlighted in a 2021 evaluation. They include uncertainty about which public authorities are covered by the duty, and the need to strengthen Welsh Government guidance and monitoring. Our recommendations relate mainly to the current duty. However, we recognise that the Welsh Government will need to consider its actions alongside its proposals to change environmental law.”

Powerful statement

Auditor General Adrian Crompton said: “The duty set out in the Act ought to be a powerful statement about the need for all public authorities to take decisive action on biodiversity decline. But good intentions and examples of funding for biodiversity action are not enough. The Welsh Government itself needs to do more to lead by example, support improvement, and take a more active interest in the application and impact of its own legislation.

“It has an opportunity to do just that as it considers changes to environmental law but will need to ensure this area of work gets the priority it deserves if it is to reverse nature loss for future generations.”