Nottinghamshire Wildlife Expert says that gaps in wildlife protection must be urgently plugged

Sadly, and rather shockingly, the UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries, writes Erin McDaid of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

Since the early 1970’s 41% of our wildlife species have declined in abundance and 15% of our species are threatened with extinction.

As someone born in 1971, I find it upsetting that so much nature has been lost in my lifetime, and these stark figures ram home the urgent need to put nature into recovery.

Given the scale of the losses it is no longer enough to focus on protecting our remaining wildlife. We must reverse the declines by making more space for nature, by connecting habitats at a landscape scale, restoring species abundance, and getting natural systems working again.

Although simply safeguarding the habitats and species we have left is no longer enough - protecting what we have left is still vital if we are to have any chance of bringing nature back. We can’t afford any more loss or degradation of our species and habitat, and this makes the loss of vital protections in our farmed landscape both worrying and frustrating.

Alongside the with the National Trust and RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts have highlighted the Government’s failure to enshrine basic protection for nature on farms. Our already threatened nature is now under unnecessary added pressure because basic rules which have help protect hedgerows and stopped farmers from causing excessive river pollution for almost two decades came to an end on 31st December 2023. From 2005 until the turn of the year, farmers had to follow basic regulations, known as ‘cross-compliance’ to receive public money via rural payments. Rules included not farming land right up to river edges to prevent farm pollution and soil being washed into water courses, keeping green cover on fields to prevent soil polluting rivers and protection for hedgerows.

When the UK left the European Union, the UK Government announced that these rules would cease to exist on December 31st, 2023 and be replaced by new UK safeguards. So far, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has not confirmed if protections for nature will be kept; meaning farmers are currently free to cut hedges at damaging times of year and or to allow pollution and soils to be washed into rivers. Now that key safeguards have disappeared, the Government’s promise in its Environment Improvement Plan that “This government is committed to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it” rings somewhat hollow. We need a firm commitment from Government that protections for nature will at least be kept at the same level as the old regulations. Ending Cross Compliance rules in this way, before sufficient replacement provisions are in place, puts nature, important hedgerows and water courses at increased risk.

Many farmers care about nature. Here in Nottinghamshire, we know many are proactively protecting watercourses and creating and looking after wildlife-rich hedgerows. Their positive actions must be supported by new protective laws so that there is a level playing field that ensures wildlife is safeguarded and that environmentally conscious and wildlife-friendly farmers are not disadvantaged. It is vital that Defra addresses this regulatory gap urgently alongside ensuring all farmers having improved access to the right advice.

Whilst we support the Government’s focus on delivering public benefit from the public money spent on farm payments and welcome the latest announcements outlining significant increases in payments linked to the creation and maintenance of key habitats, this transition needs to be underpinned by effective regulation. The Government’s failure to set out a plan for a new regulatory baseline leaves room for confusion for farmers about their obligations and it is vital that the new gaps in protections for our watercourses, hedgerows and soils are urgently plugged.

As we all look forward to a whole new year of wildlife experiences, we’ve got a range of great events to help you get out and about in nature and to help brush up on your nature knowledge and skills. On Tuesdays we have regular Wellbeing Walks at our Idle Valley Nature Reserve near Retford and if you’re looking for something a little more challenging – on Thursday February 1 we have an Adventure Walk taking in some of the more distant parts of this spectacular reserve. On Saturday 20th January our friends from Zeiss optics will be hosting a demonstration of a range of top notch binoculars and wildlife watching ‘scopes at Attenborough Nature Reserve near Nottingham and more locally, our Newark Local Members’ group will be hosting a talk about ‘Birds & Climate Change’ by the erudite David Parkin on Thursday February 1st at Newark Library – starting at 7pm. For further details about all our events, nature reserves and ways you can support efforts to create a wilder Nottinghamshire visit nottinghamshirewildlife.org