The most important global summit for nature in decades – the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, also known as COP15 – starts in Canada on 7th December. What happens there will directly affect wildlife in Kent.
The conference comes at a time when the latest study suggests the Earth’s wildlife has plummeted by almost 70% in the last 50 years. The state of nature in Kent is not much better and recent Government actions threaten to make a bad situation even worse. This will mean red faces on the world stage at COP15 and diminish the UK’s power to negotiate.
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world – and in Kent wildlife has suffered over recent decades from poorly planned developments and pollution in our rivers and seas. Unfortunately, the Government’s Retained EU Law Bill threatens to remove vital wildlife protections and the targets they propose to set for nature’s recovery are not ambitious enough.
Tackling the biodiversity crisis in Kent
Kent Wildlife Trust do their utmost to tackle the biodiversity crisis with ambitious ground-breaking projects like Wilder Blean, a wilding initiative using bison to help increase biodiversity abundance in West Blean and Thornden Woods.
The charity is also working partnership with Wildwood Trust to re-introduce the red-billed chough, once the flagship bird of Kent, it has become extinct from the county’s landscape and work is underway to bring them back.
Elsewhere the trust has joined forces with other organisations and community groups to save Swanscombe Peninsula from development. The Site of Special Scientific Interest is a haven for rare and endangered species and the Trust continue to campaign to see the future of the site secured for wildlife.
Kent Wildlife Trust, Director of Conservation, Paul Hadaway said: “Bold action is needed to tackle the twin nature and climate crises at COP15. The next eight years need be ones of dramatic improvement for nature in order to fulfil the proposal to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 – something that the UK has already promised to do.
“In Kent, we are working hard to restore nature – to help wildlife recover and to help us mitigate and adapt to a changing climate. But recent Government decisions – as well as lack of action in other areas – undermine nature’s ability to recover. We need to see the Government set out far more ambitious targets for nature if it’s to keep its commitment to pass the environment on in a better state to the next generation.
“Shockingly, the Government’s current plans will mean even less wildlife in 20 years’ time than we have now. We’re asking our MPs to ensure a truly ‘world leading’ target that aims to leave the next generation with more nature – not less.”
Kent Wildlife Trust wants to see the UK Government take the following action
- Set ambitious targets to restore the abundance of nature at home.
The Government is due to publish their Environment Act targets – but current proposals will mean even less wildlife in 20 years’ time than there is now. We want to see a target to increase species abundance by at least 20% by 2042, compared to 2022 levels.
- Help set ambitious global targets to halt and reverse catastrophic declines in habitat and wildlife by 2030 at COP15.
- Scrap the Retained EU Law Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, because it threatens the laws which protect wild places and species across the UK from the Scottish highlands to the Isles of Scilly.
Please see our COP15 briefing note here. COP15 runs from 7th to 19th December – please get in touch if you’d like to speak to one of our experts or find out more about the state of nature in Kent.
Kent Wildlife Trust declared an ambition to help the UK reach the 30 by 30 goal two years ago and have since begun a number of new projects to help nature recover.