Terry Whittaker
#DefendNature: We Need You
The UK Government is seriously threatening our wildlife
Nature is under attack from plans by the UK Government to bulldoze thousands of laws that protect our environment.
The Retained EU Law Bill (the REUL Bill) and now the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB), threatens to wipe away thousands of crucial laws which protect wildlife. This will lead to even more pollution poisoning rivers, more wild places at risk of being damaged – and potentially destroyed – and more wildlife threatened with extinction.
Campaign update: 13th September 2023
A full list of amendments to the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill has been published which directs competent authorities to ignore scientific evidence when making planning and development decisions under the Habitats Regulations where nutrient pollution in wastewater is a relevant consideration. This amendment is going before MPs on Wednesday, 13th September 2023.
If you are as concerned about this as us, you can support our campaign by Tweeting your MP.
Daniel Wynn Head of Nature-based Solutions at Kent Wildlife Trust: "In Kent, the Stour Catchment is quite literally flooded with nitrates and phosphates from various sources, housebuilding being just one of them. Other sources include the agricultural sector and the poorly maintained Waste-water Treatment Works (WwTW) run by the water companies. Legal policies are in place to ensure that water companies upgrade these WwTWs, but now, who can trust the Government to see this through?
"Time and again economic growth has been favoured over environmental protection, and especially now, when the natural capital markets present us with a golden opportunity to imbed green finance within our economy to the benefit of both nature & society, what does the Government do? They get scared and fall back on manifesto commitments to the environment.
"This short-term mindset for immediate gain foreshadows all attempts to build the sustainable future we and many others are working towards. We need a systemic change to rewrite our future and cut off future threats to nature and people through building a sustainable economy with nature at its heart.
"Our rivers need protection, it is disgraceful that a nationally protected site like the Stodmarsh has been allowed to creep into poor condition because of the rubbish, pollution and sewerage that is allowed to freely flow into the river, a river that used to be the life-support system of our landscape is rapidly turning into the poison that will erode the last pieces of nature still clinging on.
"The public has a right to be angry about this, and we stand with them. Nature recovery is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of our society, and we are allowing it to be polluted and ignored – there are other ways, nutrient neutrality is just one of them and a fundamental one for our rivers. If housebuilders and developers get off the hook, then who else will get a free pass to pollute without consequence?"
Paul Hadaway - Defend Nature (https://youtu.be/ucIOXDXB7xw)
Director of Conservation Paul Hadaway
We won’t be congratulating the Government for its decision to stop doing something it should never have even thought about in the first place.Chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts
This is a huge shift from the Government, but we are concerned that some laws are still to be binned, whilst the Bill will continue to allow future Ministers, not Parliament, to revoke important laws at whim, whenever they want to.
Whilst environmental protections are under threat, we need to act together NOW to #DefendNature. Contact your MP below.
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How you can help: step-by-step
Contact your MP
https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/write-your-mpWrite to or email your MP using our template
You can download our template letter below.
Edit or add to the template to reflect your own concerns and why you care about wildlife. The more you add your personal touch, the more likely your MP is to listen. Try to be as succinct as possible.
Send your letter by post or email to your MP.
Find your MP here.
Download your template letter here
Download this letter template if you have a Labour MP
If you are having trouble downloading these templates, try the following:
Copy and paste text
Dear [Name] MP,
I’m writing to urge you to do all you can to put a stop to the UK Government’s continued attack on nature.
Organisations like The Wildlife Trusts, the RSPB, the National Trust and others, remain concerned about the Government’s plans to remove thousands of laws that protect our environment by the end of the year. The Retained EU Law Bill puts at risk some of our most important protections for nature and wildlife, as well as regulations to safeguard public health, working conditions, and food standards.
Our economy depends upon everything nature provides – from food production to clean air and water, and so much more. I’m deeply concerned that the commitment to deregulation in the Retained EU Law Bill threatens to make it easier for developers to trash our most precious wildlife sites and for polluters to further poison our rivers. It will be the British economy and people who suffer the consequences.
The Conservative Government was elected in 2019 on a manifesto pledge to deliver the “most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth”. I am pleased the new Prime Minister has promised to put “in more protection for the natural environment than we have ever had” - but this must start with scrapping the deeply damaging Retained EU Law Bill.
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Step 2 - Send a postcard
We fear that less protection and less regulation will lead to more chemicals on our streets and fields, more sewage in our rivers, more plastics in our oceans and more stress as our greenspaces are destroyed. Ultimately less wildlife and fewer wild places.
Your MP can help to #DefendNature and takes local voices seriously. Ask them to speak up by sending a postcard that will land on the doormat of their office.
Step 3 - Stay tuned
There are still many ways to Defend Nature. Subscribe to our email list and you'll receive updates on the campaign's progress, as well as other projects that you may be interested in getting involved in.