My Lords, the Government have set themselves a tremendous triple task: by the end of the next Parliament, we must protect 30% of the UK for nature; also, by 2030, we must halt the terrible decline in British wildlife, which has been marching on for centuries; and, by 2050, we must end the era of fossil fuels and create a net-zero economy. I am proud of the role that this House played in setting the world’s first legally binding target to halt the loss of biodiversity during the passage of the Environment Act. I am proud of the role that my noble friend Lord Goldsmith and others played in securing a new global biodiversity framework with the same ambitious objectives.
The question before us today is whether we will make the land management reforms we need to deliver those three big promises. Serious improvements in land management are definitely needed. The abundance of priority species in England has declined by a staggering 82% since I was a boy and continues to decline by a further 2% a year. Instead of locking away carbon, 87% of English peatlands are still net carbon emitters. By some expert estimates, just 3% of the land is properly protected for nature. If we are going to turn things round, the UK’s great landscapes will be critical to our success.
Together, the national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty cover a quarter of England. They are home to nine out of 10 threatened bird species and contain half of England’s priority habitats. From the chalk streams of the Chilterns, which we have discussed, to the blanket bogs of Dartmoor, they contain some of the rarest and most extraordinary habitats in the world.
Many of us probably imagine that our protected landscapes are already a backbone for biodiversity protection. Unfortunately, the truth is quite different. Nature in many protected landscapes is seriously deteriorating. Only 26% of sites of special scientific interest in national parks in England are in favourable condition, compared with a national average of 38%. In other words, our most important sites for biodiversity are often in worse condition inside protected landscapes than they are elsewhere. Critical habitats, such as peatlands, continue to leech out carbon as they are dried, overgrazed and degraded.
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To meet our climate and nature targets, I submit that we cannot let this continue. The national parks and AONBs were conceived before we knew the extent of the nature and climate crisis. I am extremely grateful to have the support of the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, Lady Willis of Summertown and Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville for my Amendment 387 and for the amendments I was unable to move when I was absent. Amendment 387 would bring national parks and AONBs up to date with a new statutory purpose dedicated to the delivery of those landmark legislative targets in the Climate Change Act and the Environment Act. To give those purposes effect, it would require national parks and AONBs to prepare management plans to help meet those targets, and it would require relevant public authorities to act in a way that drives delivery. I reassure the Committee
that the new purposes would sit alongside established priorities, such as natural beauty and cultural heritage, in accordance with the long-standing Sandford principles.
In her recent letter to Peers, my noble friend the Minister suggested that the general biodiversity duty created by the Environment Act 2021 might suffice. While that change was welcome, a general biodiversity duty is notoriously soft and difficult to apply; it is a world away from a specific duty to contribute to the delivery of clear nature and climate targets. Instead, the duty in the amendment creates a critical legal link between the Government’s objectives and everyday land management decisions in protected landscapes, when they are made by bodies such as Natural England, Highways England, Forestry England and local authorities.
Noble Lords need not take my word for it: the proposals in the amendment are in line with the recommendations of the Government’s own Glover review of protected landscapes; they are in line with the views of Sir John Lawton and dozens of other scientists who have written in support; and they are backed by nature charities, including organisations such as the Campaign for National Parks. Making these changes cannot guarantee that the Government will meet their nature and climate targets—for that, we will have to go much further in supporting wildlife-friendly farming, curbing pollution and investing in sustainable development—but the evidence suggests that, without these changes, our chances of stopping climate change and saving nature will be dashed before we even begin.
I hope that Members of the Committee will remember the fantastic progress we made in the Environment Act and the Climate Change Act, and will join me in urging the Government to take this next, necessary step towards delivery. Protecting England’s great landscapes for their natural beauty was a masterstroke of political foresight in the post-war period. Now it is time for us to chart their next chapter and ensure that national parks and AONBs will be at the heart of climate and nature recovery. I beg to move.