By KLTV Newsdesk –

The Woodland Trust is calling on local authorities to declare a nature emergency and take immediate action to restore depleted wildlife and green spaces across the UK.

With British wildlife species declining by an average of 19% since 1970 and nearly one in six at risk of extinction, the Trust warns that urgent intervention is needed to halt nature’s decline.

To highlight the crisis, the Trust has launched a new Nature Emergency Scorecard (www.natureemergency.com), which reveals that despite the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, only 25% of local authorities have declared a nature emergency, and just 12% have a nature action plan in place.

Kirklees Council, whilst having declared a climate emergency in 2019, has yet to declare a nature emergency, according to the latest data from Woodland Trust.

Local Authorities Must Act

Louise Wilkinson, the Woodland Trust’s nature recovery lead, emphasised the role of local councils in tackling the crisis: “Local authorities – as landowners, policymakers, 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.”

The Trust is urging councils to identify land for habitat restoration and plant more trees to improve tree equity, as studies have shown that greater tree cover is linked to better health outcomes.

For councils struggling with financial constraints, the Trust suggests allowing wildflowers and grass to grow on public land, which requires no funding but provides essential support for wildlife.

Additionally, it calls for developers to contribute to nature recovery by ensuring 30% tree canopy cover on new housing estates or retrofitting trees in areas with less than 16% cover.

Doncaster Leading the Way

Doncaster Council is one local authority that has already declared a nature emergency and developed a plan for nature recovery.

Mayor Ros Jones stated: “In 2021, I committed to seeing a million trees planted across Doncaster over a ten-year period. So far, a total of 339,795 trees and over 247,000 tree seeds have been planted across the City of Doncaster.

“We’re improving our green spaces and creating woodlands and treescapes for current and future generations.

“Working in partnership with residents, businesses, and landowners, we are determined to meet our ‘Million Tree Challenge’ and increase our tree coverage across Doncaster from 13% to 17% by planting more trees in urban areas, community spaces, town centres, gateway green areas, and woodlands.”

Steps for Meaningful Change

To ensure nature emergency declarations lead to concrete action, the Woodland Trust is calling on councils to:

• Develop a nature emergency action plan.
• Embed nature recovery into local plans and policies.
• Commit to managing 30% of council land for nature recovery by 2030.

The Nature Emergency Scorecard website offers guidance, including an example motion and case studies, to help councils declare nature emergencies or strengthen their existing commitments.

Public Support Needed

The Woodland Trust is also encouraging the public to take action by contacting their local council leader through a templated e-action on the website.

These emails, tailored to individual councils’ positions on nature emergencies, call for robust action to restore nature in local areas.

The Trust developed the nature emergency website in collaboration with Climate Emergency UK and mySociety.

Andy Egan, the Trust’s Head of Conservation Policy, stressed the urgency of the issue: “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. This new website is a great resource to help them do this.”

Government Commitments

Nationally, the Government has pledged through a Nature Recovery Network to protect and effectively manage 30% of England’s land and sea for nature by 2030, halt species decline by the same year, and increase species abundance by at least 10%.

Additionally, it aims to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042.

The Woodland Trust’s call to action comes at a critical time, urging local authorities to step up and take decisive action to protect and restore the UK’s natural environment.