Nature Recovery

Monday 3rd July 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Trudy Harrison)]

I am repeating the statement made last Friday by my noble Friend the Minister, Lord Benyon.

The Government are committed to delivering large scale, widespread nature recovery across England. We depend on nature for everything—from food, water, and resources to the places we go when we need to relax and recharge—but over the last century, the state of nature in our country has declined dramatically.

Our environmental improvement plan, published in January 2023, set out how we will continue to help nature to recover and thrive. We committed to doing more to restore the vital habitats that support a huge variety of species, which will help us deliver the ambitious biodiversity targets we have set under the Environment Act 2021.

Local nature recovery strategies will be key to our drive to restore nature. The 48 responsible authorities, announced today, will lead on the preparation of localised, tailored strategies to support and recover nature, using the best of local expertise in the community. These responsible authorities, supported by £14 million of Government funding, will now begin to engage across their areas to prepare the strategies, working closely with landowners, farmers and land managers. Regulations and statutory guidance setting out the process responsible authorities must follow and what they should include in the strategies was published in March 2023. Delivery of the proposals set out in a local nature recovery strategy will not be directly required but will instead be encouraged by a combination of financial incentives, the support of local delivery partners and broad requirements on public bodies.

Alongside local nature recovery strategies, which will support long-term planning for nature, the first round of the species survival fund opens today with an initial £25 million available to projects that will help drive the action we need to halt the decline in species.

Taken hand in hand, the species survival fund and local nature recovery strategies provide opportunities, both in the shorter and longer term, for new and innovative projects to make a real difference, so that communities across England can contribute to nature recovery.

This Government are proud of their extensive record on nature and climate. These measures are the latest of many to protect the environment. In just the last six months, we have:

Set legally binding targets to protect our environment, clean up our air and rivers and boost nature

Announced our environmental improvement plan which sets out delivery plan for building a greener, more prosperous country

Announced nearly £30 million to support developing countries in delivering the “30by30” land target

Announced the £5 million for projects which showcase the incredible work under way to study and restore nature across our network of overseas territories

DEFRA Ministers attended the G7 Meeting on climate, energy and the environment in Sapporo, Japan. The G7 leaders agreed a joint statement to tackle global nature loss

Hosted a major multinational event at Lancaster House in London to drive forward action on the COP15

Provided the £16 million of funding for local authorities to support plans to make new housing, industrial or commercial developments “nature friendly”

Published the draft border target operating model setting out the UK Government’s plan to strengthen our borders against biosecurity threats and illegal imports

Launched a new climate change hub for the forestry sector

Secured a landmark deal for nature at COP15 in Montreal to protect 30% of our land and ocean by 2030

Provided England’s national parks with an additional £4.4 million to support services such as visitor centres and park rangers

Handed over the COP presidency at the COP27 summit in Egypt as we work to tackle climate change and reverse biodiversity loss

Launched the new green finance strategy and the nature markets framework to develop the growth of green finance

Announced £110 million of funding for communities allocated under the rural England

prosperity fund.

Announced a ban this week on the sale of peat-based products in the retail horticultural sector by 2024

Re-opened grants to boost domestic tree production with £5 million available for free and seed suppliers

Provided £500,000 to our delivery partners of The Queen’s Green Canopy to fund the planting of trees in communities across the country

Published the plant biosecurity strategy

Introduced new powers, including unlimited fines and prison sentences, as part of a crackdown on illegal tree felling in England

Launched the Great Britain invasive non-native species strategy

Opened this year’s round of the tree health pilot—a three-year scheme which tests different ways of slowing the spread of tree pests and diseases as well as building the resilience of trees across England

Made £14 million available to allow both local authorities and community groups to access funds for new tree-planting projects