#DefendNature: We Need You
No Nature. No Future.
Nature is under attack from a raft of announcements by UK Government. Politics may be in for a turbulent ride, but so is UK's wildlife and wild places, which continue to be threatened by changes to nature and climate laws.
We need to act together to #DefendNature.
Current threats include:
- The removal of important laws that protect nature, help to provide clean water and reduce pollution (through the Retained EU Laws Bill)
- The introduction of a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and plans for Investment Zones as part of the growth plan, which will weaken protections for wildlife
- The review of nature-friendly farming schemes that reward farmers for managing land in a way that benefits nature and climate - with concerns that they will be watered down
These go against the explicit promises the Conservative Party made in their 2019 manifesto and the mandate they were elected to govern on. We have no option left to us but to ask our political leaders to represent us - their electorate. Together, we must #DefendNature.
Campaign Update: 22nd May 2023
Today we are urgently asking for our supporters to take a stand for nature and ask MPs to back important amendments to the Retained EU Law (REUL) Bill which were put forward last week in the House of Lords. MPs will be voting on Wednesday, so we have a very narrow window to make a difference.
This could be MPs last chance to hold back this Bill. We need ALL MPs to vote for these amendments on Wednesday 24 May while they can.
Campaign Update: 15th May 2023
The UK Government had been forging forward with a ‘sunset clause’ on the Retained EU Law Bill that would bulldoze hundreds of important laws that protect nature and people at the end of the year.
But the Government has announced it will scrap the ‘sunset clause’ and keep many of these vital environmental laws. Your passionate postcards, emails and tweets to MPs have raised the alarm.
Wildlife Trusts and our supporters have campaigned on this from the start – whilst not a moment for congratulations – we’re delighted that concerted pressure has had an impact.
Reacting, CEO of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Paul Wilkinson has said “the REUL Bill has been shambolic from day one and the huge problems posed by the bill remain because it allows future governments to revoke important laws at whim, whenever they want to. Changes to vital legislation should always be subject to public scrutiny. Ministers shouldn’t simply be given carte blanche to pick and choose laws at whim."
The Government must stop viewing environmental law as a burden. To tackle the nature and climate crisis our nature laws must be strengthen, not weakened. Wildlife Trusts will continue to stand up and #DefendNature and we thank our supporters for standing with us.
How you can help: step-by-step
Send your MP a postcard
Ask your MP to #DefendNature by sending a postcard that will land on the doormat of their office.
Write to your MP
- Download our template letter here
- Edit or add to the text to reflect your own concerns
- Find your MP here
- Send your letter by post or email to your MP
Climate march Nottingham by Leanne Manchester
Write to your local Councillor*
(*This impacts where you live and they need to speak up too!)
- Download our template letter here
- Edit or add to the text to reflect your own concerns
- Find your Councillor here
- Send your letter by post or email to your Councillor.
Step four: Keep up to date
For nature, this is one of the most important political moments that we can remember. We are acting fast and asking you to do so too, but things are changing - so we will continue to provide new and different ways for you to speak up for nature over the coming weeks.
If you would like to be part of the continued action, sign up to our campaign mailing list.
Step five: Take the pledge
Will you pledge to write to your MP and councillor? Fill in The Wildlife Trusts pledge!
Why are The Wildlife Trusts and other environmental charities so concerned?
In 2022 the UK Government launched a full-scale attack on nature – threatening to tear up some of the most fundamental laws we had, and announcing new proposals that would have a hugely detrimental effect on the UK's wild landscapes.
New proposals to change planning laws and create ‘investment zones’ announced in September 2022 represented a ‘free-for-all’ on nature, weakening the laws previously in place to protect it from bulldozers and concrete. The Retained EU Law Bill would also see the end of basic protections, leading to the loss of designated wildlife sites and a relaxation on pollution laws, resulting in more sewage in our rivers and streams. What’s more, the Westminster Government launched a review of the new system developed to reward farmers that help to restore the environment.
These threats and others are still live - we will never stop campaigning for the natural world.