August 10, 2022
The Government has allocated more than £44m to plant around 2,300 hectares of new woodland in the UK, in a bid to improve biodiversity and respond to the climate crisis. Funding fiasco Nature and conservation charities have already expressed concern that the Government’s financing support for charities to date will stifle efforts to tackle climate change and protect nature over the coming years. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that around £4bn of support is needed by UK charities. Prior to this, it was revealed that Government funding for bodies such as Natural England, the Environment Agency and National Parks had fallen steeply in recent years, leaving the UK at risk of failing to meet key green policy objectives. The investigation, called Unchecked, found that the Environment Agency’s environmental protection budget has fallen by 62% in real terms since financial year 2010-2011, taking into account Government cuts, inflation and economic trends. Significant funding decreases were also recorded within the same timeframe at bodies including the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (32%), National Parks (25%) and Maritime Management Organisation (57%). These financial strains are leaving environmental enforcement bodies and charities unable to complete the inspections and prosecutions necessary for the UK to meet the ambitions of policies such as the 25 Year Environment Plan. In related news, a rewilding project in Scotland had reached its funding goal. The Langholm Initiative confirmed last week that it had met a funding goal of £2.2m, which will enable the purchase of 2,415 hectares of moorland in southern Scotland. As reported by the Guardian, this will enable the local community to reach an original goal of creating a 4,000-hectare nature reserve known as Tarras Valley.