Darlington’s depleted wildlife will receive extra protection and a greater emphasis on restoring it to its former glory as Darlington Council passes a Nature Restoration motion that commits the council to reflecting the nature recovery emergency in its considerations, proposals and decisions. Green Party councillor, Kate Mammolotti was the driving force behind the motion which received Labour Party support.
Green Party councillor Kate Mammolotti said: “I wrote this motion with hope and passion. Hope, that it would soon be approved in council and start a commitment towards nature recovery – and passion, to see the changes so needed in attitude and vision towards our natural environment. The work ahead of us is considerable and there is no room for idling or complacency. Nonetheless, this is a win for nature and for all the residents who cherish her and acknowledge her fundamental value and importance in our local community.”
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Since the Industrial Revolution we have lost half of all animals, plants and birds because of intensive agriculture, habitat depletion and climate change.
A sense of pride in our country should be enough to prompt us to restore our native animals and plants to their former glory. But there is more at stake than pride in our area.
A thriving natural environment underpins a healthy, happy, prosperous society. The loss of species and degradation of our natural environment is an existential threat. All of us rely on nature for our survival with hardly a second thought. The costs associated with a wrecked environment are simply too high. For example, it would cost UK farmers £1.8 billion a year to manually pollinate their crops if bees and other pollinating insects were lost for good. Tackling nature’s decline will deliver wider benefits to the environment, economy, society and the wellbeing of future generations.
Matthew Snedker, leader of Darlington’s Green Party councillors said; “This motion comes at a crucial time. We need to strengthen the protection for wildlife and restore our precious natural environment. Right now there is significant pressure from house builders and land owners to water down the protections for our natural world. Labour’s proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill threatens to remove many of the current protections, which encourages developers to avoid harm in the first place. Rather than a polluter pays principal the new bill would allow developers to “pay cash to trash”.
Ecological services are how we describe the benefits from a healthy natural world, clean air, healthy food, sufficient water and a place to enjoy ourselves, relax, exercise and recharge our emotional batteries.
With the motion passed, the council has agreed to set clear strategic goals for nature recovery by 2040, including the development of a Nature Restoration Action Plan. The Plan should be subject to annual review by an expanded Climate Change and Nature Restoration group. The council will have to lead by example by including targeted and site-appropriate measures on council owned land and communal areas and commit to ongoing monitoring to keep nature restoration on track.
You can show your support for nature restoration and protection for our native wildlife by signing the Wildlife Trusts letter at www.wildlifetrusts.org/planning-and-infrastructure-bill
Further reading
[1] Living Planet Reports – 1998 to 2024 https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-GB/living-planet-report-archive/
[2] Biodiversity, Climate Change and Health – UK Health Alliance on Climate Change https://ukhealthalliance.org/influencing-policy/biodiversity-climate-change-and-health/
[3] Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services https://www.ipbes.net/global-assessment
[4] Findings of Global Biodiversity Outlook – produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) https://www.cbd.int/gbo/gbo5/publication/gbo-5-spm-en.pdf
[5] The Lawton Review 2010 – https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130402170324/http:/archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/biodiversity/documents/201009space-for-nature.pdf
[6] State of Nature Report 2023 – https://stateofnature.org.uk/
[7] UK has ‘led the world’ in destroying the natural environment – https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2020/september/uk-has-led-the-world-in-destroying-the-natural-environment.html
[8] The changing extent and conservation interest of lowland grasslands in England and Wales: A review of grassland surveys 1930–1984 – Institute of Terrestrial Ecology – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0006320787901212#:~:text=This%20study%20has%20examined%20the,4%C2%B78%20M%20ha%20now.
[9] Helping local authorities respond to the biodiversity emergency – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/helping-local-authorities-respond-to-the-biodiversity-emergency#:~:text=The%20government%20has%20committed%20to,and%20future%20generations%20to%20enjoy.