More nature everywhere

Our region is under enormous pressure from development but like everywhere else, we must balance this with the need for a local environment rich in nature. We need to make more space for nature to become abundant once again, give our struggling wildlife the chance to recover and restore beautiful wild places.

As part of our current Strategic Plan, we have an ambition to see ‘More Nature Everywhere for Everyone’. This bold ambition is backed by a target to see 30% of land well-managed for nature by 2030.

The 30% target is backed by research, which has shown that when habitats cover 30% or more of a landscape this is generally sufficient to provide connectivity for a range of habitats and species, and supports the coexistence of native habitat within working landscapes whilst also promoting food security, and other ecosystem services like flood and climate change mitigation.

Our ambition for nature’s recovery has been reinforced at the national level, with The Wildlife Trusts calling for at least 30% of our land and sea to be connected and protected for nature’s recovery by 2030. It has recently been backed up internationally too, at the

15th Conference of the Parties, where representatives of 188 governments adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

The GBF aims to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems, and protect indigenous rights. The plan includes concrete measures to halt and reverse nature loss, including putting 30% of the planet under protection, and restoring so we must act now.

The responsibility for 30 by 30 is a shared one. To get anywhere close to achieving this we will require all sections of society to work together – from civil society, to businesses, farmers, communities, and individuals. Everyone has a role to play.

So what would 30 by 30 look like across our three counties? In 2021, in

30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030.

As Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts says: “The next ten years must be a time of renewal, of rewilding our lives, of green recovery. We all need nature more than ever and when we succeed in reaching 30 by 30, we’ll have wilder landscapes that store carbon and provide on-your-doorstep nature for people too. Everyone can support and help us to succeed.”

There is no doubt that achieving 30 by 30 will be an enormous undertaking. This is not a target that is set so far into the future such as some 2050 climate targets, which we can set and forget about until much later. 2030 is only seven years away, collaboration with scientists at the University of Kent we developed a Nature Recovery Network (NRN), which is our roadmap to creating joined-up areas across our three counties that are important for wildlife. It represents a combination of the existing places where wildlife is more abundant, such as BBOWT’s nature reserves – our precious jewels that already protect wildlife –plus places where habitats need to be restored or created in order to expand and connect the remaining fragments so that nature can recover. It extends across our three counties, including

n Acquire, protect and create new nature reserves n Expand existing nature reserves at scale n Advise landowners on wildlifefriendly approaches n Empower communities to take action for nature n Work in partnership with local farmers, businesses and decision-makers rural and urban areas, and is made up of core and recovery zones that cover approximately 30% of the three counties. These are encompassed by a wider countryside zone which covers the remaining 70% of the three counties.

By concentrating our efforts on protecting and restoring nature across the 30% of the core and recovery zones of our NRN, we stand the best chance of achieving a wilder, more connected landscape. Currently we estimate that approximately 10% of the three counties can be considered as being well-managed for nature. This includes our nature reserves (2,670 ha or 0.5% of the three counties), and designated sites such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Local Wildlife Sites (34,698 ha or 6.1% of the three counties).

So how can we all reach 30 by 30? Some of the key things BBOWT will do is acquire new nature reserves, prioritising sites that complement our existing network of sites in line with the strategy defined in the report by Professor Sir John Lawton of ‘bigger, better and more joined up’. We will be looking for sites that offer opportunities to create new habitats, restore ecological systems and connectivity across landscapes, and provide environments for local rare and threatened species.

We will focus on creating and expanding reserves at a scale that has a positive impact on habitats and species both locally and countrywide, and that can be enhanced by working with partners and neighbours. And we will be developing new landscape-scale conservation projects that sit within the core and recovery zones of the NRN, concentrating in the first instance with those that also lie within our historically important Living Landscapes. Across our area we are also delivering wildlife and land management advice in agricultural landscapes, working with local businesses to better understand and proactively compensate for their environmental impacts, and empowering communities to take local action for nature. We are working in partnership with local and national governments, to develop new Local Nature Recovery Strategies, which must deliver positive outcomes for nature rapidly. What is clear is BBOWT can’t do this on its own, and a collective effort will be required to achieve 30 by 30.