New research shows only 12% of local authorities have an action plan for nature recovery

The Woodland Trust is urging local authorities to declare a nature emergency and take urgent steps to restore severely depleted wildlife and natural green spaces in their communities.

With UK British wildlife species declining by an average of 19% since 1970 and nearly one in six at risk of extinction, the charity warns that urgent action is needed for nature. 

The Trust has launched a new Nature Emergency Scorecard www.natureemergency.com, which reveals that despite the UK’s nations being among the most nature depleted countries in the world, just 25% of local authorities have declared a nature emergency, and only 12% have a nature action plan.

Announcing the launch, Louise Wilkinson, the Woodland Trust’s nature recovery lead, said: “Local authorities - as landowners, policy makers, and local champions - have a unique role in driving the change that nature urgently needs.  Many are not doing enough, and a nature emergency declaration is a vital first step in acknowledging the challenge and turning it into nature recovery on the ground. By putting nature on an emergency footing, councils can take meaningful steps to reverse decades of decline and create healthier, greener communities for people and wildlife alike.”

The Trust is calling on councils to identify land for habitat restoration and plant trees to improve tree equity – studies show higher levels of tree cover directly relates to better health outcomes. For local authorities facing severe financial challenges, the Trust proposes allowing wildflowers and grass grow on public land, which costs nothing but provides vital support for struggling wildlife. The Trust also urges councils to require developers to play their part by committing to 30% tree canopy cover on new housing estates or retrofitting trees in areas with less than 16% cover. 

To demonstrate commitment to meaningful action for nature’s recovery, the Woodland Trust wants to see declarations from local authorities supported by:

• Development of a nature emergency action plan  
• Nature's recovery being embedded into plans and policies  
• Plans to manage 30% of council land for nature recovery by 2030  

The website offers support and advice to local authorities, including an example motion and case studies, to support them to declare nature emergencies or to strengthen the declarations they have already made. 

The Trust is also calling on the public to contact their council leader using a templated e-action found online. The templated emails are tailored to whether the councils have declared a nature emergency and ask them to take robust action to recover nature where they live.   

The Woodland Trust has worked with Climate Emergency UK and mySociety, to develop the nature emergency website.    

Andy Egan, the Trust’s Head of Conservation Policy added: “The nature crisis is every bit as critical as the climate crisis. We have seen the benefits of local authorities declaring climate emergencies and taking climate action, which is why we are calling on all local authorities to join the 100 trailblazers who have already done so and to make their own nature emergency declaration. And this new website is a great resource to help them do this.” 

Nationally, through a Nature Recovery Network, the Government has made the commitment to protect and effectively manage 30% of England’s land and sea for nature by 2030, halt species decline by 2030 and increase species abundance by at least 10%,  as well as restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042.