The UK government published its revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) on Monday 1 December, presented as a five-year roadmap to tackle the nature and climate crisis, improve public health, and support sustainable growth.
It includes significant funding commitments on landscape recovery, peatlands restoration, as well as the first government plan to address PFAS pollution and which will review the rules on sewage spreading on land.
Air quality receives a boost with a new interim target, to reduce population exposure to PM2.5 by 30% by 2030, compared to 2018 levels.
Improvements to nature include a quarter of a million hectares of wildlife-rich habitats created or restored by 2030 – “an area larger than Greater London”.
There will also be a new target to reduce the rate of establishment of invasive non-native species compared to 25 years ago, in a bid to promote native wildlife and farmers’ livelihoods. “This will help prevent new invasive species from becoming established and manage existing invaders like the American Signal Crayfish and Japanese Knotweed.”
The plan is being supported by a number of new commitments and funding announcements, including £500 million for Landscape Recovery projects, which will include things like creating wildlife-rich environments, reducing flood risk and improving water quality. This will include a target to restore or create 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres) of wildlife-rich habitats by 2030.
There will also be £85 million to improve and restore peatlands, reducing flooding in communities, improving water quality and supporting public health through cleaner air and enhanced access to green spaces. This comes alongside £3 million to improve access to nature in Public Forest Estates through facilities including accessible bike trails and all-terrain mobility equipment.
A new Trees Action Plan is also being announced, along with measures to reduce methane emissions in areas like agriculture.
“The refreshed Plan provides a welcome focus on delivery, responsibility and increased consistency between target deadlines”, said the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals’ Signe Norberg. “Getting this right will help dialogue across sectors and industries, but needs to be followed by rapid implementation.”
Success, she said, would depend on the EIP being “a cross-government delivery plan”.
“At the moment, the majority of actions sit with Defra and arms length bodies, and to deliver transformative change, it needs to be embedded across all departments.”
Roger Mortlock, CEO of countryside charity CPRE, also commented on the publication.
“Everyone, no matter their background or where they live, should enjoy equal access to our beautiful countryside and green spaces. The government’s new commitment to making this a reality by publishing a green paper on access to nature is encouraging. We now need a clear timeline so tangible progress can be made.
“We’re also thrilled to see that the hedgerow target remains in the refreshed Plan, which will support farmers and land managers to create or restore 48,000km of hedgerows by 2037 and 72,500km of hedgerows by 2050. It’s vital that the funding is available to make this hedgerow dream a reality.
“We also welcome the £500 million landscape recovery fund and ambitious habitat restoration targets. There are still critical gaps in the Plan, not least the monitoring and regulation of light pollution where evidence is growing about its negative impact on both species and human health.”
