RSPB warns of countryside under threat

The RSPB is warning vital laws protecting nature in the Peak District will be under threat in Autumn when the new Prime Minister assumes office.

The warning comes as both candidates in the Tory leadership contest have spoken recently of their commitment to reviewing remaining EU laws currently in English legislation. 

This, the RSPB says, would include the Habitats Regulations. 

Tom Aspinall, RSPB conservation officer, said: “The unglamorously named Habitats Regulations ensure nature is considered in planning decisions where it would be all too easy, and convenient, to ignore it.

"These laws have been vital to protecting some of our most vulnerable wildlife for the last 30 years. 

“Caught up in a drive for deregulation, scrapping them is presented as a simple option, easy to implement because nature has no voice to defend itself.” 

A large proportion of the Dark Peak is a protected area under the Habitats Regulations.

The internationally important blanket bogs define this special place are part of the reason for the designation.

These designations have been a critical factor in funding being sourced to undertake the ongoing work to restore the habitats in the South Pennines.  

One of the greatest current threats to blanket bog habitats is the continued burning of vegetation on peat soils in the interests of driven grouse moor management, and the Habitats Directive has been imperative in the protection of some deep peat habitats from this damaging practice. 

New legislation to prevent the burning of vegetation on peat deeper than 40cm within SACs (and Special Protection Areas) was introduced in 2021, and while not going far enough to end this practice completely, the progress seen so far would not have been possible without the Habitats Directive. 

The RSPB has this week written to its active campaigners in the Peak District asking them to contact their local MP and the public to do the same. 

Tom Aspinall, RSPB conservation officer based at Dovestone nature reserve, said: “Without the legal backing and force of the Habitats Regulations, there is a serious risk of long-term deterioration and loss of these incredible upland habitats, which are vitally important for people and wildlife. 

“We must lend it our voice.

"We must speak up now to protect the laws that protect nature.

"We must show MPs that people understand how important these laws are for the places and species they love.

"This is the crucial first step in ensuring the new Prime Minister thinks twice about dismantling the Habitats Regulations in the autumn.” 

The RSPB says instead of seeking to scrap them, the Government should be putting their energies into urgently needed actions to support and improve the regulations: completing the network of protected sites; supporting the creation of more places for wildlife; making sure all existing wildlife sites are well-managed; and helping to tackle pressures like pollution. 

The wildlife charity states these are the actions will help deliver the UK’s global commitments to manage 30 per cent of land and sea for nature by 2030. 

Beccy Speight, RSPB CEO, said “We have such a short window to recover nature.

"Our wildlife needs to be on the road to recovery by 2030, or we risk destroying our own life-support system. 

“In that context, proven effective laws should be maintained and strengthened - and definitely not weakened in any way. 

“Nature doesn’t have time for us to backtrack, to throw aside decades of case law and start all over again. 

“Businesses can’t afford decades of uncertainty about where and how they can build in harmony with nature. We need to stop looking backward and start looking forward.” 

To find out more, visit: https://rspb.org.uk/protectnaturelaws

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