The UK Government has published new plans to boost “nature recovery” on land and at sea.
The new plans – which come a year after the launch of the Environmental Improvement Plan – will encouraged landowners and farmers to support key targets set out in the plan which was published today (Wednesday, January 31).
This includes tree planting and peatland restoration which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has stated “are essential for sequestering and storing carbon to mitigate the impacts of climate change while supporting biodiversity”.
The government has said the latest measures to boost nature will see a permanent closure of the sandeel fisheries in English waters of the North Sea from April and further targeted restrictions on damaging bottom trawling.
It will also result in the introduction of a new framework for national parks and protected areas.
Nature recovery
Environment Secretary, Steve Barclay said that the UK had “made a lot of progress” since the launch of the Environmental Improvement Plan – including “accelerating the adoption of our world-leading farming schemes”.
“Protecting the environment is fundamental to the prosperity of our country and our new commitments will drive forward our mission to create a cleaner and greener country for all,” he added.
The government today has also announced the recipients of £7 million of awards to improve lowland peat soils.
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs “peatlands are our largest terrestrial carbon store”.
But it said that because of centuries of drainage for agriculture, just 1% of England’s lowland peatlands remain in a near-natural state, and these drained peatlands account for 88% of all greenhouse gas emissions from England’s peat.
The 34 projects which will share the £7 million fund – are spread across England’s lowland peat regions and include the Cambridgeshire Fens and Somerset Levels.
These projects will use government funding to improve the management of water on lowland peat and enhance understanding of climate change impacts and flood risk.
The department said funding has also been awarded to projects that will “use innovative technologies, such as telemetry, to precisely control water retention levels across the landscape”.
