As set out in its ‘Plan for Nature’, Labour will invest
£1.2bn to restore natural habitats such as woodland,
grasslands, meadows, peatbogs and saltmarshes in
England, with an extra annual £75 million funding boost
to the new and existing National Park authorities to
help manage the programme.
Since 2010 the Conservative government has cut the
annual funding to National Park authorities by 20 per
cent. Labour will increase the funding by 50 per cent
in order to enable the Parks to provide natural
solutions to the climate and environment emergency.
According to Rewilding Britain nature restoration plans
such as this could store up to 47 million tonnes of CO2
each year by 2050 – more than Finland’s
annual emissions.
Restored habitats will allow endangered species such as
wading birds, hedgehogs, red squirrels, water voles,
fish and insect life to recover and thrive.
Candidate sites for the ten new National National Parks
will include Malvern Hills, Chiltern Hills,
Lincolnshire Wolds and North Pennines. Criteria for the
selection of the new NatureParks will be informed, in
part, by the current state of environmental
degradation, potential for carbon sequestration and
biodiversity net gain.
By 2030 75 per cent of the English population will live
within half an hour of a National Park or an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty.
In addition £2.5bn will be available for tree planting
in National Parks and the National Forest, as well as
urban parks, farmland, community woodlands, schools and
publicly owned land.
These plans alongside restored parks, pathways, cycle
routes and canals will create ‘natural corridors’ which
will allow animal migrations,
seed dispersal and provide habitats in their
own right.
It is estimated 20,000 new green jobs will be created
in forestry management and timber trades as part of
Labour’s plans for one million green jobs under its
Green Industrial Revolution programme for government.
, Leader of the
, speaking at
the launch of Labour’s ‘Plan for Nature’, said:
“This election is our last chance to tackle the climate
and environment emergency. Labour is on your side and
on the side of the environment.
“We’ll expand and restore our habitats and plant trees
so that we can create natural solutions to bring down
emissions and allow our wildlife to flourish.
“Labour created the first national parks, and we’ll
create ten more, giving people the access to the green
spaces so vital for our collective wellbeing and mental
health.”
, Shadow Environment
Secretary, said:
“Years of Tory austerity have had a devastating impact
on our natural world with the UK set to miss almost all
of its international biodiversity targets. Wildlife
populations are collapsing, ecosystems are breaking
down and temperatures are rising at an alarming rate.
“Labour’s Plan for Nature provides the vision needed to
kick start the recovery and protection of our natural
world.
“Our strategy will not just work to undo years of Tory
neglect and damage to our environment, but will
actively improve environmental outcomes, creating a
more accessible, clean and green environment for
generations to come.”
