natural habitat

Some people seem to think rural England is just a recreational playground….

MPs will have to debate returning vast swathes of land to wildernesses after a petition calling for mass rewilding gained more than 100,000 signatures.

It calls for the government to “make a bold financial and political commitment to nature’s recovery” to help slow climate breakdown.

Expanding habitats for native plants, trees and animals such as beavers and allowing wildlife to return will help remove from the atmosphere the carbon dioxide that is largely driving up global temperatures, organisers Rewilding Britain, said. 

“Rewilding and other natural climate solutions can draw millions of tonnes of CO2 out of the air through restoring and protecting our living systems,” the petition says. 

The group plans to establish at least three pilot projects over the next 10 years, with the aim of returning at least a million hectares to their natural state – twice as much as the land as the government has already pledged to restore.

Last month the government’s own advisers on climate strongly advised ministers to set a new target to bring down Britain’s carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

In a response to the petition before it hit its 100,000 goal, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the government’s 25-year environment plan, launched in January last year, committed the government to improving the condition of the protected sites network and to creating or restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat in England.  

“Our manifesto committed to planting 11 million trees by 2022, and in addition a further million trees in our towns and cities, and we also have a long-term aspiration to increase woodland cover from 10 per cent to 12 per cent by 2060,” it added.