Let Nature Help
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Let nature How nature’s recovery is essentialhelp for tackling the climate crisis Let nature help PA Wire/PA Images Getty Images Julie Hatcher Peter Cairns/2020Vision The time is now Contents To deal with the climate crisis, we must bring nature back on an ambitious scale 4 Nature-based solutions The natural systems that lock carbon away safely he world is starting to take Rapid cuts in our emissions must We must act now and we note of the threat of climate “Emission cuts be matched with determined action must get this right. According 6 What nature can do T catastrophe. In response, to fix our broken ecosystems, so to the Intergovernmental Panel The multiple benefits of giving nature a chance the UK government has joined must be matched they can help stabilise our climate. on Climate Change (IPCC), with action to fix 8 Case study 1 many governments around the We must bring nature back across decisions we take in the next Beaver reintroduction, Argyll world in setting a net zero our broken at least 30% of land and sea by 10 years are crucial for emissions target in law. ecosystems, so they 2030. Restoring wild places will avoiding total climate 9 Case study 2 The Great Fen Project, Cambridgeshire Yet we cannot tackle the climate can help stabilise also revive the natural richness we catastrophe. We must crisis without similar ambition to our climate.” all depend upon, making our lives kickstart nature’s recovery 10 Case study 3 meet the nature crisis head on – the happier and healthier. and make nature-based Abbotts Hall Farm, Essex two are inseparable. The climate The Wildlife Trusts have a big part solutions a priority. 11 Case study 4 crisis is driving nature’s decline; the to play in delivering this recovery. The Yorkshire Peat Partnership loss of wildlife and habitats leaves We are already stepping up to the us ill-equipped to reduce our important benefits is proven. But challenge, but we also need Craig Bennett 12 The way forward on land emissions and adapt to change. nature in the UK is in a sorry state decision makers, communities, CEO, The Wildlife Trusts The policies that will help nature work for us Nature’s incredible ability to trap and important habitats are businesses and everyone else to 14 The way forward at sea carbon safely and provide other damaged and declining. come along with us. Mark Hamblin/2020Vision Cover: How to revolutionise the way we manage the sea Terry Whittaker Niki Clear Rupert Paul Surrey Wildlife Trust 2 | wildlifetrusts.org wildlifetrusts.org | 3 ird Let nature help a B nn sa PEATLAND z u s Z The UK’s peatland soils GRASSLAND store around 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, but are UK grasslands store 2 billion tonnes Nature-based solutions heavily degraded and of carbon, but this is vulnerable to disturbance. Between 1990-2006, The UK has a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Nature can make release the equivalent of 23 million tonnes of arable conversion of grasslands R released 14 million tonnes of a massive contribution to achieving this, or an even more ambitious target – but only o CO every year. Restoring b 2 J CO . We can restore species-rich o them to prevent this 2 if we restore our damaged ecosystems. Here are the main areas that need attention: rd an emission is one of the grasslands to lock up carbon and support abundant wildlife. om most cost-effective .c ct e BIOMASS CARBON nature-based solutions. ir d n l w All animals and plants are carbon stores. au The size of o WOODLAND P d rt h When marine animals die, they generally e s p a u l sink and become incorporated into About 1 billion tonnes of R the prize s p ne S sediment, where their carbon might stay carbon are locked up in on t Restoring n for thousands of years. Human activities UK woodlands, mostly in io 364.1 our natural l 37% l can impact on marine animal the soils. Planting more systems could provide i million m woods and allowing natural populations and also disturb this 37% of the CO 7 . tonnes 2 sediment, releasing carbon. regeneration could lock up mitigation needed by 4 3 CO e 1 2 more carbon, but this must 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement. be carefully planned to maximise benefits and avoid Possible contribution harming other habitats. of UK natural systems to reducing CO2 emissions Total UK emissions 2018 s on m m o c e v FOOD WEB CARBON i t a The crucial tool: e r Phytoplankton are the basis of C ocean food webs and absorb a Nature Recovery CO2. Globally, 10 billion tonnes of carbon are transferred Network to seabed sediments when phytoplankton die or are eaten On land, 66% of carbon in nature-rich areas is outside protected sites. We need then excreted. to identify, map and protect these ecosystems, and restore them locally l as part of a national Nature Recovery Network. We also need to incentivise au P rt farmers and other land managers to improve their land for nature and r e lo p ay u contribute to this network. N R l SEAGRASS u a At sea, we need effective marine planning and an ecologically coherent P A hectare of seagrass may store network of Marine Protected Areas. two tonnes of CO2 a year and hold it for centuries, while providing nursery habitat for young fish. But since 1985, we have lost half our e seagrass meadows. Reducing water vi en SALTMARSH B pollution and replanting would ll ia bring them back to health. A hectare of saltmarsh can N capture two tonnes of carbon a year and lock it WETLAND into sediments for centuries, Wetlands can accumulate carbon for but we are losing nearly 100 centuries, but in some areas of the UK we hectares of saltmarsh a year. have lost over 90% of our wetland habitat. We need nature to be Coastal realignment could Restored wetlands provide rich habitat, everywhere again restore much of it, and clean water naturally and reduce flood Roberts Matthew reduce flooding and erosion. risk downstream. Oceans absorb 20-35% of Globally, plants have human-made CO2 emissions removed 25% of human- every year. Carbon is made CO emissions. Soils BLUE GREEN 2 incorporated into the tissues contain more carbon than CARBON of plants and animals, and CARBON is stored in plants and the later into mud and sediments. atmosphere combined. Grey seal: Chris Gomersall/2020Vision. Gannet: David Chapman. Wren: Colin Varndell Varndell Colin Chapman. Wren: Gannet: David seal: Chris Gomersall/2020Vision. Grey 4 | wildlifetrusts.org wildlifetrusts.org | 5 Let nature help What nature can do if given a chance Restoring nature doesn’t just lock up carbon; it delivers multiple other benefits besides ealthy ecosystems on land sea, so the natural world can cope COASTAL DEFENCES and at sea can absorb vast with the climate change that is Habitats like saltmarsh and seagrass H quantities of CO from the already happening and contribute help protect us from coastal erosion We can deliver 2 atmosphere and lock it away as effectively to stabilising it. and storm surges, while providing For more than a century, The farmers and landowners on how carbon. However, human activities Doing this across a mosaic of important nursery areas for fish. Wildlife Trusts have been saving, best to care for their land so that such as intensive arable farming, connected habitats will also deliver protecting and restoring wild it sustains wildlife. overgrazing, overfishing and countless other benefits: HEALTHIER LIVES places, and bringing people Jon Hawkins We have the know-how and irresponsible development release Woodlands and other wild closer to nature. expertise to work in partnership. this stored carbon and drive FLOOD PROTECTION places clean the air, regulate We are involved in projects to With investment and support nature’s decline. Healthy habitats such as protected temperature, and improve our restore and connect habitats from governments, businesses As a first step, we urgently need wetlands, restored peatlands, health and wellbeing. across the country as part of a and local communities, we can to protect important ecosystems so wildflower-rich grasslands and Nature Recovery Network, from create real change for nature’s their carbon isn’t released and they native woodlands can slow, store NATURAL RESILIENCE re-wetting peatland to creating recovery, so that nature-based can continue to absorb CO2. We and filter water, reducing the risk of Thriving ecosystems provide the saltmarsh and planting seagrass. Our ground-up structure means we are solutions can play a massive role also need to put nature into flooding downstream and cleaning pollinators, soils, nutrients, food and We also advise thousands of the local experts in achieving net zero emissions. recovery across a third of land and water naturally. water that sustain us. Our work on more than 100 Living Landscape projects across the UK shows that restoring nature is sustainable and feasible Lee Beel Lee 6 | wildlifetrusts.org wildlifetrusts.org | 7 Let nature help Four flagship projects The Wildlife Trusts are taking action to bring nature back across the UK. Here’s a flavour... Scottish Beavers, Argyll Sarah Robinson protection. In May 2009, we were “This was one of the largest field one of the lead partners of the trials of its kind in Europe. Extensive Director of Scottish Beaver Trial, a pioneering independent scientific monitoring Conservation, five-year project that saw the of their impact on the natural Scottish Wildlife licensed release of 16 beavers into environment paved the way for the Trust Knapdale Forest, Argyll.