Let nature How nature’s recovery is essentialhelp for tackling the climate crisis Let nature help PA Wire/PA Images GettyGetes 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 must note of the threat of climate be matched with determined action get this right. According to the 6 What nature can do T “Emission cuts must The multiple benefits of giving nature a chance catastrophe. In response, the be matched with to fix our broken ecosystems, Intergovernmental Panel UK government has joined many so they can help stabilise our climate. on Climate Change (IPCC), 8 Case study 1 governments around the world in action to fix our We must bring nature back across at decisions we take in the Beaver reintroduction, Argyll setting a net zero emissions target in broken ecosystems, so least 30% of land and sea by 2030. next 10 years are crucial for law. they can help Restoring wild places will also avoiding total climate 9 Case study 2 The Great Fen Project, Cambridgeshire Yet we cannot tackle the climate stabilise our climate.” revive the natural richness we all catastrophe. We must crisis without similar ambition to 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 Upper Sherbourne, Warwickshire two are inseparable. The climate crisis The Wildlife Trusts have a big solutions a priority. 11 Case study 4 is driving nature’s decline; the loss of part to play in delivering this The Yorkshire Peat Partnership wildlife and habitats leaves us ill- recovery. We are already stepping equipped to reduce our emissions and important benefits is proven. But up to the challenge, but we also Ed Green 12 The way forward on land adapt to change. nature in the UK is in a sorry state and need decision makers, communities, Chief Executive The policies that will help nature work for us Nature’s incredible ability to trap important habitats are damaged and businesses and everyone else to Warwickshire Wildlife Trust 14 The way forward at sea carbon safely and provide other declining. come along with us. Hamblin/2020Vision Mark 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 rd Let nature help Bi na PEATLAND an zs 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 release the equivalent of 23 disturbance. Between 1990-2006, The UK has a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Nature can make a massive arable conversion of grasslands million tonnes of CO2 every R o released 14 million tonnes of CO2. We contribution to achieving this, or an even more ambitious target – but only if we restore our b year. Restoring them to J o prevent this emission is one can restore species-rich grasslands to damaged ecosystems. Here are the main areas that need attention: rd an of the most cost-effective lock up carbon and support abundant nature-based solutions. wildlife. om t.c BIOMASS CARBON ec ir d n w All animals and plants are carbon stores. ul The size of o WOODLAND a P d rt h When marine animals die, they generally e s p a l u R p sink and become incorporated into About 1 billion tonnes of the prize s S ne sediment, where their carbon might stay carbon are locked up in UK n Restoring our o t for thousands of years. Human activities woodlands, mostly in the soils. natural systems n 364.1 o Planting more woods and 37% i can impact on marine animal populations l l could provide 37% of the i million and also disturb this sediment, releasing allowing natural regeneration m CO mitigation needed tonnes 2 7 . carbon. could lock up more carbon, but 4 by 2030 to meet the Paris 3 1 CO e 2 this must be carefully planned Agreement. to maximise benefits and avoid harming other habitats. Possible contribution 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 C Phytoplankton are the basis of ocean food webs and absorb a Nature Recovery CO2. Globally, 10 billion tonnes of carbon are transferred to seabed Network sediments when phytoplankton die or are eaten then excreted. On land, 66% of carbon in nature-rich areas is outside protected sites. We need to identify, map and protect these ecosystems, and restore them locally as part of a l national Nature Recovery Network. We also need to incentivise farmers and other au P rt land managers to improve their land for nature and contribute to this network. r e lo p ay u At sea, we need effective marine planning and an ecologically coherent network of N R l SEAGRASS u a Marine Protected Areas. P A hectare of seagrass may store 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 seagrass e meadows. Reducing water pollution vi en SALTMARSH B and replanting would bring them back ll ia to health. A hectare of saltmarsh can N capture two tonnes of carbon a year and lock it into WETLAND sediments for centuries, but Wetlands can accumulate carbon for centuries, we are losing nearly 100 but in some areas of the UK we have lost over hectares of saltmarsh a year. 90% of our wetland habitat. Restored wetlands We need nature to be Coastal realignment could provide rich habitat, clean water naturally and everywhere again restore much of it, and reduce reduce flood Roberts Matthew flooding and erosion. risk downstream. Oceans absorb 20-35% of Globally, plants have removed human-made CO2 emissions 25% of human-made CO2 BLUE every year. Carbon is GREEN emissions. Soils contain incorporated into the tissues of more carbon than is stored in CARBON plants and animals, and later CARBON plants and the atmosphere into mud and sediments. combined. Grey seal: Chris Gomersall/2020Vision. Gannet: David Chapman. Wren: Colin Varndell Varndell Colin Chapman. Wren: David Gannet: Chris Gomersall/2020Vision. seal: 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 world can cope with the climate COASTAL DEFENCES and at sea can absorb vast change that is already happening and Habitats like saltmarsh and seagrass H help protect us from coastal erosion We can deliver quantities of CO2 from the contribute effectively to stabilising it. atmosphere and lock it away as Doing this across a mosaic of and storm surges, while providing For more than a century, The landowners on how best to care for carbon. However, human activities connected habitats will also deliver important nursery areas for fish. Wildlife Trusts have been saving, their land so that it sustains such as intensive arable farming, countless other benefits: protecting and restoring wild wildlife. overgrazing, overfishing and HEALTHIER LIVES places, and bringing people closer to Hawkins Jon We have the know-how and irresponsible development release this FLOOD PROTECTION Woodlands and other wild nature. expertise to work in partnership. stored carbon and drive nature’s Healthy habitats such as protected places clean the air, regulate We are involved in projects to With investment and support from decline. wetlands, restored peatlands, temperature, and improve our health restore and connect habitats across governments, businesses and local As a first step, we urgently need to wildflower-rich grasslands and and wellbeing. the country as part of a Nature communities, we can create real protect important ecosystems so their native woodlands can slow, store Recovery Network, from re-wetting change for nature’s recovery, so that carbon isn’t released and they can and filter water, reducing the risk of NATURAL RESILIENCE peatland to creating saltmarsh and nature-based solutions can play a Thriving ecosystems provide the continue to absorb CO2. We also need flooding downstream and cleaning planting seagrass. We also advise Our ground-up structure means we are the massive role in achieving net zero to put nature into recovery across a water naturally. pollinators, soils, nutrients, food and thousands of farmers and local experts emissions. third of land and sea, so the natural 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 we were one of the lead partners of trials of its kind in Europe. Director of the Scottish Beaver Trial, a pioneering Extensive independent scientific five-year project that saw the licensed monitoring of their impact on the Conservation, release of 16 beavers into Knapdale natural environment paved the Scottish Wildlife Forest, Argyll. way for the Scottish Government Trust “This was one of the largest field to recognise beavers as a native, protected species in Scotland “Beavers are industrious ecosystem in 2019.