Home to over 70,000 species of wildlife, the United Kingdom’s natural landscapes are under serious threat. Forced to adapt to new habitats in the face of human activities and climate change, populations are rapidly declining. One-in-six UK species are at risk of extinction, according to the 2023 State of Nature Report. To change the fate of biodiversity, the UK government committed to the 30-by-30 target.
30-by-30 refers to a global initiative to protect 30 percent of land and sea by 2030. At the heart of this initiative is protecting vulnerable species and promoting biodiversity recovery. The UK aims to achieve targets laid out in the Environmental Improvement Plan. Primarily, it focuses on reversing species decline by 2030 and restoring large areas of natural habitat. As we approach the halfway mark, we must consider the progress made, and whether it is enough to save these vulnerable species.
Protected areas that count towards this goal include National Nature Reserves (NNRs), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and National Parks and Landscapes. The government was initially bold in claiming that these protected areas already covered 28 percent of land and 24 percent of UK seas. However, it is not only the quantity of land protected that is important, but the quality of these protected areas for promoting biodiversity. Successful habitat protection is underpinned by consideration of the whole ecosystem, connectivity between protected areas, effective management of the habitat and regulated human activities. It was doubtful as to whether all of the claimed protected areas fulfilled these standards.
It became clear, once the quality and impact of the protected areas had been assessed, that the percentage of effectively protected areas was significantly lower, lying at just three percent of land and eight percent of seas in 2021, as reported by the 2022 Progress Report. Subsequently, the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee emphasised that much of the quality of protected land and sea needed significant improvement for the primary goals of the 30-by-30 target to be achieved.
At the time, the commitment made to protecting UK biodiversity was a hopeful sign that attitudes had shifted to appreciate the importance of our natural habitats. The next ten years would result in large scale changes, encouraging a better future for our native wildlife.
At the beginning of 2024, the government detailed some of the successful implementations and projects launching this year, which showed progress in achieving these targets. It was announced that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) now covered 38 percent of UK waters, and there was to be increased funding into national peatland conservation projects.
Despite these promising initiatives, the 2024 Progress Report painted a different picture. It reported that only 2.93 percent of English land is effectively protected, having declined since 2021, and effectively protected English seas have increased by only 1.92 percent. The disparity between the claimed protected areas and effectively protected areas highlights the importance of prioritising biodiversity recovery in the management and monitoring of these areas.
One region that is noticeably suffering from the lack of effective action is Yorkshire. Boasting two National Parks and several unique habitats, Yorkshire is a hotspot of biodiversity in the UK, hosting over 40,000 species. However, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s State of Yorkshire’s Nature report found that one in five of these species have declined by more than 25 percent in the last 20-30 years.
To protect its rich biodiversity, Yorkshire is in desperate need of a better conservation strategy; the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) argues that current protected areas are “too few, too small, and too scattered” to have meaningful impact. The YWT is stepping up, and committing themselves to creating a minimum of 30 percent positively managed land and sea protected areas. They have clear plans to encourage recovery of all ecosystems across Yorkshire, with a focus on its most unique, such as limestone habitats and wetlands.
The YWT’s projects are driven by the local communities who live harmoniously amongst these rich landscapes and are an inspiring example of the change that can be achieved at a local scale. The Wild Ingleborough Project, launched in 2021, is a large-scale project to restore approximately 1200 hectares of land across the Ingleborough National Nature Reserve, located in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is hopeful that this project will encourage local wildlife populations to grow and thrive, including the recovery of threatened species, such as the rare red squirrel.
As of July 2024, 122,000 native trees have been planted as part of the Wild Ingleborough Project, indicating its great success in restoring natural woodland. Its success is likely owing to the collaborative approach of this project; it is driven by a network of wildlife trusts, universities, local communities, and farmers. This approach incorporates a balance of community interests and evidence-based conservation, resulting in a new framework for people and wildlife to coexist, rather than working against each other.
Projects such as the Wild Ingleborough Project provide hope for the future envisioned at the start of the 30-by-30 commitment. As Yorkshire is home to almost two-thirds of UK species, progress for Yorkshire wildlife is progress for wildlife across the country. If the commitment to conservation in local communities persists and inspires similar projects nationally, there is an opportunity for the UK to halt biodiversity’s demise and achieve meaningful change by 2030.
