A new report issued today by the Environmental Audit Committee has highlighted that it is imperative that Government identifies appropriate environmental legislation to ensure UK wildlife is not negatively affected by the UK leaving the European Union after Article 50 is invoked.
The IUCN UK Peatland Programme (IUCN UK PP) welcomes the Environmental Audit Committee’s recommendation, in its report The Future of the Natural Environment after the EU Referendum, that the Government commits to new legislation to fulfil the role currently served by European law that will no longer apply to the UK, including the Birds and Habitats Directive. Essential to maintaining the level of protection provided to Natura 2000 sites, which include both Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), the Birds and Habitats Directive has helped safeguard important peatlands in the UK since its conception. Our largest remaining semi-natural habitat, these peatlands provide society with important benefits, including clean water and carbon storage – helping to mitigate against climate change, which could be lost at great cost to society if this protection is neither maintained or improved.
The IUCN UK PP also advocates that leaving the European Union provides the UK with an opportunity to review future land management payments, as supported by the Commission’s sixth recommendation in the report. Currently payments under the existing EU farm subsidy scheme, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), are the largest and most widely applied funding source for peatland management in the UK, but the overall funding available and limitations in the scheme have restricted uptake. A review into how future payments from the Government are paid to land managers could address the market failure to reward them for delivering healthy peatlands, which provide society with public goods.
Dr Rob Stoneman, Vice Chair of the IUCN UK PP said:
“Whilst it is clear that the UK environment faces many challenges ahead as a result of the UK exiting the EU, it is also a time of opportunity. The Environmental Audit Committee have highlighted some key recommendations, that if followed could lead to an improvement in legislation and funding mechanisms that support our natural environment, including our peatlands.
“With as many as 80% of our UK peatlands in some way damaged, it is crucial that we act quickly to save them. We have the skills and knowledge to restore them now before the problem is further exacerbated, helping to avoid a much greater cost to future generations in lost public benefits. In line with the Government’s manifesto pledge to “be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it found it in”, the negotiations and actions following Article 50 provide an excellent opportunity to make good on this promise.”
The IUCN UK Peatland Programme presented written evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee during its inquiry into the future of the natural environment post-referendum. To read the evidence please visit: www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/briefings/eu-referendum/natural-environment.
For more information on the IUCN UK Peatland Programme and the importance of UK peatlands please visit www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org.
