New Local Authorities Nature Emergency Website Launched
The Woodland Trust has launched a new website that shows which local authorities have declared a nature emergency and what steps they have taken to recover nature.
Councils are scored on the steps they have taken to demonstrate commitment to meaningful action for nature’s recovery including development of a nature emergency action plan, nature’s recovery being embedded into plans and policies and plans to manage 30% of council land for nature recovery by 2030.
The website also offers advice to local authorities, including an example motion and case studies, to support them to declare nature emergencies or to strengthen the declarations they have already made.
This work takes forward the primary recommendation for local authorities in the Trust’s set of policy reports launched in 2023-24 ‘Trees and Woods at the heart of nature recovery’ for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Trees And Woods For Nature Recovery – Woodland Trust), to declare a nature emergency and set out a clear response to address it. It hopes to support and continue the work that has already been done in this space.