Protecting Wildlife for the Future

What you can do to helpCumbria Wildlife Trust is asking Cumbria’s prospective parliamentary candidates to put the recovery of wildlife at the heart of the next Government’s programme with four requests: To ask your party to support the Nature and Wellbeing Act to enable nature’s recovery. Commit to funding the restoration of 2,020 hectares of peatland across Cumbria by 2020. Make a commitment that our children will have a greater understanding of our natural world and what it does for us by guaranteeing amendments to the National Curriculum. Sign up to the Marine Charter at wtru.st/marinecharter to show your commitment to designate a national ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas by 2016 that is sufficient to restore the wildlife in the Irish Sea.

Experience nature for yourself. Please contact Peter Bullard, Director of Cumbria Wildlife Trust to arrange a visit to any of our nature reserves or to discuss nature in your constituency further.

Contact us Cumbria Wildlife TrustPlumgarths, Crook Road,Kendal, Cumbria LA8 8LX

T 01539 816300mail@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.ukwww.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.ukRegistered in England as Cumbria Wildlife Trust Limited, a Company Limited by Guarantee No. 0724133. Registered Charity No. 218711.

How nature can help solve our social, economic and environmental problems and put society back on the right track

Natural fixes

Protecting Wildlife for the Future

1. Yes to a Nature and Wellbeing ActWhy do we need new legislation?We need legislation that explicitly recognises the fundamental importance of the natural environment to our society and the economy. Nature has become more remote from us and less present in our daily lives. Conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and depression have increased. We need to invest more time, energy, commitment and money into nature’s recovery – because wildlife and wild places need it, and because our health, wellbeing and prosperity depend upon it.

What would the Act involve?It would place nature at the heart of how decisions are made about health, housing and other development, education, economic growth, flood resilience and social cohesion.

What will it cost?The National Ecosystem Assessment calculated that the wrong kind of economic growth between now and 2060 would cost the UK £20.7bn per year because of the damage it would cause. By contrast, putting nature at the heart of development would save £33bn per year.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust is the only voluntary organisation devoted solely to the conservation of the wildlife and wild places of Cumbria. The Trust stands up for wildlife, creates wildlife havens and seeks to raise

environmental awareness. We manage over 3,000 hectares across 43 nature reserves and have much valued support from our 15,000 members.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust is part of a national partnership of 47 local Wildlife

Trusts across the UK. We believe passionately that the richest wildlife sites must be protected as a starting point from which nature can spread back into our wider landscapes. We know that a healthy natural

Will you support us?environment is the source of our prosperity and our wellbeing. We want to inspire people about the natural world so that they value it, understand their relationship with it and take action to protect and restore it. We need

every political party to support our call for a Nature and Wellbeing Act.

These proposals are necessary because recent decades have seen steady declines in almost all UK species and natural habitats on both land and

sea, despite the fact that nature is our life support system. This cannot continue without dire consequences for all of us. It is time to act for nature’s recovery. Our wildlife and wild places need it. And we need it, too.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust Natural Fixes www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk

Wreay Woods near Carlisle is one of many nature reserves that allows families to access and enjoy the natural environment

See how the Act would improve all our lives at wildlifetrusts.org/NWA

2. Peatland restoration Peatland in CumbriaPeatlands cover only 3% of the earth’s surface yet store over 30% of all soil carbon. Cumbria’s peatlands total 42,800 hectares.

Why restore peatland?A loss of 5% of UK peat would equate to the total annual UK

greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by human impact. When well-managed, peatlands capture carbon from the

atmosphere and purify water. Poorly managed, they emit carbon and pollute water. With Cumbria providing over a third of the north west’s drinking water, the potential loss of peat if left unprotected or unrestored, will result in major cost to the environment, climate change and to the consumer’s water bill.

Restored peatlands also help to alleviate downstream flooding by slowing the flow of water into the streams that rush down from the hills.

What would restoration enable?If we valued nature properly, the calculation would be clear: we must invest in the restoration of our peatlands, not continue to take from them.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust has a target with partners of restoring 2,020 hectares of peatland by 2020, securing the carbon locked within, purifying the water and helping to alleviate downstream flooding.

Blea Moss in Little Langdale has benefitted from restoration but we must continue to act to prevent huge costs through climate

change, pollution and flooding

3. Nature for children and young peopleWhy do we need new legislation?When young people are connected with nature, it has positive impacts on their education, physical health, emotional wellbeing, and personal and social skills, and helps them to become responsible citizens. If children do not have a connection to nature, they may be missing these positive impacts and the difference it can make to their lives.

What would the legislati0n achieve? It would include the natural world as part of the curriculum – so that all children leave school with the knowledge, skill and motivation to care for the environment – and understand how we affect and benefit from it. This is best achieved through amending the Education Act 2002 to ensure that every child in England has at least one outdoor environmental education experience during their school career, which is beyond school grounds where they can enjoy first-hand experience of their cultural heritage and natural environment.

Children at Hawkshead Primary School enjoy getting their hands dirty during practical lessons about the value of hay meadows

Phot

o: JP

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4. More Marine Protected AreasWhy are Marine Protected Areas needed? We want to achieve an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around the UK by restricting the level of damaging activities to ensure the protection of these areas for their wildlife and habitats.

Ecological coherence means that all UK species and habitats are represented, managed and given the chance to recover.

What about the economy?Evidence suggests that the sea is worth more in the medium to long term if it is protected. The Natural Capital Committee considers that restoration of UK marine fisheries to 1930s levels (which MPAs would help to achieve) could be worth up to an extra 1.4bn a year.

What public support is there? Over 350,000 people signed a petition supporting an ecologically coherent MPA network. 40,000 responded to Defra’s consultation over the first MPAs. 98% asked for more protection of the marine environment. In Cumbria we hope to have a successful response during the two future consultations for Marine Conservation Zones, showing more support than ever for the need to protect our sea.

We need a national ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas by 2016 for our wildlife to thrive