Peat Ban (England)

On 27th August 2022 the UK government announced that all sales of peat to amateur gardeners in England would be banned by 2024. The press release is here.

The press release states that “Bagged retail growing media accounts for 70% of the peat sold in the UK and is frequently misused, for example being used as a soil improver rather than a medium in which to propagate plants.”

This ban follows an extensive consultation that was held.

A ban for the professional horticulture sector will follow, but is not announced.

Natural England is working with Defra and partners on the ground to restore thousands of hectares of peatland habitats, and the press release states via round two of the Nature for Climate Fund Peatland Restoration Grant, Natural England awarded on 27th August nearly £11 million to six projects to support restoration works on over 7,000 hectares of peatland, adding to more than 8,000 hectares already funded through round one.

The press release states round two of the Restoration Grant has supported a blend of lowland and upland restoration works, with the Somerset Peatland Partnership convening to restore lowland sites in the south-west of England, and the Great North Bog and Moors for the Future partnerships restoring upland sites in the north of England.

Environment Act 2021 – summary (UK)

The Act is not yet published, neither is any commencement order, nor any regulation.

The closest text is the text as introduced to the House of Lords – here. Note, Environment is a devolved matter, which means the bulk of the Environment Act 2021 provisions relate to England only.

Key points –

(1) the government must set long-term targets in priority areas for England (and may set other long-term targets) – by regulations – air quality, water, biodiversity, resource efficiency and waste reduction. The government must then review these targets in the context of the significant improvement test in section 6.

(2) the government must publish a statement of environmental principles, to be used in policy making.

(3) the government must publish a report (at specified intervals) on developments in international environmental law.

(4) an Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) must be established in England, to carry out certain scrutiny and advice functions. Schedule 3 deals with the OEP as respects Northern Ireland.

(5) Schedule 4 confers powers to make regulations on producer responsibility, replacing authority in earlier legislation which is revoked. Schedule 5 confers powers to charge for disposal costs.

(6) Schedule 8 confers powers to make regulations to create deposit schemes.

(7) Schedule 9 confers powers to make regulations about charges for single-use plastic items.

(8) the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is amended with provisions about the separate collection of recyclable waste in England – glass, metal, plastic, paper and card, food waste.

(9) the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is amended with updated provisions for hazardous waste in England and Wales.

(10) the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 is amended with updated provisions for hazardous waste.

(11) the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is amended with updated provisions for transfrontier waste shipment.

(12) the government may make regulations to recall vehicles or engines on environmental grounds (section 73).

(13) the Water Resources Act 1991 (applicable England and Wales) is amended to require sewerage undertakers to publish and maintain a drainage and sewerage management plan. These provisions were strengthened slightly following consideration in the House of Lords (final Act text not yet published).

(14) the government (and the relevant authorities in the devolved administrations) may make regulations to change water quality standards.

(15) Schedule 14 provides for biodiversity gain to be a planning condition.

(16) the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 section 40 duty to conserve biodiversity (England) is substantively enhanced.

(17) local authorities in England must publish biodiversity reports at specified intervals.

(18) there must be more local nature recovery strategies so that they cover the whole of England.

(19) Natural England is empowered to publish a strategy for improving the conservation status of any species of flora or fauna (a special conservation strategy).

(20) Natural England is empowered to publish a strategy for improving the conservation and management of a protected site (a protected site strategy).

(21) local authorities in England must consult before felling street trees.

Agriculture & Fisheries Bills (UK Brexit)

Exit day is Friday (11pm UK time)

The Brexit Agriculture Bill is already published and has a its Second Reading in February. The Brexit Fisheries Bill is being published later today.

The Agriculture Bill relates to England predominantly (and some provisions apply in Wales and Northern Ireland). It mainly deals with agriculture supports (phasing in a new changed basis for these supports that rewards nature and environmental protection), and government collection of data from economic actors in the food supply chain, in England. It enables England, Wales and Northern Ireland to set their own food marketing standards. Separate Agriculture Bills are expected in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Fisheries Bill is [update 30th Jan] publicised by the UK Government – it is not yet in the list of Bills. It sets up a new system for marine and coastal fisheries management, gives new powers to Devolved Governments, and includes a set of UK-wide objectives to manage fisheries stocks sustainably (and a new objective to move towards “climate-smart” fishing in UK waters). It gives new powers to the Marine Management Organisation to give advice and assistance on sustainable fisheries, marine planning, licensing and conservation overseas.

Further Blog posts will be issued on these matters in due course.

New SSSI for Tees Estuary (England)

Natural England has today confirmed its 2018 notification of the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – map area here. Citation is here.

The Tees Estuary is a unique environment where industrial facilities share the landscape with a wide range of coastal habitats which teem with wildlife.

There were previously seven SSSIs protecting parts of the Tees Estuary, which have now been merged and expanded into a single, landscape-scale SSSI, totaling nearly 3000 hectares (or 12 square miles).

The extensions have more than doubled the area of SSSI in the Tees Estuary. Additional areas of sand-dune, saltmarsh, mudflat, grassland, lagoons and estuarial waters are protected, along with the populations of breeding and wintering birds, the iconic population of harbour seals and sand-dune invertebrates.

The extended SSSI also continues to protect two areas of nationally-important geology, notably the mysterious prehistoric ‘submerged forest’, a part of which was exposed on the beach at Redcar after the ‘Beast from the East’ in 2018.

Natural England provides advice on day-to-day operations on the estuary ‘up front’ to set out how current activities can take place in a way that continues to allow wildlife to flourish. The advice is set out in the Memorandum of Understanding of the Tees Estuary Partnership, which has a vision to enhance both the economic and environmental assets of the area.

Per the Natural England press release – The approach embodies the ambitions set out in Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan, which seeks to put people at the heart of nature by working closely with others and developing shared objectives at a landscape-scale.

The consultation on the SSSI took place alongside a consultation on the extension of the existing Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar site to include additional marine, coastal and freshwater habitats and new bird species for protection. Following the consultation, Natural England will submit its recommendations on these extensions to DEFRA for consideration.

Natural England also designates the Teesmouth National Nature Reserve, and the long sandy beaches, and harbour seal haul-outs are integral and well-loved parts of the local landscapes.

[we welcome Tony Juniper to his role at Natural England, and hope for many more such announcements]

IPBES Report on Biodiversity Loss (International)

A new global report by the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published yesterday, finds that 1 million species are at risk of extinction — more than ever before in human history.

The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, prepared by 145 leading experts from 50 countries, examines the causes of biodiversity and ecosystem change, the implications for people, as well as policy options and likely future pathways over the next three decades. It provides an integrated overview of where the world stands in relation to key international goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change. In addition to including more than 15,000 scientific and government sources, the report also cites indigenous and local knowledge.

Beginning with the UN Secretary General’s Summit in September and running through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2020, governments are now asked to present commitments.

The media release is here.

The Convention timeline to 2020 is here.

A major UK contribution is the UK Government Commission of Prof Dasgupta, University of Cambridge, to lead a UK government review of the economics of biodiversity. I Blog posted before about this announcement, made recently by the Chancellor.

Information about this Commission is here.

New National Planning Policy Framework (England)

The long anticipated revision to the National Planning Policy Framework applicable in England has today (24th July) been published, here.

This replaces the 2012 Framework. The planning practice guidance to support the framework is also published online (here).

The Press Release is here.

The viability guidance is also updated – here.

Natural Capital Protocol

The Natural Capital Protocol is a standardized framework that helps companies identify, measure and value their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. It was launched in July 2016.

The Council of the European Union, gathered on 17 October 2016 in Luxembourg under the Slovak Presidency, officially recognised the Natural Capital Protocol in the Outcome of the Council meeting. In its conclusions, the Council “considers that mainstreaming biodiversity provides new opportunities for all economic sectors, including the private sector (…); and calls on the business sector to increase its involvement in and contribution to achieving both the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the biodiversity-related Sustainable Development Goals, and to analyse and invest in improvements and report on their impacts, actions and investments related to biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides, sharing experiences and best practices, e.g. in the framework of Business and Biodiversity Platforms as well as other initiatives, such as the Natural Capital Protocol”. 

The Natural Capital Protocol is here.

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets are here.

Invasive Alien Species (IAS) EU Regulation (update)

My post in 2013 on EU IAS is here.

16th April (today), the European Parliament is voting on the IAS Regulation. Progress is followed here.

In Scotland – The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 made a number of significant amendments to the provisions on invasive non-native species in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in Scotland.

– First, the 2011 Act amended section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as it applies in Scotland, so as to make it an offence to release an animal, or allow one to escape from captivity, to a place outside its native range or where the animal is of a type specified by the Scottish Ministers. It is also an offence to cause any animal outside the control of any person to be at a place outside its native range. There is a similar offence in relation to plants grown in the wild.

– The 2011 Act also introduced species control orders, a mechanism by which invasive species present on premises or land can be controlled with a view to preventing their spread into the wider environment.

The model adopted in Scotland comprises four basic stages:
(1) Investigation: the provisions allow the relevant body to enter land or premises for the purpose of investigating whether a species outside its native range is present on the relevant land or premises;
(2) Species control agreements (made between the relevant body and the owner or occupier of land or premises on which invasive non-native species are present) provide for operations to be carried out to control or eradicate invasive non-native species;
(3) Species control orders: if a species control agreement is not agreed or not carried out, the relevant body can make a species control order, specifying operations to control or eradicate invasive non-native species to be carried out on the premises or land in question;
(4) If the species control order is not complied with, the relevant body can itself carry out the operations – or arrange for them to be carried out.

In England and Wales – the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to release, or allow to escape into the wild any animal which:
(1) is of a kind which is not ordinarily resident in and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state; or
(2) is included in part 1 of schedule 9 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It is also an offence to plant or cause to grow in the wild any plant listed in part 2 of schedule 9 to the 1981 Act. But there is no wider prohibition of planting or causing to grow plants not ordinarily resident in Great Britain. It is a defence to prove that all reasonable steps were taken and due diligence exercised in attempting to avoid the commission of one of the above offences. Activities otherwise prohibited can be permitted under a licence. The sale of species covered by the above provisions can additionally be restricted by order.

There are also other laws which regulate import of non-native species.

The species control regime in Scotland allows for operations to control or eradicate an invasive animal, plant or fungus present on land or premises, excluding dwellings. The procedure is built principally around two elements: species control agreements and species control orders.

These sophisticated mechanisms are not available in England and Wales, and this matter is being looked into by the UK Law Commission. It’s recent report (issued 11th February 2014) is here.

Biological Offsetting (England) – Update

I posted in September about DEFRA consultation – my post is here.

Consultation is now closed. Current information is found here.

The results of DEFRA analysis of public feedback will be posted here.

Biodiversity offsets are conservation activities that are designed to give biodiversity benefits to compensate for losses – ensuring that when a development damages nature (and this damage cannot be avoided) new, bigger or better nature sites will be created. They are different from other types of ecological compensation as they need to show measurable outcomes that are sustained over time.

Statements made at the House of Commons Debates – 9th January 2014 – are as follows:

“Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op):
The Minister will know that this year is the 150th anniversary of the death of one of our greatest poets of the countryside, John Clare. He wrote a great deal about diseased trees—there was a plague of oak disease in his lifetime—and he was certainly a great defender of the English countryside. What does the Minister think John Clare would have thought of giving up our ancient woodland and replacing it with new growth?

Dan Rogerson:
I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing a cultural dimension to our proceedings so early this morning. I share his concern, and that of John Clare, for ancient woodland, and that is why the guidance is very clear. In any discussions about development, the guidance we offer to all local authorities is very clear that ancient woodland should be protected.

Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab):
I want to press the Minister on the issue of protecting our ancient woodlands. Today’s written ministerial statement talks about planting lots of new trees, but does he accept that that is no replacement for the destruction of ancient trees? The quantity of new trees will not be a substitute for the diversity and quality of such woodland.

Dan Rogerson:
The hon. Lady is absolutely right to point out that, given the maturity of such ecosystems, ancient woodland has a whole range of things that new planting cannot hope to replicate. That is why the planning guidance is absolutely clear that the hierarchy should protect ancient woodland.

Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab):
Will the Secretary of State clarify how the remarks he made on allowing ancient woodland to be lost to development meet the spirit of his Department’s forestry policy statement which states categorically:“Protection of our trees, woods and forests, especially our ancient woodland, is our top priority”?

Mr Paterson:
I am absolutely delighted to be able to reassure the hon. Lady and the hon. Members for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) and for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) that the idea that biodiversity offsetting could be used as a means of imposing unwanted houses on ancient woodland is an absolute travesty. It is absolutely clear: all along we have always said that should we bring in offsetting—I made this clear to the all-party group—all the current protections of the planning regime and all the mitigation hierarchy remain. Only at the very last moment could offsetting be considered, and we have always said that some assets will be too precious to offset and—[Interruption.] Exactly, and that might well be ancient woodland.

The hon. Lady should look at examples of offsetting in countries like Australia, where there has been an 80% shift of planning applications away from fragile environments. Used properly, therefore, biodiversity offsetting could be a tremendous tool to protect those ancient woodlands which she and I value. As someone who has planted an arboretum over recent years, the idea that I am going to trash ancient woodlands is an absolute outrage to me personally.”

Illegal Wildlife Trade and Biodiversity

UK Foreign Secretary comments today on illegal wildlife trade at the UK Mission to the United Nations, New York.

The UK will host a conference in London on 12th & 13th February next year, at the highest levels of government.

Here is a collection of UK policies and actions on biodiversity.

Here are statements about the work of the UK Wildlife Policy Group (the inter-ministerial working group set up within the UK Government).