Government announces five-year nature protection plan

Protecting habitats, water supply and improving air quality are all parts of the plan

The government has announced a five-year plan to protect the environment.

The Environmental Improvement Plan has been written up to implement the government’s desire to reverse the decline of nature.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey has revealed the five points:

  • Restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife habitats and creating 70 new nature reserve projects.
  • Improving water efficiency in households and addressing leakage issues to ensure a plentiful supply of water to people and nature.
  • Pushing councils to improve local air quality, with guidelines set to follow.
  • Change the management of 70% of the UK’s countryside, by implementing nature-friendly practices into farming.
  • Create more green jobs from green financiers, researchers to farmers.

In addition to this, the government has made a commitment to ensure green spaces or water are within a 15-minute walk from people’s homes.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “This plan provides the blueprint for how we will deliver our commitment to leave our environment in a better state than we found it, making sure we drive forward progress with renewed ambition and achieve our target of not just halting, but reversing the decline of nature.”

“We have already started the journey and we have seen improvements. We are transforming financial support for farmers and landowners to prioritise improving the environment, we are stepping up on tree planting, we have cleaner air, we have put a spotlight on water quality and rivers and are forcing industry to clean up its act,” Ms Coffey added.

Make sure you check out the latest Net Hero Podcast episode:

Latest Podcast