Defra’s response to the Landscape Review is welcome, but nature recovery and climate change demand greater resource and ambition

Defra’s response to the Landscape Review is welcome, but nature recovery and climate change demand greater resource and ambition

January 15, 2022

Trevor Beattie, Chief Executive of the South Downs National Park Authority, said: “There is much to welcome in the Government’s response to the 2019 Landscape Review, which highlights the vital role that National Parks and AONBs play for nature, people and the green recovery of our nation.

“The SDNPA has been working hard with our partners and communities since 2019 to deliver on the full aspirations of the Landscape Review. We have launched our ambitious ReNature nature recovery campaign, developed innovative private finance partnerships to tackle climate change, brought the wonder of the South Downs National Park to more people than ever before, connected young people to nature and launched our Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which the Government response has picked out for particular praise.”

Trevor added: “But the Government response does not go far or fast enough. Important proposals from the Landscape Review are not addressed, the climate crisis is little more than a footnote and no detail is given about the private finance that Government says is needed as they acknowledge that the ‘core grant does not provide the opportunity to increase funding to the scale needed to deliver [their] vision’.”

“Now is the time for bold, rapid, and well-resourced action. That was the clear message of COP 26. The SDNPA, its communities, visitors and partners stand ready to help deliver our national response to the defining crises of our time – nature depletion and climate change.

“The SDNPA will study the consultation document and produce a detailed response.  In the meantime we encourage all who love our protected landscapes to feed into the consultation and support our collective national effort to build a greener and better future for us all.”

• The full Defra press release announcing the consultation will be available to view here on their news page.
• The Government’s response to the Landscapes Review can be found here.
• The consultation can be found here.