How can we really protect Britain’s environment?

<p>Well-intentioned laws designed to safeguard nature frequently have the opposite effect</p><p>The importance of protecting nature is not up for debate. <a href="https://stateofnature.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/TP25999-State-of-Nature-main-report_2023_FULL-DOC-v12.pdf">One in six species</a> in Britain is threatened with extinction. Since 1970, <a href="https://stateofnature.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/TP25999-State-of-Nature-main-report_2023_FULL-DOC-v12.pdf">more than half our flowering plants</a> have decreased in areas where they once thrived. In the 1950s, Britain’s hedgehog population was 30m strong. Now, it is believed to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/07/hedgehog-numbers-plummet-by-half-in-uk-countryside-since-2000">under a million</a>.</p><p>All this demands action. The problem is that a lot of the action we’ve taken – mainly in the form of legislation – fails to target the biggest drivers of nature loss. Instead, it bites when we try to build: wind turbines, solar farms, railways or nuclear power plants, making their construction lengthier, more expensive or, in some cases, impossible.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/08/how-can-we-really-protect-britains-environment">Continue reading...</a>