Over the summer we have supported a number of key campaigns focused on nature recovery and protection of habitats.
Making Space for Water
A campaign from the Riverscapes Partnership – a coalition of the Rivers Trust, National Trust, The Woodland Trust, and the Beaver Trust which sets out a clear, practical vision: to create a national network of connected, nature-rich river corridors. These corridors would act as natural infrastructure, slowing the flow, storing water in times of flood and drought, and filtering pollution from farmland and roads. It calls on the UK Government to urgently support farmers and landowners to create and maintain a network of nature-rich river corridors, with simplified and targeted financial incentives.
The campaign recognises floodplain meadows as one of the key means by which we can work with nature to restore rivers and their surrounding landscapes, so they can flow freely, support wildlife, link up public green spaces, reduce flooding and recover for future generations. The FMP is a supporter for the campaign and we urge you to sign the gov.uk petition which has now reached over 8,000 signatures. The aim is to reach 10,000 as at this point, the government is obliged to respond – giving them a natural opportunity to drive this conversation forward or make an announcement. In October MPs supported, signed and delivered a letter to the Prime Minister urging the Government to back the creation of nationwide river corridors.
Sign the petition and help restore our rivers:https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/727016
Grassland Advocacy - A Grassland Taskforce and Meadows classed as Irreplaceable Habitats
We continue to support the work Plantlife are coordinating on calls for better recognition, protection and support of species rich grassland. We were one of the signatories for a call for a Grassland Taskforce: see the Grassland Taskforce letter about the need for a strategic programme of evidence building & policymaking. And we have joined the call for the government to add irreplaceable meadows to the Irreplaceable Habitats list with a plea to supporters of the FMP to write to your MP and ask for irreplaceable meadows to be added to the Irreplaceable Habitats List joinplantlife.org/4ecU2q8
Since then we understand the Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh responded to the Plantlife led letter, to say that the UK Government is planning to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats in national planning policy in England. We are looking to keep the pressure up including through an invitation to join the British Ecological Society PolicyLab which will be focused on this issue over the next 6 months.
Declaration on UK Insect Declines
Judy Webb Bumble in Frit
The FMP have joined the UK’s leading insect conservation charities, supported by organisations, institutions, and community representatives in a united Declaration on UK Insect Declines, calling for urgent, coordinated action to address the steep and ongoing losses in the United Kingdom’s insect populations.
https://www.buglife.org.uk/news/declaration-issued-to-halt-uk-insect-declines-as-evidence-mounts-of-national-crisis/
The declaration, proposed by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, and supported by over 60 signatories, urges governments, land managers, businesses, and the public to take immediate steps to reverse declines in insect abundance, diversity, and distribution.
It calls for widespread restoration of insect-rich habitats, bold reductions in pesticide and pollutant use, stronger legal protections, and major investment in research, monitoring, and public engagement. We know how vital floodplain meadows are for insects. An example is the Cuckooflower, or Mayflower (Cardamine pratensis) - a native perennial found in floodplain meadows it is one of the main food plants for caterpillars of the orange-tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) as the females preferentially lay their eggs singly on the flower-buds.
Restoring floodplain meadows to the target of 74,800ha as set out by Natural England’s Favourable Conservation Status target is vital for insects.
