Nature-rich National Parks at COP16

Published 17 October 2024

In the run-up to COP16, we’ve come together with England’s National Parks and leading NGOs to demand a New Deal for National Parks that delivers a wilder and nature-rich future.

The UK is lagging behind on its international nature targets.

This month governments from across the world, including the UK, are assembling in Colombia for the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference, otherwise known as COP16. High on the agenda will be reviewing progress towards the global target of protecting at least 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030 (or ‘30×30’), a legally binding commitment that the UK signed up to with other nations last January.

Unfortunately, the government won’t have much good news to share – the latest estimates indicate the amount of land in England that is effectively protected for nature has fallen to just 2.93% while the amount of sea protected continues to lag at 9.92%. With only six years left, time is rapidly running out to make progress. 

Covering 10% of land in England, National Parks are absolutely vital to delivering on our 30×30 commitments.

National Parks are home to our rarest habitats and species, our most iconic rivers and lakes, and offer many of our best opportunities for people to connect with nature. But as our recent Health Check has shockingly revealed, many parts of these so-called ‘protected areas’ are actually in a desperate condition for nature, and in no fit state to contribute fully to 30×30.

That’s why we’ve come together with the authorities that run the parks and the major NGOs that operate there to demand urgent action from government.

With National Parks England, National Trust, RSPB, Wildlife and Countryside Link, Wildlife Trust and The Woodland Trust, we’ve written to the Environment Secretary Steve Reed, calling on the government to use the opportunity afforded by COP16 to show international leadership in front of the world and to set out an ambitious new deal for National Parks. The full letter can be found on the National Parks England website.

As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the legislation that founded them, we want to see National Parks given enhanced powers, resources and policies to help them scale-up nature recovery and meet the challenges of the future. This includes reforms to National Parks purposes and governance, stronger action on public bodies like water companies, and more targeted support for nature-friendly farming. 

Nature needs a lifeline in our National Parks

Our Health Check found that only 6% of land in National Parks is effectively protected for nature; every water body is polluted; woodland expansion totalled only 8 square miles between 2015 and 2020 and that the majority of carbon-storing peatland in National Parks is estimated to be in poor condition. The evidence from the health check is clear: it will be impossible to halt biodiversity loss, or deliver the UK’s 30×30 commitments, without a step change within National Parks. 

Our organisations are ready and willing to work with government in securing a nature-rich future for people and the planet. Now we need government to step up to the challenge.

And you can support our call for change – join our campaign and write to your MP to ask them to champion our National Parks