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Foe welcomes countryside bill
3 March 2000
Friends of the Earth is celebrating following today's publication of the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill. FOE has long been campaigning for tough new wildlife laws, and the Bill contains many of the measures that are desperately needed to stop wildlife destruction.
Over 300 of our best wildlife sites - Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) - are currently being lost or damaged every single year. The Government's own data suggests that around 45% of SSSIs are suffering from neglect and are in an 'unfavourable' condition. But the new Bill will allow the Government's conservation agencies (English Nature and The Countryside Council for Wales) to refuse permission for activities which threaten the sites. It will also allow them to ensure that work is undertaken to combat neglect.
Public bodies will be under a statutory duty to further the conservation and enhancement of SSSIs. This will put an end to situations such as at Rainham Marsh in London, where the London Borough of Havering want to build warehouses over London's largest wildlife site.
The Bill will also provide ordinary people with greater access to the countryside. Friends of the Earth also welcomes this aspect of the Bill because the more people experience wildlife and countryside, the more it is valued.
Tony Juniper, Policy Director at Friends of the Earth, and Chair of the Wildlife and Countryside Link Legislation Group, said:
“This new Bill is a key step towards halting the century long decline of this country's wildlife. It comes not a moment too soon for the precious animals and plants that would soon have been lost from these islands.
We congratulate Mr Meacher and Mr Prescott for convincing their colleagues of the necessity of this new Bill, which will also bolster the Government's flagging environmental reputation. We warmly welcome this bill and look forward to working with the Government to strengthen key aspects before it enters into law.”
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jul 2008
