Archived press release

UK's top nature organisations call on government to protect wildlife

17 November 1997

Launch of Wildlife Charter 12 noon, Grand Committee Room, House of Commons
Speaking at 12.30pm: Charles Secrett (FOE) Graham Wynne (RSPB) Simon Lyster(The Wildlife Trusts). Journalists are cordially invited.

Twenty two wildlife organisations have today (Monday, 17 November 1997) united in a call for the Government to improve legal protection for wildlife. The call comes as the organisations [1] launch a Wildlife Charter detailing the changes needed to secure adequate wildlife protection and fulfil the Government's manifesto commitments.

While Labour's manifesto pledged to improve protection for wildlife, the first Queen's Speech of the new Government contained no environmental measures. The organisations are calling for the Government to support the Charter by introducing new laws in the next Queen's Speech (Autumn 1998).

The UK's wildlife is being lost because feeble laws and weak policies have failed to protect it. One in five of the most important wildlife sites in England and Wales, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), were damaged between 1991 and 1996 according to official figures. At sea, there are only three designated protected areas, compared to over 6,500 SSSIs on land. Populations of many species [2] continue to decline at an alarming rate.

Tony Juniper, chair of the working group which developed the proposals, said: "For every day new laws are delayed, more and more wildlife is being lost. That is why we want to see action now. The Government has the chance to end the degradation of the finest parts of our natural heritage."

The Charter [3] calls for new laws to:
* Bring full protection to all SSSIs
* Introduce protected areas for nationally important marine wildlife
* Improve the protection of important species
* Support those managing important wildlife areas

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SITES & SPECIES UNDER THREAT AROUND THE COUNTRY DETAILED BELOW

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The Wildlife Charter is supported by the following organisations:

British Association for Nature Conservationists;
British Ecological Society;
Butterfly Conservation;
Earthkind;
Environmental Investigation Agency;
Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland);
Friends of the Earth (Scotland);
Greenpeace;
Herpetological Conservation Trust;
International Wildlife Coalition;
Marine Conservation Society;
Plantlife;
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals;
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds;
Scottish Wildlife Trust;
The Wildlife Trusts;
Tuskforce;
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society;
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust;
Woodland Trust;
WWF-UK (World Wide Fund For Nature);
Young People's Trust for the Environment and Nature Conservation.

[2] Species under threat include: harbour porpoise, marsh fritillary, starfruit, great crested newt, and arctic tern.

[3] Copies of the full Charter are available from Wildlife & Countryside Link, 246 Lavender Hill, London, SW11 1LJ Tel. 020 7924 2355 Fax 020 7223 4235
enquiry@wildlink.demon.co.uk

REGIONAL CONTACTS AND ISSUES:

Harbour porpoise - Activities such as jet skiing and power boating can disturb and injure harbour porpoises. The Charter proposes that the animals should be protected from"reckless" behaviour. Contact: the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Mark Simmonds

Star-fruit - Two of the very few remaining ponds home to the starfruit, a rare aquatic plant,are currently under threat from eutrophication and artificial changes to water levels.

Contact: Plantlife, Ruth Davis

Wales: Welsh SSSIs - There are many examples of SSSIs which have been damaged in
Wales or are under threat. Contact: FOE Cymru, Julian Rosser; or Welsh Wildlife Trusts, Mick Green

N. Ireland: Lough Neagh ASSI - Over fifty examples of damage have been recorded since its designation in 1992. Contact: RSPB (NI), Clive Mellon; or Ulster Wildlife Trust, Dermot Hughes

Scotland: Glenfeshie SSSI - Scottish Cairngorm mountain region - Substantial but
fragmented remains of native pinewood totalling 600 acres. Glenfeshie is a forest in its death throes - aging trees are not being replenished by younger growth due to overgrazing by deer, reflecting the UK's inadequate designation system. Contact: WWF-UK, David Cowdrey

Keelylang SSSI, Orkney - A moorland supporting important bird populations SSSI ploughed after failure of SNH to secure a management agreement Contact: RSPB, Eric Meek or RSPB, Clifton Bain
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England: Borders: Cumbria, Wedholme Flow SSS - A raised bog supporting rare
vegetation such as intact Sphagnum rich carpets. Commercial peat mining in the eastern part of the flow is eroding the site and affecting the hydrology of the whole bog. Contact:Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Peter Bullard ; Out of hours, The Wildlife Trusts,Simon Forrester

Yorkshire: Thorne and Hatfield Moors - Damaged as a result of peat extraction permissions granted in the 1950s. The Charter calls for changes to ensure such damaging permissions are reassessed. Contact: Peatlands Campaign Consortium, Stephen Warburton

North East: Upper Teesdale, Bowes Moor, and Cross Fell SSSIs North Pennines -Overgrazing by sheep is reducing the area of heather cover and threatening the future of scrubby woods vital to the survival of species like the black grouse. Contact: RSPB, Kevin Bayes

North West: South Pennines SSSI, Skipton, Manchester - Moorland important for red grouse, waders and twite is threatened by overgrazing and intensification of surrounding farmland. Contact: RSPB, Tim de Winton

Midlands: Orton Brick Pits, Peterborough - A SSSI with the largest known European population of great crested newt threatened by a new town development. Contact:Herpetological Conservation Trust, Keith Corbett

Anglia: Strumpshaw Fen SSSI, Norfolk - Water abstraction is affecting water levels and quality damaging the ecological balance of the fen. Contact: RSPB, Chris Durdin

South West: Kernick and Ottery meadows SSSI, Cornwall - Large areas of culm grassland supporting marsh fritillary butterflies was ploughed to receive European flax subsidies.Contact: Butterfly Conservation, Dr Nigel Bourn

South East: Offham Down and Marshes SSSIs - Chalk grassland and grazing marsh in the South Downs damaged early this year. Local community campaigns, rather than the law,saved them from further damage. The Charter calls for changes which would have prevented this damage occurring in the first place. Contact: FOE, Matt Phillips

London: Rainham Marshes SSSI - Bisected by the new A13, being degraded by motorcycle scramblers and threatened by the proposed Channel Tunnel link which will also cut across it. Havering Council also have proposals for a industrial estate on the site. Contact: London Wildlife Trust, Ralph Gaines

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