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Wildlife Feels the Heat Too

A report launched today (Wednesday 29 November 2006), by The Wildlife Trusts, calls for urgent Government action to prepare wildlife for climate change.

The report – A Living Landscape – has a four-point plan which maps the way forward in countering climate change and restoring the UK’s battered ecosystems, for both wildlife and people; from inner cities to rural communities. The Wildlife Trusts report comes at a time when the importance of our natural environment and threats to its survival are becoming more clearly understood. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment highlighted that 60% of the world’s ecosystems are being degraded or used unsustainably, and the recent Stern Review set out the economic case for action on climate change.

'A Living Landscape' will be launched at an event, hosted by David Kidney MP, at the House of Commons this evening. Speakers include Professor Sir Robert Worcester KBE, vice-president of The Wildlife Trusts, and Michael Allen, chairman of The Wildlife Trusts.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says: "At a time when Society has suddenly realised some of the implications of climate change; we are urging this goes one stage further. The UK’s wildlife will be dramatically affected by climate change and we can’t afford to ignore it. For wildlife to be able to cope, and to prevent a collapse in the number and variety of UK plants and animals, we need to restore and create 'living' landscapes.

"This is a bold vision for our future. The Wildlife Trusts work closely with community groups, businesses, managers and local authorities on landscape scale projects around the UK. Driven by local people and aspirations, we play a leading role not just in developing the vision but in mustering support to allow communities to drive their own change.

"We look to the Government to show leadership also. It needs to be brave enough to remove the obstacles preventing our wildlife from adapting; to buy more time by resolving to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions; and to show political will by serious investment in habitat restoration and creation. We need to create a living landscape now. Our window of opportunity will soon close."

Sir David Attenborough, vice president of The Wildlife Trusts, says in the report: "The last time the UK’s wildlife faced a challenge on this scale was at the end of the last ice age. We need to find ways to help our wildlife become more resilient to the trials it faces in the 21st century. We must now work on a landscape scale if we are to give wildlife a chance and allow future generations to enjoy nature as we have."