The UK Government has committed £239 million to tackle deforestation in forest-rich nations such as Colombia and Indonesia at COP29. Whilst this is welcome move to protect internationally important forests amidst the climate and nature crisis, commitments made at previous COPs still need to be implemented by the Government.
COP26 saw the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use (GDFLU) launch with 143 nations signing to ‘halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting inclusive rural transformation’.
The Environment Act also entered force in 2021 with measures to help implement this commitment, with schedule 17 focusing on reducing global deforestation by regulating commodities in the UK supply chain derived from agricultural land converted from forests.
Three years later however and progress toward this has still stalled with no secondary legislation to implement the schedule in place.
A statement in December 2023 from the previous Secretary of State Steven Barclay revealed that secondary legislation is still in the works and will focus on four commodities identified as key drivers of deforestation: cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy. These commodities are estimated to account for 64% of the UK’s tropical deforestation footprint, with as much as 93% of this deforestation likely to be in violation of local laws.
Delays in the secondary legislation are a real danger to the 2030 GDFLU target, particularly as there will be a substantial grace period before business compliance with Schedule 17 is expected.
Action talks. When forest protection is made a priority, as in Brazil and Columbia it offers tangible results. Between 2022 and 2023 annual primary forest loss decreased in both Brazil and Columbia by 36% and 49% respectively. The UK can take some credit in this reduction for providing almost £150 million of funding to date and Secretary of State Ed Miliband recommit to support Brazil against deforestation in August this year.
New international commitments are very welcome but following through on previous domestic promises are just as important. The UK Government must introduce secondary legislation to implement schedule 17 of the Environment Act and deliver on commitments made in 2021.
The Government can also be doing more at home.
Just 9% of England’s woods are in good ecological condition. With a 73% decline in wildlife populations since 1970 and only 2.93% of England’s land contributing to the 30x30 target, now is not the time to slip on managing and protecting our own forests and woodlands for nature.
“The UK must lead by example, fulfilling its pledged funding commitments, continuing its diplomatic efforts to keep issues of deforestation and nature prominent in global discourses and restoring and conserving its forests at home”
– The Environmental Audit Committee, The UK’s contribution to tackling global deforestation (2023)
Here in the UK our temperate rainforests and wider ancient woodland sites are still widely unprotected and impacted by pressures from invasive non-native species (INNS), air pollution, development and are without a plan to be restored.
Ancient woodland remains particularly vulnerable. only having planning system protections in the National Planning Policy Framework. These protections lack statutory weight, so can sometimes be overridden leading to damage or loss of ancient woodland. Full legal protection would address this.
INNS are one of the top five drivers of biodiversity decline and cost the economy £4 billion each year, of which 25% of the costs were to the forestry sector. the Non-Native Species Inspectorate (NNSI) receives a handful of the budget that the Animal and Plant Health Agency do and lack the appropriate powers to effectively check for invasive species at the border where in 2023 128 million trees and shrubs were imported into the UK, 3 million more than the previous year. While Defra has increased measures to reduce the risk of pests and diseases in imports of plants and growing matter, it is still possible for hitchhiker species to enter the UK undetected and harm existing trees. Growing trees domestically is one of the most effective ways of protecting trees from new pests and diseases while supporting the local economy, and this industry should be scaled up with continued grant support beyond March 2025.
Government must:
Lisa Manning is a Policy Officer at Wildlife and Countryside Link. Follow @WCL_News
The opinions expressed in this blog are the authors' and not necessarily those of the wider Link membership.
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