22 January 2026
Today the Government quietly released a report on measures taken under the Habitat Regulations between 2019-2024. The report states that ‘The assessment of habitat types found 3% to be in favourable conservation status (FCS)’. Wildlife and Countryside Link, the biggest environmental coalition in England, thinks that this is outrageous. We also note that the report arrives at a time when the Government appears to be moving in a concerningly deregulatory direction on a number of different environmental issues.
Richard Benwell, Chief Executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
"These sickening numbers must be a dawn chorus wake up call for every politician in England. Water pollution from intensive agricultural pollution is singled out as a key culprit, yet the Water White Paper had no tangible measures to clean up farming. Climate change is another huge threat, including to 100% of marine ecosystems, yet here we are with major political parties threatening to repeal the Climate Change Act. Government must stop the pollution now, or wildlife will be lost forever."
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