Dr Tony Whitbread, Chief Executive, Sussex Wildlife Trust is joining senior officers of wildlife trusts throughout the country in calling on the new coalition government to raise its game in policies on the natural environment and commit to a White Paper on Nature.

Dr Whitbread said, ‘We hope this coalition government will deliver on the cross-party consensus that built up before the election.

‘There has been a growing recognition that our natural environment provides vital life-supporting services as well as inspiring us. We need to take a long hard look at the way we make decisions about our land and ensure that the natural environment is restored. A White Paper would identify the policy changes needed to restore our natural environment and ecosystems.’

The three main parties recognized this in their manifestos. Furthermore commitments have also been made in the recent coalition agreement to develop measures to promote green spaces and wildlife corridors in order to halt the loss of habitats and restore biodiversity. In a letter to the national office of The Wildlife Trusts during the election campaign, our new Prime Minister, David Cameron, recognized the importance of conserving our natural world for future generations. He said it was important to ‘make a clear pledge that a Conservative Government would produce a White Paper on protecting the natural environment, including a focus on restoring habitat.’

‘We now urge the new Government to seize this historic moment and take forward this White Paper commitment’, said Dr Whitbread.

ends

Editors' notes:
Before the election, The Wildlife Trusts wrote to the Leaders of the three main parties urging them to commit to introducing a White Paper on Nature and also to ensuring the designation of an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas by 2012. These letters and the replies from the Party Leaders can read at http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=generalelection2010

The Sussex Wildlife Trust also asked the Prospective Parliamentary candidates about their commitment to the natural world and their responses can be read on our web site. http://www.sussexwt.org.uk/conservation/general_election/index.htm

There are 47 Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney. We are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. With nearly 800,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK’s habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. 135,000 of our members belong to our junior branch, Wildlife Watch. We manage 2,256 nature reserves covering more than 90,000 hectares; we stand up for wildlife; we inspire people about the natural world and we foster sustainable living.