50 signatures reached
To: Michael Gove
Embed Wildbelts and Nature-Connected Neighbourhoods into planning policy
We are calling for nature to be put at the heart of planning law and policy through the implementation of land designated and protected as Wildbelt - as recommended by the Wildlife Trusts. Also for planning policy to encourage and promote nature-connected neighbourhoods, providing corridors for nature, discouraging paved surface/AstroTurf and ensuring equitable access to blue and green space. Including a requirement to have hedgehog highways, road bridges, swift tiles, green roofs and walls for new developments and ensuring safe road crossing points as well as designating areas to be free from the use of environmentally harmful substances will all help in the ecological emergency.
Why is this important?
The UK is one of the world's most nature-depleted countries with only half our biodiversity left. We face catastrophic collapse of ecosystems and declines in populations of pollinators and in the health of our soil, which threaten food security. Furthermore, access to nature is essential to human physical and mental wellbeing, as we have seen throughout the pandemic.
