Natural England

When World leaders gathered for the World Summit on Sustainable Development back in 2002 they agreed a joint declaration entitled 'From our Origins to our Future'.

Article 13 of the Johannesburg Declaration stated:

"The global environment continues to suffer. Loss of biodiversity continues, fish stocks continue to be depleted...the adverse effects of climate change are already evident, natural disasters are more frequent and more devastating."

They then made an important commitment to arrest the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

So what progress has been made in the 6 years since Johannesburg?

The Living Planet index, published about a month ago, showed that worldwide biodiversity continues to decline at an alarming rate. And The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment highlighted that globally wetlands were declining at a faster rate than other ecosystems.

But in an otherwise gloomy picture there are some signs of hope.

In what has been described as the most ambitious ecosystem restoration project in the history of the planet, the Florida Governor Charlie Crist has just agreed, although not concluded, a $1.7 billion deal, using state and Federal money, to buy over 187 000 acres of wetland from US Sugar to restore and recreate the famous 'River of Grass' in the northern Everglades. These plans will augment and enhance restoration already underway to improve the quality, quantity and distribution of water in the catchment of Lake Okeechobee - Florida's largest freshwater lake - and its surrounding coastal estuaries.

In England too some progress has been made. Our recently published State of the Natural Environment report showed that, on the whole, the loss of biodiversity inside protected areas has been halted.

But the good news is limited. Many of the surviving wildlife rich sites exist in small, isolated fragments and many species remain more or less confined to protected enclaves.

Intensive conservation effort has helped some wetland species such as the otter and bittern recover. But overall the perilous situation of global wetlands is replicated in England. Open freshwaters are in the poorest condition of all Sites of Special Scientific Interest. And the marked decline of characteristic wetland species has continued.

An historical perspective

In the 17th century the East Anglian fens covered an area of some 3400km2. Progressive drainage has reduced their extent so that today only 10km2 remain.

This story is repeated across the country, leaving small and isolated fragments of once spectacular wild landscapes. And today even these remaining vestiges of our once great wetlands are still subject, in places, to excessive water abstraction and pollution, and are poorly placed to meet the future challenges of climate change.

The lasting importance of wetlands

Our remaining wetlands still have the power to inspire people - the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust's network of fantastic facilities attract a million people every year.

And like so much in the natural world, wetlands are not just an added luxury, or recreational resource. Wetlands, perhaps more than any other habitat, play an important role in the lives of everyone in this country, whether they are nature lovers or not.

They provide a range of vital public services that are currently undervalued - upland and lowland peats store climate changing carbon; wet meadows and grazing marshes can help manage flood waters naturally; and wet woodlands and reedbeds help improve water quality.

And as we enter a generation, at least, of 'locked in' climate change the importance of these services is magnified.

The events of last summer, which saw thousands of people along the Severn and in South Yorkshire driven out of their homes, remind us of the urgency and importance of preparing for extreme weather and flooding.

Only 10 days ago Sir Michael Pitt reported on the 2007 floods. One of his conclusions, (recommendation 27), was that more needs to be done to make use of natural processes in managing flood risk - including the creation of washlands and wetlands for water storage, and restoring the natural course of rivers to slow the progress of floodwaters. The report emphasised the importance of joint working to maximise our impact.

And last Friday, the Government announced £0.5m funding for a new initiative to demonstrate how land management changes can help alleviate flood risk and give new impetus to delivery of the Pitt report's recommendation 27.

Working with existing schemes such as Environmental Stewardship and the England Catchment Sensitive Farming scheme, this multi-objective project will harness the power of the natural environment and natural processes to safeguard lives and livelihoods. Wetland wildlife will benefit too. Hopefully it will draw in extra finance from the non-governmental sector.

All this makes the launch of our shared Wetland vision particularly timely - we were ahead of the flow. Because we are setting out for the first time our collective view of where we think wetlands could be restored and recreated to provide havens for wildlife, and to secure the public services so vital to people's lives in the era of climate change.

A broader vision

And we must make sure that our Wetland Vision is joined up with a comprehensive long-term vision for land use in England - for example, working with Defra's land use project, which looks ahead to 2050 and beyond to identify the tough decisions we need to make now to ensure that future land use brings security, prosperity and enjoyment for people; and long term stability for nature.

As we set out in our recently published Manifesto, Natural England believes that concern for the natural environment should be hard-wired into all areas of public policy, and that the public services provided by the natural environment should be properly valued.

The original 436 UK Species and Habitats Action plans detailed over 6300 actions, with a mind-boggling 38 000 additional local actions.

And alongside these noble intentions came an accountability deficit that stays with us to this day.

If we are to stand a fighting chance of meeting the lofty aspirations agreed in Johannesburg back in 2002, we need to get on with it now.

Sadly, Natural England can't even begin to compete with Florida Governor Charlie Crist's cheque book.

But I am pleased nonetheless to announce that Natural England has prioritised up to £2million per year over the next three years to help make this ambitious wetland vision a reality. We will be looking to create and restore wetlands in areas as diverse as the Meres and Mosses of the West Midlands, the fens of South Lincolnshire, and the peatlands of the Humberhead levels - where Common Cranes have returned to breed again and raised two chicks this year.

This new funding will help make significant progress towards the Biodiversity Action Plan commitment to create eight new landscape scale wetlands in the UK, by 2020. And by doing so, we hope that we can also demonstrate early action on recent calls for greater use of natural processes in flood risk management.

By working together we can deliver the shared wetland vision that we're here to launch today. Thank you.

1186 words - 10 minutes