Biodiversity

Earl of Selborne Excerpts

Wednesday 28th July 2010 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Selborne]

My Lords, we are all grateful to my noble friend Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer for giving us the opportunity to consider biodiversity loss. As I listened carefully to her, I decided that she erred more on the side of optimism than pessimism, and I agree with her on that, although clearly there are causes for both. I tend toward optimism at the UK level, but at the global level I take a different perspective. Like her, I start by declaring an interest. I am a farmer and I chair the Living with Environmental Change Partners Board, which is a research collaboration across departments, research councils and agencies. I am a member of the Wildlife Trust and I am proud to be the patron of Pond Conservation, to whose Million Ponds Project my noble friend referred.

The question for debate this afternoon refers to halting the decline in United Kingdom biodiversity, but it is important to set this in an international context. This country is committed to halting its decline through the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which we were one of the earliest signatories. The target set in 2002 for this year, 2010, is going to be a failure, as we shall not get anywhere near it in global terms. In other words, leaders set up targets which were simply not deliverable, and there is a message there that we have to think about carefully.

The causes of biodiversity loss are habitat change, which is often caused by land use changes, economics, invasive species, resource overexploitation, pollution and climate change. I dare say that others can add to that list and no doubt will. However, for any target to be realistic, whether at the global, national, regional or community levels, you have to have a very clear idea about the extent to which those different components are responsible for biodiversity loss. You also have to have suitable monitoring in progress, with research behind it, and then, with a bit of luck and with involvement from all interested parties, you might be able to put in place management measures and policies that will help to address the issue. It is no good setting targets without a very clear understanding of what you are trying to do.

In October there will be a meeting in Nagoya in Japan at which Defra will be committed to supporting new, ambitious targets, yet, at the national level, Defra’s draft structural reform plan talks about replacing the old top-down system of targets and putting power into the hands of people and communities with a better understanding of the practicalities, particularly the economics. This is precisely how we should be tackling biodiversity loss, whether at the international or national level, or at the community level, if we are to stem the loss of biodiversity.

Policies and initiatives which are likely to enhance our biodiversity are much more likely to work if the local community is involved in analysing the problems and shaping the solutions. Therefore, whether at home or abroad, this is where the concepts articulated within the idea of the big society are absolutely appropriate. A partnership of local communities, civil society, members of the public and businesses—not least farmers and land managers—should be setting the local agenda, with of course a contribution from government at local and national levels and other such agencies.

We have in this country the inestimable benefit of a large number of amateur and professional enthusiasts for conserving wildlife, and conservation societies with an enormous membership. My noble friend referred to Butterfly Conservation’s butterfly count. I hope to get back in time to do my butterfly count this evening before the last of them disappear. When I looked this morning, 6,000 records had been posted since Saturday, and I am sure that by the end of the week the figure will be even more impressive.

When we look at who should deliver on these proposals, farmers clearly come high on the list because they are, after all, responsible for 70 per cent of the land mass. However, agri-environmental schemes driven by government and by the European Union are not the only way in which you can help to influence farmers. Those who can also do so are their retail customers. As a fruit grower, I supply a large number of multiples, who are increasingly taking what I consider to be a very healthy interest in the conversation policies that we are adopting on the farm. However, the case for persuading farmers that they should participate in halting the decline in UK biodiversity must ultimately be underpinned by economics.

We have never adequately assessed the value of our natural environment and the services that it provides. At the international level, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment attempted to assess numerous ecosystems worldwide and to begin a dialogue for a science-based approach to their management and restoration. That was an excellent precedent and it is now being followed in the United Kingdom, which next year is due to publish its own UK National Ecosystem Assessment report. It is a massive work to which an enormous number of people—experts and amateurs—have contributed. I think that this assessment will give us the tools with which to understand the benefits to society and the economic prosperity provided by these services. I refer of course not just to biodiversity but to other environmental services as well, but biodiversity is probably the one area, together with climate change and the nutrient cycle, where we are demonstrably and clearly living unsustainably. Our loss of biodiversity is way beyond the natural level and we are clearly exceeding our sustainable practices. We shall have to concentrate on these points. It should then be much easier to make the case for putting in place land management practices for which the land managers—the farmers—will be appropriately rewarded to reflect the benefit to society and, of course, to ensure that polluters from any sector of society carry the cost of their actions.

We should not underestimate the importance of urban gardens and parks. Garden ponds are highly significant as regards the biodiversity that they support. I refer again to Pond Conservation and here I put in a plug: please ensure you do not fill your ponds with tap water. That is not a good idea and it is the reason why so many ponds do not deliver all the benefits that they should.

One of the programmes connected with Living with Environmental Change is Open Air Laboratories—OPAL—which were originally funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which awarded a grant to Imperial College. That is an example of an excellent initiative which has the key objectives of getting more people outside observing and recording the world around them, inspiring a new generation of environmentalists, and encouraging and supporting collaboration between community, voluntary and statutory sectors and academia.

That is the kind of initiative which will do more than any international or national targets to develop and to enhance biodiversity. Regional research programmes and recording schemes, lively natural history societies, and adequate public funding for taxonomy are the basis for an understanding of our biological diversity and they will be the keys for a successful national biodiversity enhancement programme. The reason why I tip, on balance, towards optimism, like my noble friend, is that I believe that the Government have understood the importance of getting wide support from the community. That is to be welcomed.