Thread by @markwilderness

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Needs a fundamental change in UK conservation philosophy & practice. Not just that the system is broken, it’s never worked for #wildnature as it was highly compromised in conception. Difficulty now is how to break the dead hand of the #conservationindustry -statutory & NGO /1

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Mainstream conservation lacks a real aspiration for #wildnature, clinging to a defeatist attitude that depauperate nature in modified landscapes is the best that can be hoped for, while at the same time appearing “saviours” thru its management prowess of stasis conservation /2

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam An important external lever for change was removed when we crashed out of the EU. The proposal for a Nature Restoration Law would have set obligatory targets, a set of challenges that the UK would have found hard to weasel out of as it usually did/3
environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/n…

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Restored areas under the Law would contribute to the target of one-third set for the proportion of protected areas that should be under STRICT PROTECTION. This covers protected areas on land (inc. inland waters) at sea, as well as all remaining primary and old-growth forests /4

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Areas “can recover naturally by stopping or limiting some of the pressures from human activities” - “placing such areas, including in the marine environment, under STRICT PROTECTION, will, in some cases, be sufficient to lead to the recovery of the natural values they host” /5

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam EU member states will have an advantage in meeting that target for STRICT PROTECTION as the National Parks & the higher protected nature reserves of national systems of protected areas in Europe are mostly based on PUBLIC OWNERSHIP, plus they have their state forests /6

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam England has a desultory few “no-take zones” (Highly Protected Marine Area) amongst marine protected areas, with 5 “candidate” HPMAs proposed to be designated as “pilot sites” currently being consulted on – fisheries interests will likely oppose /7
gov.uk/government/pub…

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam There are NO terrestrial Highly Protected sites designated in England. It is not a protected area type in our protected area system /8

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Nature Recovery Green Paper on protected sites & species consultation had option for HP land sites where protection would be stronger but “would only likely be applied to a limited number of sites” where economic activity was incompatible /9
consult.defra.gov.uk/nature-recover…

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Moreover, it may only be strict protection of certain habitats or species in a single protected site, while there would only be general protection for other features or habitats within the site. This consultation closed last May with no outcome yet /10

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Inference that economic activity is inimical to STRICT PROTECTION should have flagged up existing protected areas on public lands as candidate HIGHLY PROTECTED SITES where exploitation could be removed – i.e. 629Km2 of England’s SSSI; 700Km2 of MOD land /11

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam There was an acknowledgement that the majority of the 2,500Km2 of publicly owned forest sits outside of existing protected areas & “could make an important contribution to achieving” the national target for increasing protected areas /12

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam Anyone could have joined these dots if they make the break from the orthodoxy of mainstream conservation. What you come across then is sheer intransigence – a willful blindness that ignores the reality of #wildnature in other countries where it is not tied to farming /13

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam As an individual, I have responded to many consultations, pointing this out & advocating for the use of public lands to secure our #wildnature such as the Public Forest Estate /14

https://twitter.com/markwilderness/status/1309240853785960448

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam For WRi, I submitted evidence to H of C Environmental Audit Committee Inquiry - An environmental scorecard, advocating for an inventory of PAs that were non-intervention by default so that STRICT PROTECTION could be added to types of PA designation /15
data.parliament.uk/writtenevidenc…

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam None of this breaks thru the endless dependency of politicians relying on the opinion of mainstream conservation rather than think for themselves, or seek evidence elsewhere. Meanwhile, our citizenry has no say on protecting what is rightfully its natural heritage /16

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam I advocate people setting up Citizen Forums/Panels to engage civil society in devising protection for their local nature in a process that relegates the influence of mainstream conservation as it routinely dominate this by bringing its own pre-conceived approach /17

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam It’s a tough ask to do this at a national scale, but it may be the only way to get politicians to take notice. Would anyone like to host the first of a series of Forums? /18

@MrWoodface @AmyJaneBeer @Right_2Roam @threadreaderapp Please unroll, thank you