More needs to be done to address biodiversity challenge

There was an excellent debate around a motion to restore nature at the last full Redbridge council meeting. The motion highlighted the biodiversity crisis of the moment, with 19% of wildlife lost since 1970. One in six species under threat of extinction. There has been much happening in Redbridge on biodiversity, with 400,000 square metres of land given over to wild space and 10,000 sq m to grow zones. There have been 7,000 trees planted in the last year, while 850 tree pits have been adopted. This is all good but much more is needed to address the biodiversity crisis. A lot of the work undertaken is of a voluntary nature, done by individuals and community groups. Redbridge Council are not the only public body to use volunteer labour. The City of London Corporation get much voluntary help for the park and flats from the likes of the Wren Group and Friends of Wanstead Park. The River Roding Trust does great volunteer work on the river. All of these things are vital, showing a buy in from the community. They must though not be exploited, simply being used to do tasks that otherwise people would be paid to do. They must have a significant voice, in return for endeavour. The need to address the biodiversity crisis also needs to be given higher priority. Both biodiversity and climate aims could be made into statutory duties for local authorities to take on. Additional funding would need to accompany such duties. Environmental groups in Redbridge are urging the council to pass a Nature Emergency motion, similar to the Climate Emergency motion passed in 2019. This would include clear benchmarking of things that need to be done, like committing to 30% of council land for nature recovery by 2030. Also, to extend the duty on developers to provide a 20% biodiversity net gain in projects. There would need to be a comprehensive nature recovery strategy. This would see nature recovery embedded in the policy and plans of the council. This upping of priority for biodiversity aims must be he next step for addressing the crisis. To learn more about the petition for a nature emergency motion see: Https://chng.it/S8TYXnTpBJ What is for sure is that things need to move more quickly. The whole of civil society and local governance needs to be galvanised to address the emergency in nature. It can be done with the right political will supporting the present groundswell of support from residents wanting change. Together, we can create a cleaner, greener Redbridge.