Breadcrumbs
Natural England's Climate Change Campaign
Climate change is the most serious threat to our natural environment. In England our wildlife is already being noticeably affected by it. Urgent steps need to be taken to reduce levels of harmful greenhouse gases.
Latest
A mountain to climb? Tackling climate change in the uplands - Conference held at The Met, Leeds on 14 November 2008
Campaign video*: Peatlands - Climate Change and Carbon Storage
[44 MB, 5 minutes]
Background
At Natural England we are doing our bit with a target of cutting our own emissions by 50% by 2010. We are also promoting the role that farmers and land managers must play to help achieve a ‘low carbon’ future.
However, whatever the success of measures to restrict emissions of harmful greenhouse gases, existing emissions means there is already significant climate change ‘locked-in’ to the system for the next 50 years. We are already experiencing summer droughts, milder winters, extreme weather events and rising sea levels. These will become more severe in years to come.
We want to work with a range of partners to put into practice those measures required to give wildlife the best chance of survival
Wildlife has already begun to respond to the changing climate. The distributions of some species have shifted: such as the northerly spread of the little egret and wasp spider, the decline of the mountain ringlet, and the arrival of warm water marine wildlife like sea turtles and sun fish. Sea level rise and increased storminess have caused the loss of large areas of coastal saltmarsh in south east England: 40 hectares a year in Essex alone. Characteristic English landscapes now face significant change and familiar and well-loved features, such as beech trees and bluebells, are likely to diminish. The ways in which we are able to access and experience the natural environment may also be affected.
The challenges for our wildlife are compounded by the fact that much of England’s natural environment is impoverished and intensively managed. There has been widespread loss of semi-natural habitat. Many of our important species are now trapped in relatively small, isolated sites surrounded by inhospitable land use. They are unable to move in response to a changing climate, which makes them vulnerable to extinction.
We want to encourage an approach to conservation management which is focused not solely on individual site protection but which seeks to rebuild the fabric of the landscape in which individual sites sit: reducing fragmentation and creating connections for wildlife across the landscape.
Working with us
We want to work with a range of partners in land and marine management, land use planning, and the various environment sectors, to develop a campaign to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change on England’s wildlife and landscapes and to help put into practice those measures which are required to give wildlife the best chance of survival.
If you would like to be involved in Natural England's climate change work please email Rachel Thomas, rachel.thomas@naturalengland.org.uk.
* Note:
Windows Media Video - If you don't already have the software to view this Microsoft file format, free software is available:
- VLC media player, a cross-platform multimedia player