Wildlife and Countryside Link

I take

evidence from organisations like Wildlife and Countryside Link, who've done a thorough submission to government on the level of increase we need to have in all sorts of measures to restore nature.

And they're looking at around a 70% increase in the agricultural budget, focused in particular on sustainable farming and the environmental and management schemes.

This has got to be a priority.

And allowed, quote, unmitigated pollution to come from developers if it proceeded as consulted on.

However, there was a more positive review from the CEO of an environmental coalition, the Wildlife and Countryside Link, who said that developers clearly hadn't won every battle in the negotiation over how this was going to be set out and that it, quotes, gave some hope that EDPs could be effective in repairing habitats in the long term.

Let's just say some negative reaction in some quarters, but some more balanced responses as well.

So, yeah, the first of many new EDPs.

Campaigners have warned that horrific wildlife crimes against species such as badgers, seals, hedgehogs and hen harriers are going unpunished, as they are calling for tougher punishments and stronger resources to prosecute cases.

According to a report from the Wildlife and Countryside Link, last year saw 2,149 reports of suspected wildlife crimes, but just 41 convictions across the categories reviewed.

Crimes involving trespassing on the tracks, including cable theft, vandalism and obstruction, caused nearly five months of delays to passengers last year, that's according to Network Rail.

and Northern Ireland are top of Group B2 in the Nations League, following their goalless draw last night against Hungary in Belfast.

This episode was recorded a couple of weeks back now at the Wild Summit in Bristol, a huge annual event for any and everyone who cares about the natural world in Great Britain.

It is organised by the Wildlife and Countryside Link and if you would like to know more about them...

Then you can head back into our archive to hear an interview with their effervescent leader, Richard Benwell.

Now, at this year's summit, a couple of actors took to the stage to talk about the environment.

And if they promise that they will, and then they don't, no matter how many things they pledge, no matter if they say they'll bring water into public control but not public ownership, then we need to recognise those people aren't representing our best interests.

And when we go to a ballot box, we should pay attention to that and elect people who do care.

The theme of this whole summit, the Wildlife and Countryside Link of Rani, is 30 by 30.

I think pretty much everyone who's listened to this was probably aware that it's to protect 30% of all green and blue spaces around the British Isles.

We had James Fair there reporting for us.

The Wild Summit's sort of set up and hosted by the Wildlife and Countryside Link Coalition of Charities.

But yeah, net gain.

I mean, our listeners are, I'm fairly sure, will be familiar with the idea of the mitigation hierarchy where you avoid harm to nature and Then if you must, you mitigate it.

And first up, government investment in England's protected areas needs to almost double to reach the nature target set out in its 2025 Environmental Improvement Plan.

Looking at the numbers, this means that the government's current annual investment of £1.1 billion would need to rise to £2 billion a year by 2042.

That's according to an assessment carried out by Raymond Consulting Services, working on behalf of the Wildlife and Countryside Link.

The £2 billion annual estimate covers the funding needed to meet the Environmental Improvement Plan's site of special scientific interest goals, and the government's commitment to conserve and manage 30% of the national land area for nature by 2030.

We've got Richard Benwell, who is the head of...

Wildlife and Countryside Link, which is a major nature coalition.

And we've also got Mark Wiltsher here from Ofwat.

We were going to have Chris Walters, but unfortunately, due to illness, he had to drop out yesterday.