Most UK national parks deliver ‘negligible benefits’ for wildlife
The Guardian says the UK’s national parks should not be considered “protected areas” unless the way they look after wildlife radically improves, according to a new report.
Internationally, the UK is leading calls to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 (the “30×30” target), but is failing to protect its own wildlife, says a report by the British Ecological Society (BES).
Protected areas such as national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs) make up 28% of UK land, but only about 5% is effectively protected. The report recommends that they should not be included in the UK’s total in their current state.
Such areas can support higher species richness but “very often the report finds that those benefits are negligible”, said Prof Jane Hill, an ecologist from the University of York and one of the report’s authors.
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