Stafford councillors pledge to support 'nature recovery'

A draft Nature Recovery Declaration was backed by the council at its latest meeting. It sets out a series of commitments and actions and follows on from Staffordshire County Council’s commitment to nature recovery made in February.

The county council has pledged to work with partner organisations in districts and boroughs across Staffordshire to help reverse the decline of wild species. Both Stafford Borough and Staffordshire County councils declared a climate emergency in 2019 and have been working towards reducing carbon emissions.

Councillor Frances Beatty, cabinet member for economic development and planning, put forward the borough council’s Draft Nature Recovery Declaration at Tuesday’s full council meeting.

The motion stated: “The council recognises that nature is in long term decline, with 41 per cent of wild species in decline nationally, and 15 per cent facing extinction. The requirement to take action to reverse this is urgent.

“In order to support the recovery of nature across Stafford Borough, and in recognition of new obligations under the Environment Act 2021, this council commits to improve and protect the borough’s habitats’ resilience to climate change, providing natural solutions to reduce carbon and manage flood risk, and sustaining vital ecosystems.”

The council also committed to a series of other measures, including prioritising restoration of natural habitats, creating a tree-planting policy, managing council-owned land for the benefit of wildlife and considering nature recovery in all strategic plans and policy areas – not just those directly related to the environment.

The draft declaration added: “Where appropriate, and in accordance with the council’s Climate Change and Green Recovery Strategy, the council will invest in nature-based solutions to climate change in order to tackle the nature crisis and climate emergency together.”

Councillor Tony Pearce, who has previously asked questions at meetings about the authority’s plans to plant more trees and tackle climate change, put forward an additional proposal. He called for the council “to bring forward an action plan to achieve these targets setting out how and the dates that they will be achieved and that this be brought back to council within six months.”

His amendment was backed by opposition group leader Aidan Godfrey, but did not gain sufficient support from fellow councillors to be carried.