The first casualties in the new round of deep spending cuts ordered by the UK government have been revealed early, and the nation’s is among them.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is one of the first to agree such cuts, just as in the first round of austerity in 2011.
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Full details will emerge when the country’s national spending review concludes on 25 November, but we now know that departments that have already struck budget deals will see an average total decline of 30 per cent in day-to-day funding over the next four years. This would hamstring capacity to meet environmental commitments that are already under pressure.
The situation for the environment is already bad. Some 60 per cent of UK species are in . We struggle to meet basic targets for conserving special protected areas that are home to habitats vital for wildlife, including migratory birds. And almost each year because of air pollution.
The manifesto of the ruling Conservative party in this year’s general election committed to expanding the network of marine protected areas around UK territory – but the agencies that support this work have already seen large staff reductions. These goals and other similar ones cannot be achieved without people to deliver them.
Resource mismatch
The government has been bold in its ambition for nature, talking of hopes that the UK can lead the way in conservation – but the rhetoric and resources are diverging.
Economists at the country’s charity dedicated to wild birds, the RSPB, helped show that the budget of the environment department has already been cut by 34 per cent in real terms since 2010. Further cuts by 30 per cent will mean a total of more than 14,000 jobs lost by the end of this decade, according to the RSPB’s predictions – a halving in staff. There is no fat left to cut.
As recently as this summer, environment secretary Liz Truss spoke passionately about . The RSPB and other conservation groups can mobilise thousands of volunteers to collect and use data to help with this effort.
It’s a good investment: each £1 spent organising conservation volunteers , but you do have to spend that £1.
Over the years, funding from DEFRA and its agencies has underpinned conservation science – and there’s no replacement for that. Further cuts mean we lose the power to find solutions to the problems we face.
In heavily slashing environmental spending, the government shaves just 0.1 per cent from its overall budget. DEFRA’s share was never large, but its responsibilities are. Little can be gained from abandoning environmental obligations.
To meet its commitments, the UK government is faced with a simple choice: rethink this decision or ring-fence spending within other departments for environmental protection.
Image credit: Kevin Foy/Rex Shutterstock
