England launches new environmental improvement plan

Five-year roadmap designed to tackle nature and climate crisis.

A lot more hectares of wildlife-rich habitats in England will be created or restored by December 2030 as part of a revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP).

Under the new EIP, farmers and land managers will come together in restoring nature at scale. To support this, the government is providing £500 million in funding for landscape recovery projects.

The goal is to boost nature with the creation or restoration of 250,000 hectares of these habitats outside of protected sites. Compared with what had been previously committed, the new target is higher by 110,000 hectares.

Funding will also be poured into improving and restoring peatlands, the goals of which include flood reduction and enhanced water and air quality.

Other targets include the doubling of the number of farms that provide sufficient year-round resources for farm wildlife.

"Nature is essential to our economy, our health, and our security," Natural England chief executive Marian Spain commented.

"The ambitious targets and focus on delivery in the Environmental Improvement Plan brings a welcome clarity to what everybody needs to do for nature recovery."