Why local nature recovery is key to tackling the climate emergency

By Ian Fraser, ZCH’s Natural Climate Solutions Lead 

I’ve grown accustomed over the years to seeing red kites, a bird species reintroduced to Yorkshire in the late 1990s. From just a few initially, numbers of these raptors have grown so much that we can see daily the thrilling spectacle of these magnificent birds soaring, circling, swooping in the sky above the Harrogate area. Similarly, I have noticed increasing numbers of kestrels and harriers. These are good signs that nature recovery is starting to take place. But, as a nation, we’re still in the foothills of this challenge. And, using a sporting metaphor, nature recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.   

In the UK we’re very fortunate to have a body of experts, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), who are the UK’s leading pathfinders and guides in our nation’s setting of net zero targets and policy responses to the climate emergency. There is increasing acknowledgement that the climate and biodiversity crises cannot be managed in isolation from each other. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin; the climate emergency will not be resolved without sufficient nature recovery. 

Two news stories last month about species reintroduction caught my attention:  

The first news story was about a research paper, led by a team from the University of Leeds’ School of Earth and Environment on the potential positive environmental benefits of the reintroduction of wolves to the Scottish Highlands. Wolves in the UK were hunted to extinction in the 18th century. With this top predator gone deer numbers have increased massively. This is a major problem with regard to woodland creation and natural regeneration of woodlands because deer eat the young tree saplings. It’s a problem because woodland cover here is low and needs to increase significantly as part of the palette of measures needed to address the climate emergency.   

Woodlands contribute to carbon sequestration in plant structure and soil; help with flood management; encourage economic growth; reduce the urban heat island effect; support biodiversity; and improve our physical and mental health. There is significant policy attention and investment in woodland creation, and ambitious targets to meet, but current rates of woodland creation are significantly behind where they need to be to achieve the targets that have been set. All options to increase woodland cover need to be considered.  

The research paper’s conclusion is that a population of approximately 170 wolves in the Cairngorms, as well as the south-west, north-west and central Highlands, would be enough to reduce the deer populations down to approximately four deer per square kilometre, low enough to allow trees and woodland to regenerate naturally, allowing us to enjoy and reap the many benefits that come with that.  

It’s clear that any species reintroduction must be done in planned and controlled ways with a lot of communication and consultation with stakeholders. This is especially true with predator species, such as wolves; people deriving livelihoods from livestock, e.g. sheep farming will have legitimate concerns. Many such farmers, though, are finding it increasingly hard to make a living this way and are being encouraged and helped to transition to different ways of deriving income from their land e.g. DEFRA’s Environmental Land Management scheme (ELM) whereby landowners and managers are paid to deliver environmental benefits.  

The guidance from the CCC, and others, is clear: we need to reduce meat and dairy consumption for both environmental and health reasons, and we need to make space for nature. So, I hope this research leads to the return of wolves to at least parts of the UK, perhaps even in Yorkshire, as has happened in the past few years on the European continent including one of Europe’s most densely populated countries, the Netherlands. 

The second news story was about the reintroduction of Eurasian beavers in the wild in the UK. Trials in controlled and enclosed spaces have been taking place for a while, but now Natural England (NE) have given the green light to the reintroduction of beavers in the wild, following the guidelines and licensing NE has set out, describing the introduction of beavers as ‘rocket fuel’ for the recovery of other nature.  

Once hunted to extinction here centuries ago, but now being returned to our wetlands and rivers, these beavers are nature’s engineers, with the potential to deliver many environmental benefits, from restoring rivers and wetlands, and thereby helping to reduce flood risk, to increasing biodiversity. With the policy decision made, and the licensing scheme created, a major hurdle has been overcome. Perhaps we’ll be welcoming beavers before long in the Harrogate district; we certainly have plenty of becks and rivers that may have habitat potential for them. 

I hope in coming years we see significant levels of nature recovery locally. It would bring many benefits in making Harrogate district a better place to live in and visit, both for environmental reasons and for our wellbeing. We are naturally curious beings, and a greater connection with nature can unlock our sense of wonder, awe and joy, which is a core part of human nature. 

Words by Ian Fraser, Zero Carbon Harrogate’s Natural Climate Solutions Lead