Environmental charities fear huge nature and climate cost from coronavirus crisis.

Green groups come together to warn that welcome financial support from government is failing to go far enough

A group of leading UK nature, science and conservation organisations have today warned that the coronavirus outbreak has dealt a "significant blow" to their ability to enhance natural environments and provide natural solutions to climate change.

The coalition of charities, which includes 55 organisations that together make up the Wildlife and Countryside Link body, collectively protect 750,000 hectares of land and 800 miles of coastline.

At the same time the groups help millions of people benefit from a healthy environment, champion laws and policies that protect the planet, and restore of the millions of hectares of woodland, wetlands and meadows that can help mitigate climate change.

However, the coalition today warned that its members are "very concerned that the financial aid government is currently offering will not be sufficient to enable them to carry on their vital frontline work".

Environment charities are experiencing a dramatic loss of income resulting from the closure of visitor attractions, cancelled fundraising, and decreased donations, and access to grants. They fear the cash flow crisis being experienced by many organisations will "have a huge and lasting impact on their ability to care for our land, protect our wildlife, and tackle climate change and nature's decline for years to come".  

A survey of Wildlife and Countryside Link's 55 members fund that over a quarter are now at high risk of becoming financially unviable in the coming months or have financial reserves that are sufficient for four months or less. Almost half say their financial reserves are sufficient for six months or less.

Moreover, almost three-quarters of organisations polled said they expect to hit funding restrictions from grant providers and government in coming months, with half already finding their funding affected.

The government recently announced a £750m charity aid package and introduced a furlough scheme for the third sector. But the welcome funding injection fell well short of the £4bn called for by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NVCO) and charities remain locked out of the government's business support schemes.

The bosses of leading green charities today urged the government to look again at how the sector could be supported, particularly at a time when the lockdown is prompting many people to recognise the well-being gains the natural world can bring.

"We're facing a climate and ecological emergency, and we can't press pause on addressing those because we're also facing a public health emergency," said Craig Bennett, CEO of The Wildlife Trusts. "Otherwise we'll just find ourselves lurching from one crisis to another. The government knows that it will need to work in close partnership with nature organisations if it is to have any hope of delivering on its 25 Year Environment Plan - and its objective to leave the environment in a better state for the next generation. We are, in many cases, its prime delivering partners. It's crucial that we continue to deliver this public service and that our ability to do so isn't lost during this crisis."

His comments were echoed by Martin Spray, chief executive of Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, who said the impact of the pandemic on the organisation were "profound and widespread". "We attract around 1,000,000 visitors a year who are inspired to help save wetlands at our Wetland Sites, including 50,000 schoolchildren who also benefit from our outdoor learning programmes," he said. "Over 1,000 volunteers from local communities bring wetland nature alive for these visitors and help to monitor wildlife and maintain wetland habitats. With our Wetland Centres now closed, these benefits are lost along with the significant income that plays such a major part in funding our vital conservation work across the globe."

The groups are now calling on the government to consider additional short-term emergency funding to enable environment charities to deliver their core work and support UK targets and introduce a new resilience and recovery fund to help environmental charities rebuild in the longer-term.

15 April 2020

Business Green