The UK Government needs to play an active role alongside the Big Society when it comes to protecting wildlife in an age of austerity, conservationists have warned.

In a report out today published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), experts have outlined a series of innovative solutions for funding nature, including conservation credits systems, new green taxes and a greater role for business and communities

The availability of public funds for nature conservation is shrinking, just as the need to conserve biodiversity becomes more acute. The Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday next week is likely to see a cut in environmental funding which supports these and many other areas.

The future of some of the UK’s most iconic and valuable landscapes is hanging in the balance – spectacular areas like the Lake District, the Norfolk Broads and the Somerset Levels. The health of these landscapes and the wildlife they support depends on management and maintenance – provided in large part by farmers .

A recent study commissioned by Defra revealed there is already a worrying shortfall in funding support for the UK’s natural environment. It estimated that there is currently a £273 million annual deficit in conservation spending.

Investment in ecosystems services  could reduce water treatment costs

The RSPB report – Financing Nature in an Age of Austerity  sets out four main options:

• Privately funded payments for ecosystems services - Businesses can make efficiency savings through environmental schemes. For example restoring upland landscapes can benefit wildlife and improve water quality, reducing purifying costs.
• Conservation credits – The creation of a biodiversity offset market, similar to the carbon credits system. Other examples include the mitigation banking system in the US and Australia’s Bio-bank scheme.
• Environmental taxes – Peat, fertiliser and pesticide taxes have the potential to address degradation of wildlife habitats and provide funding for conservation efforts to restore them.
• Private sector funding and delivery – Business and the wider society can be given a key role in conservation with the creation of partnerships to raise funds and deliver projects.

RSPB chief executive Mike Clarke said:

“We should not allow the fiscal deficit to result in an even bigger deficit in nature. We need to avoid short-term solutions to prevent creating longer term problems, and potentially irreversible damage to the natural environment.

“We all know that society needs to tighten its belts in the current economic climate and it is inevitable that the public funding for vital conservation projects in our countryside is going to be squeezed after October 20th.  So that is why government, business and charities need to start thinking creatively now when it comes to ensuring the future of our native wildlife.

“With conservation credits we can capture the work farmers are doing to protect vital habitats like chalk grassland and wild flower meadows, with green taxes we can change behaviour and channel funding towards critical conservation projects. We can change the economic landscape so that businesses have a greater role in protecting nature, and we can realise the financial value of a healthy, wildlife rich countryside."