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We can deliver this wetland creation
by grasping opportunities along our
coastlines, in our uplands, across the
farmed landscape and in our towns
and cities.
By 2040, wetlands and their
wildlife can be thriving and increasing.
Everyone can have access to wetlands
that provide amazing experiences
and inspire support for conservation.
Wetlands could be recognised as
part of our natural infrastructure,
providing space for wildlife and vital
services for all.
To achieve these advances, we
need to recognise the importance of
nature from top to bottom: from the
impact we are having internationally,
through the importance of targets
and reporting in Parliament, to the
potential for new mapping and
markets for nature at the catchment
level. We need to reach down right to
the individual level, so that everyone
can benefit from more nature around
them. And, first, we need to involve
the people for whom this plan is
being written in its production.
The Government’s 25
year plan for nature
could be a triumph for
community, economy and
environment. Ours could
be the first generation to
give back more to nature
than we take.
This could not come at a better
time: we face concurrent crises in
public health, air and water quality,
biodiversity, flood risk and climate
change. All of these would benefit
from a new approach to decision-
making in the UK that puts our
natural wealth at the heart of the way
we manage our economy and society.
In this report, we use wetlands as
our example of a brilliant ecosystem
that needs help. By protecting the
wetlands we have today and aiming
to create 100,000 hectares of new
wetlands, we can benefit from more
wildlife, cleaner water, lower flood
risk, climate change mitigation and,
of course, wonderful new places.