23
Wetland Futures Report 2013: The Value of Healthy Wetlands
Introduction to the Blueprint for Water
Carrie Hume, Chair of Blueprint for Water and Head of Conservation Policy, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
Carrie started off by asking the audience a couple of
questions around what they think is the Government’s
grasp of wetland conservation and water management
issues. The general opinion was that things have gone
backwards since the current Government came into power.
Blueprint for Water
is a coalition of environmental NGOs
who work together to achieve ‘sustainable water’, based
on their 10 steps to sustainable water. The Blueprint
for Water aims to help Government and others put in
place national policies that safeguard rivers and wetland
habitats and encourage their restoration. This can be by
encouraging policies that value water correctly, promoting
innovative ideas that work with natural processes,
encouraging clean water resources for people and wildlife
and to encourage all stakeholders to play their part.
Blueprint for Water main areas of advocacy relate to:
•
Abstraction reform
•
A Water Bill that works for water and wetlands
•
Water company price review (PR14)
•
Water Framework Directive round two – closely tying
in with the Catchment Based Approach
•
Implementation of SuDS
•
No backslide for key regulation (e.g. allowing land
owners to dredge main river without a license)
•
Potentially aquatic invasive non-native species
How successful have we been?
•
Very hard to tell! Try imagining us not being there…
•
Government don’t like ‘Es’ – The
2012 Blueprint
for Water scorecard
assessed the Government’s
progress against the 2010
Blueprint for Water
,
which identified actions needed to achieve
sustainable water by 2015, using report card style
A – E ratings; an E was given for the targets around
stopping pollutants contaminating our water. As a
result of which Blueprint for Water was asked how
Government could improve this score.
•
Seen as key supporters of otherwise ‘unpopular’
measures
•
Increasingly have more clout as core deliverers and
trusted intermediaries (but this brings with it big risks)
We are currently reviewing the Blueprint for Water for
2015-2020…
We would like to hear your thoughts about how we
could get the most out of the Blueprint for Water
coalition and would welcome any comments emailed to
Q
Where are we missing a trick?
Q
Are we too quiet, too compliant?
Q
Who are we not working with who we ought?
Q
Are we using our evidence base, membership
base to create change?
Q
How can we be more engaging, get in there
earlier?
Carrie Hume talking about the Blueprint for Water at the conference
photo: Hannah Freeman
