Most green spaces 'are not protected': Time for government to safeguard UK nature
JUST five percent of green spaces are being properly conserved, almost six times less than claimed by ministers, scientists say.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the International Union for Conservation of Nature analysed all UK protected land areas. The Government says the figure is 28 percent.
But the RSPB's Professor Richard Gregory said: "The UK appears to have inflated its contribution to the global protected area estate by the inclusion of large areas of land that are not managed primarily for nature conservation.
"National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty were selected – but these places are not currently set up to secure effective management for nature."
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Crusade
The Daily Express has made space for nature part of our Green Britain Needs You crusade.
Britain has pledged to protect 30 percent of the country's land by 2030 to support the recovery of green areas. A United Nations report last year found all countries failed to meet a target for stemming nature loss set for 2020.
A Government spokesman said: "We are determined to strengthen our existing network of protected sites and protected landscapes."