Nature Recovery: The £72 Million Question

By Annette J Beveridge

In the last two days, two billionaires have donated a staggering £36m each to just one political party here in the UK. That political party is Reform UK, and while people are entitled to donate where they wish, as a conservationist, it made me wonder what that money could do for nature recovery. 

£72m could be transformative. It could greatly reduce the pressure on much of our wildlife and protect species on the brink. It could deliver one of the most significant boosts for nature protections, restoring rivers, helping pollinators, marine life and even creating new nature reserves. To show how significant these funds are, it would be equivalent to fifty or sixty years of funding for a wildlife organisation. 

Land purchase

With £72m, wildlife organisations could acquire between 7,000 and 14,000 acres of land, sufficient for a new National Nature Reserve. It could create new habitat - from wildflower grasslands to woodland, or to wetlands depending on the location.   This type of project could protect dormice, bats, butterflies, pollinators, birds, badgers, weasels, stoats, shrews and more.  The money could create wildflower corridors linking up to 50 county-wide pollinator projects supporting a wide host of pollinators, including bumblebees, hoverflies, solitary bees and butterflies, and rare species. Our native plant species would benefit, and the whole ecosystem within the soil. 

Chalk streams

There is a huge issue with the country's chalk streams. As a rare freshwater habitat, enormous funds like this could restore between 25 and 40 chalk streams across southern England.  It would provide help for water voles, trout, damselflies, dragonflies, mayflies, and kingfishers. Gravel beds could be rebuilt, and water flow improved.  

Marine life

Vital fish nurseries could be completed. Each seagrass project costs between  £20,000–£40,000 per hectare; this would enable many more nurseries for fish, cuttlefish, and seahorses.  Oyster reef restoration, at £1–2 million per hectare, could rebuild 40–70 hectares of reefs capable of filtering billions of litres of seawater each day. This would dramatically improve coastal water quality and biodiversity.

Whether land is purchased for farmland, wildflower meadows, woodlands or to aid the recovery of chalk streams, ponds or marine conservation, it is easy to see that £72m could totally enhance biodiversity, protect endangered species and help protect the environment and us against climate change. 

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