Latest government policy and what it means for Walshaw Moor and CEP

In July 2025 the government paper “Unlocking benefits for people, nature and climate: Actions to jointly address climate change and biodiversity loss in England” was published. In this article we will work out what it means for Walshaw Moor.

It is very good news for the curlews and golden plovers, merlins and lapwings and for the habitat that they need to flourish on Walshaw Moor. Almost everywhere these birds are in steep decline because their breeding grounds have been destroyed by mismanagement. Walshaw Moor is a glittering exception. 

The foreword to the paper is crucially written by the two key ministers: 

Mary Creagh MP Minister for Nature for Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  

Kerry McCarthy MP,  Minister for Climate for Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. 

For the first time we see a government that understands that we are in a Nature and Climate Crisis. England (conservation is devolved) is one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. 

The paper begins with international treaties we have signed and often led. The British people are famous nature lovers and our governments have always tried to lead the world into looking after nature properly.  The problem has always been that we are nature hypocrites: “Do as I say, not as I do!” While we tell other countries what to do with their elephants, pangolins and whales, our own nature is battered. Calderdale Energy Park will batter the extraordinary birds that breed so successfully there but are being picked off elsewhere. 

The greatest triumph in international nature diplomacy is the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, signed by 196 nations in 2022. It has been hailed as a “huge, historic moment” and a “major win for our planet and for all of humanity.” As the new government paper says:

“The 30 by 30 commitment, to effectively conserve and manage 30% of our land and seas by 2030, sits at the very heart of the UK’s aim to ensure nature’s recovery. Delivering this target means ensuring that the most important and wildlife-rich habitats are benefiting from effective, long-term conservation and management. At CBD COP16 in October 2024, the UK confirmed its vision for delivering 30 by 30 in England and published the criteria for land and inland water areas which can count towards this target. At least 7.1% of England’s land has been identified that already meets the 30 by 30 criteria and counts towards the target. This includes Sites of Special Scientific Interest in favourable or unfavourable recovering condition, plus areas of the Public Forest Estate managed for biodiversity. While it is expected that there is additional land already meeting the criteria, such as NGO reserves, this illustrates the scale of action needed to achieve this target. An action plan for 30 by 30 on land is being developed, to ensure this commitment can be achieved. The aim is to finalise and publish this action plan later in 2025.”

The 7.1% is the internationally Special Protection Area and Special Areas of Conservation. The remaining 22.9% will be difficult, but at least we can rely on the international designations to anchor the plan. The map below shows in red the 7.1% of fully protected land that that counts, while the blue is land that might contribute to our 30% if it can achieve some legal protection for at least twenty years. 

[Land in red counts toward the 30 by 30 K-M GBF commitment. The red areas are the SPAs or SACs and some areas are both. Exmoor is an SAC for its heathland habitats but is not an SPA. Dartmoor, like Walshaw Moor, is doubly designated for its habitats and birdlife. The map shows how important to the 7.1% are the Pennines. Walshaw Moor is shown by the arrow. Map: Defra]  

Walshaw Moor is a Special Protection Area (SPA) because it is the breeding ground of many red-listed birds, merlins, curlews, golden plovers and lapwings. These birds are nationally endangered, but are thriving on Walshaw Moor. 

Walshaw Moor is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for its peatland, blanket bog and acid grassland habitats. 

[Calderdale Energy Park will destroy the centre of the South Pennines Moors Phase 2  SPA and SAC and fragment what is left. Since this land is in the 7.1% that is supposed to anchor the plan, the UK response to the 30 by 30 target would unravel on Walshaw Moor. The global south is already suspicious of British hypocrisy on nature. The worldwide policy would then also start to unravel on Walshaw Moor.   Map Nick MacKinnon and Defra Magic]  

Defra have defined how the blue areas can join the 7.1% that already includes Walshaw Moor. 

“30 by 30 areas should be able to demonstrate that in-situ conservation will be sustained over the long term (at least 20 years), and that the area will be protected against loss or damage to important biodiversity values, through legal or other effective means. This includes protected area designations, conservation covenants, long-term ownership and relevant long-term management obligations.”

Walshaw Moor is doubly internationally designated as SPA and SAC. It is in the heart of the South Pennines SPA/SAC. If it can be destroyed by a wind farm proposal just three years after a scoping report described as “worse than useless” by the lead consultant then the anchor 7.1% is unprotected, the “legal or other effective means” protecting the 22.9% are completely worthless and the UK response to the Kunming-Montreal GBF collapses. Since countries in the global south were reluctant to sign, feeling that the north had gained advantage in the past from destroying nature, this hypocrisy by the UK will cause the whole Kunming-Montreal agreement to unravel. 

“Unlocking benefits for people, nature and climate” shows for the first time that the government understands how the SPAs and SACs anchor our attempt to meet the 30 by 30 target, and will support the excellent work Defra have done since we signed the Kunming-Montreal treaty.  Walshaw Moor is likely to be the first major test of the resolve of our government to meet these international obligations for nature. We will either lead the world, or watch the policy unravel on Walshaw Moor.  

© Nick MacKinnon WTRG