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Defra asks England’s biggest landowners to come up with plans to restore nature

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Thursday, March 20, 2025

Steve Reed called in some of England’s biggest landowners for a meeting on Thursday, asking them to come up with meaningful plans to restore nature on their estates.Representatives for King Charles and Prince William were among those at the meeting, asked by the environment secretary to draft new land management plans to help meet the country’s legal Environment Act targets.The landowners also included third-sector organisations such as the National Trust, RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts, along with representatives from the government estate such as the Ministry of Defence and Natural England.Between them, the assembled “National Estate for Nature” group own 10% of England’s land, making their cooperation crucial if ministers are to meet legally binding environment targets and stop the decline of nature.Reed called them to action to collectively protect and restore nature on their estates across England, asking them to report back on potential new approaches for sustainable land use, land management, change, or investment. He said the group should set minimum standards for land management plans, with clear milestones for nature restoration and protections.He said: “Landowners must go further and faster to restore our natural world. The National Estate for Nature, who manage a tenth of the land in this country, have a responsibility to future generations to leave the environment in a better state. We have a unique opportunity to work together on common sense changes that create a win-win for nature, the economy, and make the best use of the land around us.”Just 8% of the land and sea in England is protected for nature. The government has a target to reach 30% by 2030, but wildlife groups say the proportion of land “effectively protected” for nature is even lower than the official statistic, at 2.93%. Nature across England continues to be in decline, with wild bird numbers decreasing each year. The 2023 state of nature report described the UK as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, based on declines since the 1970s.The Labour government hopes to accelerate efforts to meet these targetsand recently legalised the wild release of beavers and announced a land use framework that will provide guidance on how to best use land for food and nature.The environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: “Major landowners in England like the Forestry Commission, crown estate and water companies own millions of acres of land – it’s only right that we expect them to repair the badly damaged habitats that they own.”He argued that large landowners should make their plans to protect nature public so that they can be scrutinised and held to account: “The government must mandate these landowners to publish their plans for nature restoration, so the public can see how the land is being looked after on our behalf – and change the outdated legal duties of public bodies to prioritise restoring ecosystems and fixing the climate crisis.”skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionHarry Bowell, the director of land and nature at the National Trust, said: “We are delighted to join the National Estate for Nature group, bringing the National Trust’s stewardship of 250,000 hectares to the table. As the government’s land use framework makes clear, a transformation in the use of land is needed if we are to meet our nature and climate targets. The biggest landowners – us included – have the power, and responsibility, to drive forward that transformation.”Further quarterly meetings are expected to focus on developing and implementing agreed on-the-ground plans to drive nature’s recovery.

Exclusive: Representatives of king, National Trust and others called on to work together to protect environmentUK politics live – latest updatesSteve Reed called in some of England’s biggest landowners for a meeting on Thursday, asking them to come up with meaningful plans to restore nature on their estates.Representatives for King Charles and Prince William were among those at the meeting, asked by the environment secretary to draft new land management plans to help meet the country’s legal Environment Act targets. Continue reading...

Steve Reed called in some of England’s biggest landowners for a meeting on Thursday, asking them to come up with meaningful plans to restore nature on their estates.

Representatives for King Charles and Prince William were among those at the meeting, asked by the environment secretary to draft new land management plans to help meet the country’s legal Environment Act targets.

The landowners also included third-sector organisations such as the National Trust, RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts, along with representatives from the government estate such as the Ministry of Defence and Natural England.

Between them, the assembled “National Estate for Nature” group own 10% of England’s land, making their cooperation crucial if ministers are to meet legally binding environment targets and stop the decline of nature.

Reed called them to action to collectively protect and restore nature on their estates across England, asking them to report back on potential new approaches for sustainable land use, land management, change, or investment. He said the group should set minimum standards for land management plans, with clear milestones for nature restoration and protections.

He said: “Landowners must go further and faster to restore our natural world. The National Estate for Nature, who manage a tenth of the land in this country, have a responsibility to future generations to leave the environment in a better state. We have a unique opportunity to work together on common sense changes that create a win-win for nature, the economy, and make the best use of the land around us.”

Just 8% of the land and sea in England is protected for nature. The government has a target to reach 30% by 2030, but wildlife groups say the proportion of land “effectively protected” for nature is even lower than the official statistic, at 2.93%. Nature across England continues to be in decline, with wild bird numbers decreasing each year. The 2023 state of nature report described the UK as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, based on declines since the 1970s.

The Labour government hopes to accelerate efforts to meet these targetsand recently legalised the wild release of beavers and announced a land use framework that will provide guidance on how to best use land for food and nature.

The environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: “Major landowners in England like the Forestry Commission, crown estate and water companies own millions of acres of land – it’s only right that we expect them to repair the badly damaged habitats that they own.”

He argued that large landowners should make their plans to protect nature public so that they can be scrutinised and held to account: “The government must mandate these landowners to publish their plans for nature restoration, so the public can see how the land is being looked after on our behalf – and change the outdated legal duties of public bodies to prioritise restoring ecosystems and fixing the climate crisis.”

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Harry Bowell, the director of land and nature at the National Trust, said: “We are delighted to join the National Estate for Nature group, bringing the National Trust’s stewardship of 250,000 hectares to the table. As the government’s land use framework makes clear, a transformation in the use of land is needed if we are to meet our nature and climate targets. The biggest landowners – us included – have the power, and responsibility, to drive forward that transformation.”

Further quarterly meetings are expected to focus on developing and implementing agreed on-the-ground plans to drive nature’s recovery.

Read the full story here.
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Labour’s push for economic growth at the expense of climate and nature is “extremely dangerous”, the co-leader of the Green party has said.Adrian Ramsay, the MP for Waveney Valley between Norfolk and Suffolk, was one of the five Green MPs elected to parliament last July in their best ever result. He said and his colleagues knew they would be holding Labour to account, but did not expect to be as disappointed as they have been.In recent weeks, Labour has given the green light to airport expansion and vowed to change planning rules to deprioritise nature, while ministers have repeatedly disparaged bats and newts and ridiculed measures to protect fish. The chancellor Rachel Reeves has suggested economic growth trumps the government’s legally binding target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, and there are suggestions the national wealth fund, meant for green projects, will be coopted for defence.Ramsay said: “This whole depiction the government’s coming up with is completely false and actually extremely dangerous, because green spaces are crucial to people’s wellbeing, crucial to the natural environment, and we can and must do development in a way that not just protects nature … the government is signed up to a requirement to restore 30% of land and sea in the UK for nature by 2030.“And when Labour talks about growth versus nature, it sort of castigates communities who are working to protect their community, protect the environment from being trodden on by a planning system that that should be there to protect them, but the government’s looking at removing those safeguards.”Ramsay also questioned whether Boris Johnson was a greener prime minister than Keir Starmer, saying: “[Johnson] did have some understanding of the need to regenerate the natural world, which Labour are very weak on. While there were early signs of some positive moves on renewable energy targets, that’s now being undermined by climate-wrecking decisions around things like airport expansion.”Ramsay, who is co-leader with fellow MP Carla Denyer, has had a bruising start to his parliamentary career. One of his biggest critics has been Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, who has accused him of being against renewable infrastructure.Miliband’s criticisms of Ramsay have resulted in the Green MP being labelled the “UK’s nimby-in-chief” after he used his first day in parliament to call for a pause on plans for a route of 520 pylons passing through his constituency. Ramsay says he is representing his constituents, who want alternatives to pylons to be discussed before they are built. His critics, including Miliband, say alternatives are too slow and expensive to implement and will impede the government in reaching its target to decarbonise the grid by 2030.Before Ramsay was an MP, he was for many years a Green councillor and worked for renewables campaign groups. Of being referred to as a nimby, he said: “I think that the claims are so absurd that they are laughable. I mean, people have called me Mr Renewables, because my whole career and campaigning background since I was a teenager has been in advancing action on climate and in particular action on renewables. I’m the first to say we’ve got to see more renewables.”MPs for the rightwing Reform party have also opposed pylons as part of their drive to cancel net zero, of which Ramsay said: “Reform have jumped on a bandwagon quite recently. 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I’m standing on a corner in Reykjavík, the most flagrantly fragrantly delicious cinnamon roll I have ever had in my hand, and I am pouring sweat. It’s not because I worked hard to get this blissful brauð; it’s a leisurely 10-minute walk from my hotel. It’s not because it’s unseasonably warm; it’s Iceland in late September and a brisk 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s because I’m wearing Columbia Sportswear Omni-Heat Infinity baselayers, and I have underestimated their insulating capacities—a mistake I will not make twice. It’s a mistake I shouldn’t have made at all. I spent several days prior testing out breathable membranes and thermal-reflective tech. Columbia’s gold metallic foil—introduced in 2021—helped insulate Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander when it was sent to the actual Moon in February 2024 (and when it launched again in 2025). In space, nobody can hear you sweat, but I’m walking through landscapes that only resemble Mars. And I’m audibly panting. 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A close-knit society on an unraveling rock, the Iceland I experience is a warm, self-reliant culture that demands warm, resilient clothes. I’ve only been in the country a few hours before I see a new road being freshly graded on top of what looks like last week’s lava. I’ve only been in the country a few more hours before it rains, shines, pours, and then the clouds part. Over the course of one day I’ll be doused winding behind the wind-whipped waterfalls, snake between surging sneaker waves, then scramble up the ashy veins of ice ridges. For every hour that’s brooding and bleak along the black sand coastline, there will be one that’s calm and bright beside thermal rivers. Hiking through the Reykjadalur Valley, we meet Skylar, who is backpacking solo through Europe and proudly shows off his one constant companion: a Columbia Sportswear flannel. Tranquility. Volatility. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes” is a fitting expression and apt alert that you should always approach travel in Iceland with all manner of apparel handy. It’s a saying you’re just as likely to hear in Beaverton, Oregon, home to the Columbia Sportswear Company. Field-testing in Iceland is a first for our host, Director of Communications Andy Nordhoff, but this type of terrain isn’t foreign. Oregon may not be constantly altered by tectonic tension the way Iceland is, but it’s no stranger to maritime influences and geothermal forces. It’s a dramatic backdrop shaped by the slow grind of time and upheaval—weathered smooth in places, rough in others. It’s a landscape that has shaped Columbia since the company was formed in 1938. What started as a hat company is now one tough mother of an outfitter producing apparel and accessories for challenging environments.   And if there’s one thing folks from Oregon and Iceland know, it’s that there’s nothing worse than standing in a coat that has you remembering rather than feeling what it’s like to be warm or dry. To be present in adventures, you can’t be worrying about your clothes. A majority of activities in Iceland—from exploratory tourism to olfactory art collectives—are anchored in cultural reverence for natural resources and capturing the rejuvenating aura of the outdoors. And in a way, that’s the concept behind Omni-Heat Arctic, a solar-capture system. But before I found myself wrapped up in a fleece appreciating untamed beauty, Columbia’s in-house scientists spent years wrapped up in how nature solved the problem of thriving at extremes. Speaking from the Columbia campus, Dr. Haskell Beckham, vice president of innovation, explains how the company set out to “have the warmest jacket without the weight of a giant, damp puffer.” A puffer is, in the most basic terms, a bunch of chopped-up material stuffed in fabric. There’s down, there’s synthetic insulation, but it’s no matter what it’s operating with trapped air, which is low thermal conductivity. Still, humans constantly radiate heat, so the silver metallic Omni-Heat lining was introduced in 2010 to block that loss and reflect it back. Fast forward to 2021, and Omni-Heat Infinity introduced more surface coverage without impacting breathability, now with gold dots to tell the difference. Either way, they stood up to accelerated abrasion testing and real-world comfort testimonials. Plus the off-world partnerships with Intuitive Machines, who spoke the same language of thermal emissivity and solar reflectivity. So, having successfully applied materials science to space, the Columbia lab started thinking about icons of the most extreme environments on Earth. And Arctic inhabitants quickly came up. Digging into scientific literature about polar bears, however, revealed gaps in the understanding of how they survive. So Beckham knew he had to get his hands on a polar bear pelt. After trying the Oregon Zoo, Beckham followed a suggestion to contact the Burke Museum of Natural History at the University of Washington in Seattle. It turned out they did have a pelt that he could check out, like a library book, and he brought it back to the Portland area where it was studied for a year—placed in environmental chambers to measure how it reacted under a solar simulator at various watts per meter squared to mimic what it might see in a cold, yet sunny environment. And that’s when the Columbia team was able to shine some light on how polar pelts absorb light. “We discovered that the fur itself is actually translucent, but not transparent,” explains Beckham. “This lets a degree of solar energy transmission through the fur. And the bear’s skin is pigmented, which helps convert solar energy into heat—just like a black T-shirt in a warm environment feels warmer than a white T-shirt, which reflects solar radiation. With this system the pelt harvested solar energy and converts it to heat, so we set about creating materials and material stacks that have the same effect, which is partially about color and partially about density.” The end result, Omni-Heat Arctic, applies this discovery with thinner outer layers that allow sunlight to penetrate to the insulation (the equivalent of the underfur) and be converted closer to the body. However, unbroken black fabrics wouldn’t work, as the heat collects at the surface and is lost to the environment. It was imperative the solar radiation bypass the shell, go through the insulation, and be absorbed in a lining. For the Arctic Crest Down Jacket, the Columbia lab finally settled on a lining patterned with triangles and dots. Multi-layered engineering allowed the material to have a layer of metal topped with a coating featuring a black pigment. That black coating absorbs the solar radiation and converts it to heat, which is then conducted toward the body, while also protecting that heat from dissipating into the cold. And the team knew they nailed it when beta testers made unprompted comments about how it felt like the warmth amplified after the sun comes out, despite the external temperature.        “It’s a solar-boosted heat … like a biological greenhouse effect,” says Beckham. “That’s why the pattern on the puffer resembles a geodesic dome. On top of that, it’s a warmer jacket even when there’s no sunshine, thanks to how we engineer materials. “The fleece works a bit differently since they don’t have that special low E [low emissivity] coating, but [the high pile and black yarn lining] do work in that way a pelt naturally works.” As straightforward as all that sounds, Beckham’s research produced insight that challenged conventional wisdom, showing it’s not as simple as sunlight transferred through fur onto skin equals warmth. The fur density varies across the pelt, and as little as 3.5 percent of the light sometimes reaches the skin. So, an open question still remains about why the polar bear’s skin is black and what part it versus the fur truly plays in thermal regulation.  This, in a way, makes Omni-Heart Arctic an evolution, even an improvement on the natural means of solar transference. Confirmed by heat flux sensors, control of insulation, shell fabric/coating, lining, and moisture-resistant overlays allowed for garments with up to three times heat retention plus performance-oriented attributes. Core areas needing thicker covering and other areas needing flexibility and breathability can be targeted, while selectively absorbing sunlight promotes warmth without harmful exposure to UV.  Before this trip, my perspective on polar bears boiled down to “If it’s brown, lay down; if it’s black, fight back; if it’s white, say goodnight.” Now, I can appreciate what these creatures and Columbia Sportswear have done to address my mammalian shortcomings. Of course, when you think of a polar bear soaking up the Arctic sun, there’s a good chance you imagine it’s floating on an iceberg. While we didn’t go that far to test our textiles, we did take a sizable amount of moisture into consideration.  The Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls feel like veils between worlds—permeable but formidable. Piercing the multiverse requires preparation, however, and Columbia made sure we were ready with the OutDry Extreme Wyldwood shell jacket and pants. Thrown over the zip-up fleece, OutDry Extreme provided an impervious barrier without forming a moist bubble. With the hydrophobic film-like membrane laminated on the exterior (as opposed to the interior, topped by DWR-coated fabric), I didn’t worry about wet out or wet within. This orientation enhances breathability, allowing the interior fabric to wick perspiration away and more evenly distribute moisture vapor movement so no area gets overloaded. And as someone who constantly runs hot, I can vouch for its effectiveness. The Konos TRS OutDry Mid shoe kept my feet equally dry, stable, and cushioned throughout trail and town (and they remain my rainy day sneaker boots). Having a successful solution doesn’t mean Beckham and his team aren’t looking at new bio-inspired emulations that can improve outdoor apparel, however. The water-repellent properties of the lotus leaf are of interest, as the plant’s microstructure enables water droplets to bead up and roll off effortlessly. This could lead to durable, chemical-free, water-resistant gear. And the structural color of butterfly wings, where microscopic structures rather than pigments create hues, could lead to vivid, long-lasting color without dyes—another sustainable solution. From the 3D printers and swatch prototypes in their fab lab to the computational modeling that allows them to go through infinite combinations of inspirations and materials, the Columbia Sportswear scientists pursue innovation and efficiency.   I’ve now lived in the Arctic Crest Down Jacket and Arctic Crest Sherpa Fleece from one shoulder season to the next, trudging through the most brutally cold winter in a decade. Soon, it will be time to hang them up in favor of windbreakers and lightweight rain shells. In the not-so-distant future, Columbia Sportswear will have cooling technologies to reveal. But the polar vortex surged southward again as I started outlining this piece. Despite the spring-like weather that followed, early-morning hiking and biking isn’t exactly balmy yet. And there are always new latitudes to explore with the right daypack. So, as long as there’s even a hint of crispness or clouds in the years to come, I’m happy to bundle up in biomimicry to help me grin and, well, bear it, warm as a fresh cinnamon roll. The post From polar bears to polar vortex: How Columbia Sportswear uses nature to protect us from it appeared first on Popular Science.

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