Labour wants to abandon Britain’s wild future
There’s a quiet revolution happening in corners of Britain’s countryside.
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On former farmland and private estates, landowners, farmers, and local communities are working together to bring wildlife back — beavers to rivers, wildflowers to meadows, and balance to ecosystems long degraded.
But this progress is fragile. And today, it’s under threat.
The Labour government is considering a rollback of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation — one of the few hard-won environmental policies that asks developers to leave nature in a better state than they found it. If proposals now under consultation go ahead, small developments — which make up nearly all of England’s planning applications — will be exempt. The consequence? A loophole big enough to erase 215,000 hectares of potential habitat recovery in just ten years.
As the custodian of a rewilded estate in Gloucestershire, I know first-hand what’s possible when policy supports nature. At Elmore Court, we’ve restored more than 400 acres, introduced native species, and opened the door for the land to heal. Projects like this rely not just on passion, but on confidence — in regulation, in continuity, and leadership.
This isn’t about blocking development. It’s about ensuring that growth includes space for life — birdsong, pollinators, wetlands, and woodlands — that underpin the stability of our future.
We are one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe. Weakening what little legislation we have now is reckless. It risks breaking the trust of landowners who want to do the right thing, of local authorities already under pressure, and of the public who expect their government to deliver on its environmental promises.
There is still time to change course. Labour must hold the line—and raise its ambitions. Our wild future depends on it.
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Anselm Guise is the owner of Elmore Court and the Founder of Rewild Things.
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