• THE warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this week not only highlighted increasing irreversibility of aspects of the climate emergency it also set out the impacts for wildlife on the planet.

According to the report up to 14 per cent of assessed species face extinction in a 1.5°C scenario, rising to 29 per cent at 3°C. About half of the living organisms examined are already moving polewards or to higher ground.

It can be easy to feel powerless in the face of such changes. But we can take action here, whether it is planting trees in your garden if you have one, the community action group Camden Forest regularly give trees out around the borough, last week on the Finchley Road; greening your windowsill, balcony or estate; planting up a tree pit; or walking and cycling more to reduce CO2 and air pollution.

Camden has a remarkably diverse set of habitats, from acid grassland to reedbed to woodland. The borough hosts 38 Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation, from Gondar Gardens in Fortune Green, to Highgate Cemetery, to St George’s Gardens in central London.

Together they are equivalent to 600 international football pitches. Species like hedgehogs are clinging on in urban settings whereas a denuded countryside has made it hard for them to survive.

The same is true of tree canopy cover, where Camden has among the greatest in England, with 22.9 per cent of the borough covered, also thanks to street trees and gardens as well as Hampstead Heath woodland.

In contrast many rural areas are sparse of trees. I am pleased that the council has adopted a new biodiversity strategy, which aims for Camden to be a place where wildlife can make a home and where it moves freely around. It also aims for nature to be part of residents’ everyday lives.

In 2010 the government-commissioned Lawton report called for England’s wildlife sites to become “bigger, better, and more joined up”. Making these connections, these corridors and stepping stones, will be at the heart of our work to improve Camden’s biodiversity.

It is not enough merely to protect pockets of wildlife habitats. Many of these are too small to maintain populations and wildlife within them remains vulnerable.

Wildlife needs to be able to move to respond to both local events and the climate emergency, so that it can find food and shelter.

That is why we will develop a Nature Recovery Network to restore and create these links. This will be guided by a Camden Nature Partnership that brings together key organisations in the borough and unlocks local participation.

This includes ensuring that development activity contributes to biodiversity; that we green our streets as we make changes to roads; and that we continue to plant the 600 street, park, and estate trees a year we have already pledged (up from 400 a few years ago) and raising much-needed canopy cover overall.

Please do take a look at the new strategy and watch out for the action plan that will follow as we all work together to protect biodiversity within Camden and beyond.

CLLR ADAM HARRISON
Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden