Conservationists lament UK's 'attack on nature'

A United Kingdom government plan to scrap a host of environmental laws has come up against opposition from a large and growing coalition of conservation groups, campaigners, and celebrities.

Some of the largest British heritage and wildlife charities, including the National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, or RSPB, and World Wildlife Fund UK, have thrown their weight behind a campaign dubbed "Stop the Attack on Nature".

More than 100,000 citizens have written to their local representatives with concerns that new UK policies will place species and habitats under threat. Meanwhile, high-profile figures including British naturalist Chris Packham and Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams have become champions for the campaign.

The tension stems from UK plans to roll back several environmental protection laws dating back to its time in the European Union, including regulations that protect the air, rivers, beaches, and wildlife. Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told Parliament that the government will "sunset the majority of retained EU law" so that it expires on Dec 31, 2023.

Wildlife groups are worried that the government has not left sufficient time to replace EU-era legislation with new laws. There is an additional concern that the mooted establishment of low-tax investment zones in 38 local authorities across the country will see environmental regulations relaxed to spur development, and the scrapping of a rewilding scheme for farmers has also drawn criticism.

"Millions of wildlife lovers up and down the country are outraged, scared, and worried about this apparent attack on nature," Packham said at a campaign event on Monday.

Last week, climate campaigners disrupted the Conservative Party conference in a protest over government plans to end a ban on fracking and ramp up domestic fossil fuel exploration. During her speech at the conference, Prime Minister Liz Truss said environmental protesters formed part of a so-called "anti-growth coalition "that was bent on "more taxes, more regulation, and more meddling".

The director-general of the National Trust Hilary McGrady subsequently responded to these comments in an interview in The Sunday Times newspaper.

"To try to demonize us as being anti-growth is just unfair and untrue," McGrady said. "We want to work with governments, but it is notable that we have largely been sidelined."

McGrady also pointed out that the participating campaign groups have significant public support.

The National Trust and the RSPB have 5.9 million and 1.2 million members respectively, and the WWF-UK has close to half a million annual donors.

RSPB Executive Director Emma Marsh said that the government's strategy is at odds with previous commitments to protect 30 percent of land and sea and halt the decline in nature by 2030.

"People across the country have demonstrated their dismay at this apparent concerted attack on the mechanisms to deliver on the big ambitions to recover nature by 2030," Marsh said in a statement. "The UK government's plans do not take nature into account."