Guest election blog – Lib Dems by Chantal Woodun

My interest in the natural world led me to study Zoology and Psychology as a first degree, followed by International Studies, focusing on the environment and environmental policy.

I became a London National Park City Ranger in 2020. Combined with the @wanderfulldn Instagram account, I attempt to draw people’s attention to the diverse habitats and wildlife found across our capital and beyond and how this can benefit our physical and mental health. I also work with the campaign to save the glorious Warren Farm Nature Reserve, in West London.

Campaigners and citizens have struggled to protect this rare, 61 acre rewilded meadow in Brent River Park, from development by Ealing’s Labour council. Fighting for what should so naturally be part of our world at a time of immense climate and environmental crisis draws focus on just how low down the priority list nature really is.

I first voted in 1997 when the Conservatives had been in power for 18 years whilst Labour were promising to listen to citizens and drive radical change. 

These are my thoughts about the Liberal Democrat’s environmental and nature election manifesto.

Things I like:

• The manifesto puts a great deal of focus on various approaches to the nature and climate emergency noting it’s “the most pressing threats to prosperity facing the UK and the world.”.
• They acknowledge that a significant change in the way UK citizens see and interact with the world around them is necessary, making it part of the culture by:
  • Delivering high-level vocational skills via national centres of expertise for areas such as renewable energy.
  • Creating tens of thousands of green jobs.
  • Promoting community energy and fitting new homes with solar.
  • Reducing household energy bills by making homes more energy efficient including free retrofitting for low-income households.
  • Creating green pensions which comply with the Paris Agreement climate goals.
  • Creating greener and safer cycling and walking networks travel options.
• Recognition that it is everyone’s human right to a healthy environment, demonstrated with a Clean Air Act and banning water companies from continuing to pump raw sewage into rivers, lakes and coastal areas.
• For far too long, governments have given power to huge corporates and turned a blind eye to the ill they do. The LibDems would hold companies to account for their negative impact.

Things I don’t like or are unclear:

• Whilst I am a huge fan of renewable energy, they must be realistic about some of the targets. For example, saying ‘all new homes to be fitted with solar panels’ sounds great but it won’t be realistic as solar is not going to be appropriate everywhere.
• I welcome the reestablishment of lost woodland habitats but I worry when it comes to tree planting targets. It requires appropriate assessment to ensure 1. They are planted in the habitat appropriate locations 2. Native species are planted 3. It is well managed, ensuring a greater chance of survival 4. A continued management plan is in place to for the trees and wider species diversity.
  In sum, they need to make sure the ‘at least 60 million trees a year’ is not an empty target.
• They speak about a new approach to farming and woodland creation, but due to the UKs critical and dire biodiversity status, there must also be a focus on other lost habitiats such as vital wetlands, meadows, hedgerows and marine life.
• Placing nature and the environment in planning is critical, however, this needs to be wide ranging such as reducing driveways which increases flooding and removes vital planting space, look to how new and existing buildings can save water and look at how the vast amount of roof space can be better utilised.

Overall assessment:

Overall, I feel that the Liberal Democrats are serious about restoring nature and the environment to the heart of the UK, looking at ingrained and substantial change in an array of areas from colleges, jobs, green technology and importantly holding companies to account and correctly fining and taxing them. However, details and ways of funding need to be elaborated on. 

Would I vote for these policies?

I am a Liberal at heart and believe in their policies but based on their rankings I worry it will be a wasted vote.

This is one of a series of opinion pieces on the political parties’ 2024 general election manifestos. They were commissioned by Wild Justice several months ago by approaching a wide variety of conservationists and environmentalists long before the date of the general election was known. Some people who originally agreed to write pieces found the date and short timescale impossible and had to back out. We did not know what they would write and their only brief was to pick one or two political parties’ election manifestos and tell us what they liked and didn’t like about their environmental policies. We didn’t tell people what to write and we haven’t edited what they wrote (except to squeeze things into a common format, to correct minor grammatical and spelling errors and typos). The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Wild Justice.

If you think you could produce a review of one of the 2024 general election manifestos then we would need to receive it as soon as possible, but in any case before 26 June, in a similar format to that above, as a word file and with a .jpg or .png image of yourself, the author. Send any potential texts to admin@wildjustice.org.uk and we will look at them. We’ll let you know if we want to publish your piece and we may be able to pay you a small amount for it.