A coalition of more than 50 nature charities has joined Boris Johnson’s father to call on the prime minister to make a legally binding pledge to protect 30 per cent of UK land and waters.
They warned that British species were in “free fall”, despite the Conservative-led government having promised almost a decade ago to improve the environment. The coalition said that progress had been painfully slow and that promises were not enough.
Johnson said last year that he wanted to protect about an extra million acres of English countryside, increasing the proportion of land covered by national parks and other forms of protected status from 26 per cent to 30 per cent.
Protection of the environment is devolved. The prime minister said that he