Object

Representation ID: 14501

Received: 05/11/2021

Respondent: Miss Lucy Fletcher

We need to protect and sustain our health and natural environment and this all depends on the health of the planet which we live. Air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK. Although the argument for more homes is valid, I strongly feel that the health of our planet is more important and even the thought of building on green belt land is immoral.

The loss of important trees and hedges which also impact on the loss of wildlife. Hedgerows are extremely important for 130 of the wildlife species listed as priorities under the governments biodiversity action plan these include the harvest mouse, foraging bats and roosting birds. hedgehogs are the nations favourite animal that call hedges their home. Hedgehogs are an important 'indicator species' meaning that their health is reflective of our ecosystems health in general. A decline in hedgehogs is, in turn, likely to reflect a reduction in vital habitats and the insect population. The very importance of hedgerows for birds is clear from the following facts. No less than 21 priority BAP bird species are associate with hedgerows, and for 13 of these, hedgerows are a Primary habitat and refuge. as many as 16 out of the 19 birds used by Government to assess the state of farmland wildlife are associated with hedgerows. also some hedgerows are so important that no amount of planting could replace them.

Hedgerows also play a considerable role in helping to conserve essential natural resources such as preventing soil loss, reducing pollution and their potential to regulate water supply and to reduce flooding. One inch of soil takes over 500 years to form, the UK has lost 84% of its fertile topsoil since 1850. Hedgerows act as a barrier at the margins of farmers fields to prevent this soil being lost. There is growing consensus that hedgerows can make a real contribution to the UK's target of producing net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Hedgerows may even have a role to play in taking greenhouse gases out of circulation through carbon storage. Certainly any loss exacerbates climate change to some extent.

With just over 450,000km of hedgerows left in the uk, it's vital that we begin protecting and replanting them.