Devon Wildlife Trust warns over Brexit

Posted on March 26, 2016 Updated on March 26, 2016

As Seaton Jurassic opens this weekend – it’s a great visit – the organisation that runs it, Devon Wildlife Trust, has warned that wildlife protection would be threatened by Britain leaving the EU.

In a letter to DWT members, chief executive Harry Barton – who I had the pleasure of meeting at Thursday’s opening ceremony – notes that ‘many of the improvements of the last three decades have much to do with the environmental and wildlife legislation that has come out of Europe. The Habitats, Birds and Bathing Waters Directives, to name just three, have required Britain and other countries to increase standards dramatically.’

‘European nature laws have provided a common platform’, Barton points out, ‘and they are long term and binding, making it much more difficult for individual governments to weaken or circumvent them at their own convenience. … Our relationship with Europe has many imperfections, but in my view there is no doubt that, where the environment and wildlife is concerned, it has been a real success.’

Next time you hear someone moan about EU bureaucracy, remember these (and other) sensible common standards which EU laws uphold. How are we going to maintain these standards if Britain leaves? And will Continental visitors be so keen to come to the Jurassic Coast if Britain has turned its back on Europe?