Nature needs you | Friends of the Earth

Nature is essential to our lives. Our soils, seas, trees and bees provide us with fresh food, while forests help filter the air and prevent flooding – among other things. What's more, nature is essential to our mental health and wellbeing.

Yet we’re losing nature at a terrifying rate.

According to the UN, 1 million species are at risk of extinction globally. And in the UK, a quarter of mammals are at imminent risk of disappearing – including wildcats and hedgehogs. In addition, despite their importance, just 13% of the UK’s total land area has tree cover, compared to an EU average of 35%. Urgent action is needed to tackle the climate and nature emergency.

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Photo of family of four in a woodland park. Children are having piggy back rides and everyone is smiling.

Our work on nature

Our leaders aren't doing enough to protect and restore nature. We’re calling on them to adopt a number of measures, including doubling UK woodland cover in order to tackle the climate emergency and make more space for nature. We also took the government to court over its plan to approve a dirty fossil fuel project under Larne Lough and are working with communities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to improve access to green space.

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Protecting nature against extreme weather

Last summer, all over the country, we experienced the impact of extreme weather. The heatwaves affected food production and our health, among other things. The deterioration of nature in the UK has meant a lack of natural cooling solutions like trees.

At home, seabird nests were washed away in recent floods and extreme weather is wreaking havoc on people and wildlife. Abroad meanwhile, over 1 billion marine animals are thought to have died along Canada’s coast in the heatwave of July 2021. Scientists say that, unless we act now, it’ll only get worse.

You can help fight the causes of climate and ecological breakdown and help pressure the government to take urgent action to tackle the causes of extreme weather. Nature can thrive. But it needs our urgent help.

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Your donation makes a difference

Do you think our leaders should be doing more to help people and wildlife? We’re taking action now. For our own health and our planet’s, we need long-term solutions. We need your help to get our leaders to commit to a green and fair recovery for all.

When you become a supporter of Friends of the Earth, you're providing vital support for our campaigns.

Thanks to supporters like you, we’ve achieved huge success over the years:

✔️ Climate Change Act: A world first law designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

✔️ Recycling Act: That green bin on your doorstep is thanks to our community, bringing recycling to every home and reducing plastic waste in our seas.

✔️ Our leaders commit to stop funding fossil fuels abroad: In 2020 our campaigners helped pressure our leaders to stop funding climate-wrecking fossil fuel projects abroad. A huge win for global climate justice.

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