A new report published by leading wildlife trust, ahead of the COP26 summit, warns that in order to tackle climate change humanity needs to restore nature.

The report, entitled Let Nature Help – COP26 Edition, was published by The Wildlife Trusts and cites numerous examples of how natural habitats such as peat, woodland and seagrass can absorb huge amounts of carbon, as well as how farming can also help.

The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the Government to honour its presidency of the UN climate conference by taking action to protect the environment for wildlife, force farmers to be more sustainable and, in doing so, make huge strides to tackle UK carbon emissions.

Estelle Bailey, chief executive of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), said: "We are currently facing a nature and climate crisis, but the Government can tackle both problems with one simple solution - more nature everywhere.

“By restoring badly-degraded natural habitats all over the country we can also help trap tons of atmospheric carbon which is currently threatening those habitats. At the same time, we can also help thousands of vulnerable species.

"For too long, we have had a broken relationship with nature: by fixing that relationship, we can help the whole planet start to recover. It’s not too late to turn things around, but we need urgent action now, not just empty promises."

The Trusts want to Government to increase the natural regeneration of woodland, ensure a mix of trees is planted in every location so as to have the best chance of survival in unpredictable conditions and boost sustainable farming that locks carbon into the soil, amongst many other aims.

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Nature’s fantastic ability to trap carbon safely and provide other important benefits is proven – peatland, woodland, saltmarsh and other wild habitats are vital carbon stores.

“But these natural places are in decline and face even greater risk of degradation from extreme climatic conditions. It’s becoming a vicious spiral of damage – one that has to be stopped right now.

“In addition to the urgent task of cutting emissions at source, we need to see an enormous rise in the amount of land and sea that’s protected for nature – and increase it to at least 30% by 2030.

“Also, the Government must embed climate action – mitigation and adaptation – across every department and take urgent steps to stop carbon-emitting activities such as new road building, peat burning and trawling the seabed.”