UK Government Strategy Web

Halt species abundance decline by December 2030

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Halt Species Abundance Decline by December 2030

Commitment: Halt the decline in the abundance of species in England by December 2030 (Environment Act 2021, statutory target).

Owner: Defra / Natural England

Target date: December 2030

Metric: Species abundance index (tracked via Outcome Indicator Framework at oifdata.defra.gov.uk).

Status: at-risk

Context

Current species abundance: ~67% of 1970 levels. Less than 5 years to the 2030 target. The trend has been consistently downward. Halting decline — let alone reversing it — requires significant intervention at landscape scale across the ~67% of England that is agricultural land.

Delivery history

  • [2020] FCERM Strategy commits to nature-based solutions in flood management
  • [January 2023] EIP 2023 published under previous government — sets framework
  • [July 2024] EIP Progress Report 2023-24: progress documented (prior government)
  • [July 2025] EIP Progress Report 2024-25: final report under EIP 2023 framework
  • [October 2025] Government response to OEP’s progress assessment published
  • [December 2025] EIP 2025 published — current government’s updated plan
  • [January 2026] SFI 2026 changes announced — reduces number of SFI actions; reviews payment rates for high-uptake land-out-of-production actions (risk to ELM delivery of nature targets)
  • [2026-04-15] Status: at-risk. Less than 5 years to target. ELM is primary delivery mechanism; SFI simplification introduces uncertainty.

Key dependencies

  • ELM uptake across agricultural land (SFI, Countryside Stewardship, Landscape Recovery)
  • 48 Local Nature Recovery Strategies covering all England (end 2025)
  • Nature Restoration Fund and Environmental Delivery Plans from Natural England
  • Biodiversity Net Gain from development
  • Reduced habitat loss from housing and infrastructure (Nature Restoration Fund)

Tensions

  • sfi-simplification-water-quality — SFI simplification reduces number of actions and reviews payment rates for actions that take land out of production; these are the same actions that support year-round wildlife resources on farm land

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