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Mist gathers over a chalk stream at first light, the surface broken by rising mayflies. A barn owl drifts low over a hedgerow. These moments of quiet resilience are becoming rarer. One in six UK species is now at risk of extinction and average populations have fallen by 19% since 1970 - evidence of a deepening crisis in Britain's natural world.

Into this landscape steps Reform UK. Nigel Farage claims his party is the "voice of the people", promising a government that would defend British culture, identity and values. But behind the populist slogans and patriotic rhetoric lies a devastating agenda for nature that, according to conservation groups, risks accelerating the decline of already fragile ecosystems.

A recent YouGov poll found that 70% of adults surveyed in Great Britain want stronger environmental protections. Yet Reform UK, which says it is preparing for government, has no credible plans to reverse biodiversity loss, safeguard vital habitats or restore degraded ecosystems.

A Plan to Scrap the Foundations of Conservation

At the centre of Reform UK's policy platform is a pledge to scrap, "with immediate effect", more than 6,700 retained EU regulations - among them the Habitats Directive, the Birds Directive and long-standing water-pollution controls that form the backbone of Britain's environmental protections.

Removing these critical nature laws would ease restrictions on development and intensive agriculture, potentially opening the door to habitat destruction on a significant scale.

It would place some of Britain's most important protected areas at risk, including:

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), which safeguard nationally important wildlife and geological features

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), created to protect rare habitats and species of European significance

Special Protection Areas (SPAs), designated to conserve vulnerable and migratory bird populations

These protections underpin the survival of natural landscapes that still support the UK's remaining biodiversity strongholds.

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Fragile Habitats on the Front Line

Among the natural ecosystems most vulnerable to deregulation are chalk streams - a globally rare habitat found mostly in England - along with ancient woodlands, limestone pavement and coastal landscapes such as salt marshes and dune systems.

The UK's peatlands, which act as significant carbon sinks and support species like the golden plover and sundew, could also face renewed exploitation for peat cutting.

River systems, already under pressure from sewage discharges and agricultural run-off, would deteriorate further without enforceable clean-water standards.

Turning Farmland into a Biodiversity Battlefield

Reform UK's plans also target Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) - including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Landscape Recovery - which currently pay farmers to restore wetlands, maintain hedgerows and protect pollinators.

Scrapping environmental conditions tied to farm subsidies would effectively end these schemes. Natural England's most recent assessment found AES were boosting wildlife populations such as birds and butterflies, increasing landscape-scale biodiversity and improving water quality and flood resilience. All of this, campaigners say, would be lost under Reform UK.

Farage has additionally promised legislation to ban nature-conservation and rewilding projects on farmland deemed "productive", and to prevent Natural England - the Government's statutory adviser on the natural environment in England - from ...