Will Powys declare a 'nature emergency'?

Powys County Council is set to vote on a motion declaring a 'nature emergency', after it previously voted down declaring an 'ecological emergency'

Powys County Councillors are set to vote on a motion to declare a 'nature emergency' and to establish 'meaningful supportive structures that embed nature in decision making' at their next full council meeting on the 13th October 2022.

The motion, proposed by Newtown North County Councillor, Adam Kennerly, would commit Powys County Council to declaring a nature emergency, establishing a cross-party Nature Emergency Working Group, appointing a councillor as a Champion for Nature, seeking funding for a Nature Recovery Officer and show 'meaningful leadership by reviewing how the Council’s assets and services can be more fully harnessed for reversing our county’s loss of nature'.

The motion comes as almost half of all UK wildlife is in a long term decline and 15% of species are at risk of extinction.

However, the last time the county council voted on delcaring an ecological emergency last September, it was voted down by independent and Conservative councillors by 31 votes to 24.