Tree nurseries could be built at prisons and military ranges could be turned into heathland or peat bogs as part of an ambitious plan to make government land more nature-friendly, the environment secretary has said.
Speaking ahead of elections this week in which Labour is under pressure from the Green party, Emma Reynolds said such projects showed the government’s intent in restoring natural habitats.
Under a scheme due to be confirmed in the coming weeks, land owned by the Department for Transport around roads and rail lines would have more “green bridges” to help wildlife move safely. Another possibility would be a greater use of solar panels on government buildings.
The projects would aim to bring wider improvements, with the tree nurseries on Ministry of Justice land intended to also help with prisoners’ welfare. Peatland restoration on military sites, as well as new stone dams, would restore natural habitats but also limit flooding and so allow more consistent training.
The plan was, Reynolds said, “just one example of how the government is delivering better outcomes for nature and the environment for future generations”.
An MP from 2010, Reynolds lost her seat in 2019 before returning to parliament in 2024 and she replaced Steve Reed as environment secretary in last September’s cabinet reshuffle.
Keir Starmer’s government has faced criticism from some opponents, especially the Greens, for supposedly prioritising economic growth over the environment. Reynolds rejected this, saying policies such as the plans for the government estate, plus the reintroduction of species such as beavers and the golden eagle, showed a huge commitment to restoring nature.
“These are decisions that we are making, that I am making now, that will have an impact for generations and generations to come. So that’s really important,” she said.
Reynolds contrasted this with what she said was a less wholehearted embrace of environmental issues by the Greens since Zack Polanski became leader, with an increased policy focus on areas such as economic inequality.
“I would dispute the kind of priority they seem to be giving at a national level to environmental issues,” she said. “I also think they’ve got a terrible record in local government on these things.”
Reynolds pointed to objections from some local Green parties to solar farms, and pylons intended to carry electricity from offshore wind generation. “They are not prepared to take any of the sometimes difficult decisions that we need to take as a country to put in place green infrastructure,” she said. “I will not take lessons from a Green party that rarely talks about nature; that, frankly, is a party of protest.”
Reynolds was even more scathing about the plans of Reform UK, saying she would be “very worried” about what a Nigel Farage-led government would do to the environment. Some of Reform’s plans would be deeply unpopular with the public, she said, citing its proposals to frack for onshore gas around the country.
The former Conservative minister Steve Baker was a keen advocate of fracking, saying he would welcome it in his Buckinghamshire constituency of Wycombe – which he lost to Reynolds in 2024. “Fracking is never very popular, as my predecessor in Wycombe found out,” she said.
The government is likely to drop plans to stop imports of foie gras or furs, the former of which was a pre-election promise. While saying she could not comment on any specifics, Reynolds defended such compromises, saying the benefits of a revamped deal with the EU to remove much red tape on agriculture and food were very significant.
“The prize is big,” she said. “We can talk about the detail, but the overall prize here is to bring down the barriers at the border, and the friction and the cost and the administrative burden that the previous Tory government’s botched Brexit deal, has left us with.
“We know that there are many small businesses that gave up exporting altogether to the European Union, and many big businesses just face terrible delays, or just uncertainty.”
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