Why Wholescape
Why Wholescape
Humanity is facing a Triple Challenge. We urgently need to prevent catastrophic climate change by keeping global warming below 1.5°C. We need to halt and reverse the loss of nature. And we need to do this while supporting a growing global population.
These issues are interconnected – we can’t tackle them separately. We must look after our world – our land, rivers and seas – in ways that are good for the climate, good for nature and good for people. WWF and our partners are showing it is possible to think and do things differently in Norfolk, Pembrokeshire and the Firth of Forth.
What does Wholescape mean
What does Wholescape mean
To halt and reverse the loss of nature and tackle the changing climate, it’s not enough to concentrate on isolated pieces, we need to shift our thinking to a bigger scale. WWF is exploring how to do this by working at a landscape and seascape scale. Working at this scale means that we can find solutions to the Triple Challenge, pointing the way to a future where people and nature can thrive together.
In the UK, we’re demonstrating how this can work through a programme we call Wholescape. But Wholescape doesn’t just belong to WWF – it’s a starting point for collaboration with many other people and organisations, all working together to turn an ambitious idea into a reality.
Balancing competing demands for a sustainable future
Balancing competing demands for a sustainable future
Tackling the Triple Challenge will create trade-offs, as we need to balance competing demands for land, water and resources for nature, climate mitigation, agriculture and other uses. But considering the needs of nature, people and the climate together can also bring multiple benefits – for example, restoring native woodlands, saltmarshes and wetlands can support wildlife, reduce the risk of floods, droughts and other climate-related impacts, and store carbon too. Taking a Wholescape approach helps make the most of the opportunities while managing the trade-offs.
What we want to achieve
What we want to achieve
WWF is already supporting our partners to restore nature in Norfolk, with plans to do the same in Pembrokeshire. In Scotland, WWF is thinking Wholescape, expanding on the successes of Restoration Forth by exploring upstream and land-based changes that impact the Firth of Forth.
We’re aiming to restore nature and help mitigate climate change while supporting communities and improving people’s well-being across our Wholescape locations. But we want to have a much bigger impact than that. By 2030, our goal is to use the evidence from Wholescape to engage businesses and governments – we want the Wholescape principles to be applied across the UK to benefit nature, climate and people, and a healthier and more sustainable future for all.
Where we're working
-
© Ben AndrewMore Norfolk Wholescape
Norfolk is a centre of food production but also contains unique freshwater and coastal ecosystems, while its low-lying landscapes are on the frontline of climate change. We’re working with farmers to make more space for nature, reduce pollution entering rivers and protect crops from drought, while protecting local communities from flooding. And with healthier rivers flowing out to the sea, we’re beginning to restore coastal habitats that can protect communities from rising sea levels, support seaside economies and help wildlife thrive.
-
© Emily AnnandMore Firth of Forth Wholescape
In the Firth of Forth, our vision is to breathe life back into a degraded industrialised area by restoring seagrass meadows and oyster beds through the Restoration Forth project. Oysters and seagrass once thrived in the Firth of Forth, bringing a wealth of benefits – from improving water quality to creating nursery habitats and storing carbon. By thinking Wholescape we are recognising that these ecosystems and the wider landscape are interconnected, with plans in place to explore opportunities to work with new partners to consider land connected to the Firth of Forth by the rivers that flow into it.
-
© Andrew Parkinson / WWF-UKMore Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire has the only national park in the UK chosen for its marine habitat and has a rich population of seabirds. But its nature, on land and at sea, is under threat. Much of the land in the county is used for agriculture, and with farmers under increasing pressure to produce more for less, a new approach is needed. By influencing government policy and supporting farmers, we aim to improve the way the land is manged. This will help address threats like nutrient pollution in rivers, which in turn will lead to a healthier coastline and unlock potential to restore seagrass and develop seaweed farms. Through a connected, regenerative approach, local people can transition to a better future.
-
© Andrew Parkinson / WWF-UKMore Our living labs
Complementing our bigger Wholescape projects, we’re also setting up ‘living labs’ to test new concepts and ways of tackling some of our most difficult issues. We’re exploring the future of upland communities in the north of England and supporting collective action to reduce nutrient pollution and help bring the Wye and Usk rivers back to life. These living labs will generate data, evidence and public interest that will feed into and strengthen the Wholescape programme.
/