{"id":25116,"date":"2023-02-23T16:16:28","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T15:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=74572"},"modified":"2023-02-23T17:37:21","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:37:21","slug":"hs2-in-firing-line-for-wildlife-impacts","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/hs2-in-firing-line-for-wildlife-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"HS2 in firing line for wildlife impacts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wildlife conservationists say the company behind the multi-billion high-speed rail project has got its calculations on biodiversity losses badly wrong <\/p>

By James Fair\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 23 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The damage to wildlife and nature from the construction of the high-speed rail link HS2<\/a> will be much greater than claimed, according to a report published by The Wildlife Trusts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Conservationists have assessed the figures produced by HS2 and say the measurable loss of biodiversity as a result of phases 1 and 2a \u2013 London to Crewe \u2013 will be nearly five times greater than stated.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little disagreement about the area of habitat<\/a> that will be affected by the line\u2019s construction; it\u2019s the biodiversity value contained within the hedges, grasslands and ponds being lost that\u2019s disputed.<\/p>\n

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The barn owl is at risk from HS2. \u00a9\u00a0Stuart Shore\/500px\/Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The report, HS2 Double Jeopardy<\/em><\/a>, blames the discrepancy partly on HS2\u2019s continued use of an out-of-date metric that turns information collected in the field into numbers, called No Net Loss (NNL) units<\/a>. The metric is based on a version created in 2012, it says.<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s author, Dr Rachel Giles from Cheshire Wildlife Trust<\/a>, says she was shocked by the errors she had uncovered.<\/p>\n

\u201cHS2 Ltd should urgently recalculate the total loss to nature by re-evaluating existing biodiversity along the entire route whilst there is still time to change the scheme\u2019s design and delivery,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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