Tr a n s p o r ti sB r i t a i n ’ sl a r g e s t
greenhouse-gasemittingsectorand
thegovernmentiscommittedtoa
targetofnetzeroby2050.HS2could
potentiallycutcarbon,byshifting
peoplefromvehiclesandplanes
ontoelectrictrains.ButbuildingHS2
requiresa lotofcarbon-emitting
concrete,drillingandmovementof
soilbytruck.HS2’soperationcould
benearlycarbonneutralif powered
byrenewableenergy,thoughrailway
maintenanceaddsemissions.
Thegovernmentcalculatesthat
over its 120-year lifespan, HS2 will notsavecarbonbutaddemissions
of1.49milliontonnesofcarbon
dioxideequivalent.Thisrepresents
just1.18percentofBritain’sannual
transportemissions.Butit isstill
increasingtransportcarbon when
emissionsneedtofall.
Accordingtothepro-HS2High
SpeedRailGroup,HS2couldreduce
emissionsmorethanforecast.It says
morepeoplewillmovetorailfromcar
andplanethanpredicted.Onaverage,
newhigh-speedrailwaysinEurope
shift 15 percentofjourneysfrom cars
and 30 per cent from planes.HS2 and the carbon footprint
lotofstuffundertheradarbecausethe
projectis sooutofcontrol.Thereis a lot
ofholdingtoaccounttodo.”
Oneflashpointis SouthCubbington
Woods.Despiteappealstotunnelbeneath
itsancienttrees– whichsitonhigh
groundabovetheRiverLeam– theline
willslicethroughthem.HS2plansto
translocateCubbington’ssoilstomaximise
thechanceofcreatinggoodhabitat
elsewhere.Translocationis unproven:
therehasbeenjustoneBritishstudyof
translocatinganancientwoodland(fora
road)andits10-yearexaminationofthe
impactsis notlongenough,accordingto
Ryan.Shesaysit is nowthewrongtime
ofyeartotranslocatesoil:bestpracticeis
forHS2towaituntillateautumn.Will
they?Thesekindofdetailsare
yettobedecided.Thereis
nolegalobligationfor
HS2tofollowbest
practiceinthiscase.Di erentphases
WhiletheLondon-
Birminghamline
is nowunder
construction,
Phase2a,from
Birminghamto
Crewe,is stillbeing
finalised.Thelongest
stretch,the280kmphase
2bfromBirminghamtoLeeds
andCrewetoManchester,is now
beingrevisedbythegovernment.HS2has
beencriticisedforitsspirallingprice-tag,
andpoliticiansaredeterminedtocut
costs.Phase2bthreatensmoreSitesof
SpecialScientificInterestthanthefirst
phase,buttheroute’senvironmental
statementshowinghowit willcompensate
is notnowexpectedthisyear.Intheory,
a redesigntocutcostsmightseeexisting
linesutilisedforsomeoftheroute,
which could savewildlife.ButRyanfearstheworst.
“Weknowfrom
bitterexperience
thatif costsneedto be
cut,thefirstthingsto go
arethecomplexengineering
solutionsthatsavea littlebitof
greenspace,”shesays.
NikkiWilliamsoftheWildlifeTrusts
saysthecharitywillcontinuetochallenge
HS2’sapproachtobothplanningand
construction.TheTrustarguesthatHS2’s
“nonetloss”pledgeis unachievable
undercurrentplans.“We’renotasking
foranythingthatis notrealistic,”says
Williams.“We’redemonstratingwhat
needstohappenif theyarenot
goingtodestroygreatswathsof
theenvironmentanddisrupta
naturerecovery
network.”
Inparticular,
theWildlife
Trustsis keento
improveHS2’s
“mitigation”.In
Cheshire,HS2
is proposing
compensatory
treeplanting
ontraditional
orchards, whicharea conservationpriority.Elsewhere,it
hasproposedtoplanttreesonspecies-
richgrasslandandwetlands– actually
worseningimportantwildlifehabitats.
Andit remainsunclearwhowillmanage
HS2’scompensationlandinthefuture,
orwhetherit willbeprotected.Woodlandsandwildflowers
AnotherHS2policythatwildlifecharities
arecontestingis thedestructionof
ancientwoodlandsandwildflower
meadowsforinterimconstruction
works.“We’restillseeingtemporary
worksputintoirreplaceablehabitats,”
saysWilliams.“Wecannotlosevaluable
habitatsfortemporaryconstruction
accessroads– it’sjustnotacceptable.”
AsChrisBainessaid,wildlifegains
frombiginfrastructurehavehistorically
onlyarrivedbyaccident– withwaterways
providedbycanals,ortherewildingof
abandonedrailwaysaftertheBeeching
cuts.MostwildlifeexpertsbelieveHS2
is leavingtoomuchtoluck.Butthose
challengingHS2stillhopethatthereis a
chancetoimprovetherailway’simpact
on Britain’s already ailing wildlife.PATRICKBARKHAM
writesaboutnatureandthe
environmentforThe Guardian.Train: HS2 Ltd: tree: Frances Wilmot; protest: Barcroft/Getty36 BBC Wildlife April 2020NEWS FEATURE
Above:the
Cubbington
peartreeis
toohollowto
berelocated
andwillbe
destroyedby
HS2.Right:
‘StopHS2’
activists
protestedin
Londoninearly
February.