Somerset Wildlife Trust has hit out at the government ‘cutting red tape’ that they say helps protect our countryside.

It comes after the retained EU law bill was introduced into the House of Commons by business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, which will reform and revoke hundreds of laws that have their origins in policies from the European Union. Many of these laws provide environmental protections for air quality, rivers, wildlife and food standards.

The Director of Public Affairs and Marine Conservation at the trust, Joan Edwards, wrote in a blog post: “We face an urgent nature and climate crisis. But instead of a plan for nature’s recovery on land and at sea, the UK government is pursuing a dangerous agenda of deregulation that puts the very laws protecting wildlife at risk.”

Speaking to the Wellington Weekly this week, Simon Clarke head of Nature Recovery at the trust said: “We are concerned about some of the messages we are getting from the government.

“The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We need assurances that the laws in place to protect nature and nature recovery are not degraded.

“There is a place in the landscape for farming, nature and economic growth but we need to make sure that the nature isn’t lost in the process.”

Mr Clarke added that the trust’s work would be “carrying on as usual” but added: “We have got some concerns about the long term plan but we have recently been assured that a lot of our current projects are still going ahead.”

Although the government has not announced any plans for changes to these laws so far, Rees-Mogg did recently announce a change in the ban on fracking.

The change has been slammed by many experts as dangerous to the environment, carrying a risk of earthquakes in areas near the Quantock and mendip Hills, two potential sites for fracking.