With urban greenspaces, ancient woodland and internationally important wetland and coastline, Hastings and Rye constituency has some spectacular places for wildlife. You can download the Hastings and Rye Constituency Map to look more closely.

We want the next government to commit to our top 5 priorities for action on nature. Here are some local examples of the importance of these priorities in your constituency.

Enable Healthy Communities

Improving access to natural, wildlife-rich places where we live, learn and work will transform people’s lives, improving health, happiness, and hope across communities. The Rye Harbour Discovery Centre is accessible to all. Local school children explore the reserve developing a deeper appreciation for the environment and their role in protecting it. Whilst volunteers work alongside our staff to manage the nature reserve and provide access to the local community. Access to a clean and healthy environment is a basic human right that should be guaranteed through law.

End River Pollution and Water Scarcity

This constituency contains a much-loved and well-used coastline, but water pollution is impacting people and wildlife. It’s not just about sewage overflows, the way we manage our land and where and how we build, affects what runs into our rivers and out into the sea. These sediments and pollutants combine with those caused by destructive activities in the water such as dredging and development, which creates poor water quality and can smother marine habitats, making it hard for wildlife to thrive. We need integrated land-use planning, innovative methods of capturing water and proper funding for wildlife-friendly farming that creates space for water and reduces the amount of sediments and pollution ending up in our rivers and seas.

Tackle the climate emergency

We know our seas are warming, with high sea-surface temperatures predicted to become commonplace by 2050. In Sussex, warming seas may cause marine animals and plants to relocate to cooler waters, changing the makeup of our undersea wildlife. This will almost certainly have knock-on implications for the wider ecosystem as well as commercially important fish species, although there are many unknowns. The coastline of this constituency is also vulnerable to sea level rises and storm surges. We need urgent action on climate change to reverse this trend and restoring nature can make a massive contribution.

Sussex Wildlife Trust members in this constituency: 1,852

Tell your election candidates you care about nature - we've set up a simple email action to help you contact all your election candidates and let them know why nature matters to you. Thank you for your support!