Nature needs your help

I ddarllen hwn yn Gymraeg cliciwch yma

Tell Welsh Government to put action for nature in its recovery plan

You can do this by sending a letter in response to the public consultation open right now.  

Natural Resources Minister, Carl Sargeant, and his Welsh Government officials are developing a Nature Recovery Plan and new legislation, the Environment (Wales) Bill.  The policy plan and new law could go a long way towards saving nature. But there’s a problem.

There’s not enough action in the plan to meet nature’s needs.

Bizarrely, the Nature Recovery Plan doesn’t say much about how we’re going to achieve nature’s recovery. There is very little action included in the plan.  In contains many good words, but it doesn’t show the commitment to action or access to funding that will make the difference nature needs.

Instead Welsh Government has pinned its hope for nature’s recovery on an idea called “natural resource management”.  This proposes to integrate plans and policies to join up the different ways people work across the environment in Wales, from farmers to fishermen, conservationists to construction workers.  This joined up approach makes sense and is necessary. But Government is missing the point if they focus on process at the expense of action for nature in our fields, wetlands, seas and mountains.  On its own, Welsh Government’s “natural resource management” is not enough to bring back our wildlife.

For nature to recover, it needs strong leadership from Government:

• The Nature Recovery Plan must include a fully funded plan of action on the ground to restore our most precious and threatened wildlife, and create space for nature in our network of special sites, and across our wider countryside and seas. Monitoring measures must be included so we can see whether we’re meeting nature’s needs.

• The Environment (Wales) Bill needs to use its power to unite society to save nature. It must set long-term legally binding targets for nature’s recovery, and declare it a duty of all public bodies “to further the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity” in their activities. With these points enshrined in law, action for nature will be a priority in Wales.

Help put action in the Nature Recovery Plan.  The RSPB has over 50,000 members in Wales and there are thousands more nature lovers.  You are not a lone voice, but one of tens of thousands of Welsh people who care passionately about our natural environment, and your voice is important.  Join us in speaking up loud and clear for birds and wildlife in Wales by telling Welsh Government to include action for nature in the Nature Recovery Plan. 

Email or post your letter to Welsh Government by Wednesday 3 December to biodiversity@wales.gsi.gov.uk or Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Branch, Rhodfa Padarn, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3UR.

To help you, here are four points you may like to include in your letter:

• We need a fully funded plan of action that meets nature’s needs.  Welsh Government thinks our wildlife will recover because a new approach called “Natural Resource Management” will integrate policies and plans to change the way people work across the environment in Wales. This process may go some way to help, but on its own it is not enough.

• Improving our network of special places and most threatened and precious wildlife is essential. We need Welsh Government to invest in restoring our special sites and priority species and habitats.  Our sites must be bigger, better and more connected and our threatened and precious wildlife restored.  Commitment to improving these crucial nature conservation tools in the Nature Recovery Plan is essential.

• Investment in scientific evidence is essential. We need to be able to see what’s working and what’s not – monitoring the condition of sites and trends for a full range of species and habitats is essential. This helps us see nature’s needs and ensures we’re using the right tools for the job. We can’t restore the nature we’ve lost if we can’t see what we’re doing.

• Welsh Government must show strong leadership and ambition by making it law to achieve nature’s recovery. We need the Environment (Wales) Bill to enshrine in law long-term legally binding targets that promise to reverse declines in nature. We need the law to also declare it a duty of all public bodies “to further the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity” in their activities. This will give nature recovery the power it needs to succeed.

Please help us monitor the progress of our campaign – email or post a copy of your letter to Heather Galliford, Conservation Officer (Policy and Campaigns) at campaigns.wales@rspb.org.uk or RSPB Cymru, Sutherland House, Castlebridge, Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF11 9AB.

To receive more information about our campaigns and find out how to get involved visit – http://www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/campaignwithus/

Thank you for joining us to make a difference and speak up for nature