Er mwyn darllen y blog yma yng Nghymraeg cliciwch yma os gwelwch yn dda
The 2017 Royal Welsh Show was like a ‘saving nature’ safari - between the butterfly face painting, families pond-dipping, pin badge treasure hunting, and wild flowers blooming. One might have seen politicians sat on hay bales chatting with farmers and note-scribblers whilst sipping on a cup of tea. Our four days at the Royal Welsh Show were filled with activities that brought people together to discover, value, and protect nature. Here is a recap of what we got up to and the legacies they left for the future.
Wildlife detectives
Family activities were on throughout the week to share how awe-inspiring and fascinating nature is. We found newts, dragonfly larvae, freshwater snails and water boatmen amongst other tiny creepy crawlies. We had wildlife detectives inspecting barn owl pellets to find out what kind of food the owls need on the farm to survive - it was amazing how many mice we found in just one! We also made dragonflies with pipe cleaners and beads, as well as colouring in and wildlife face painting.
Working with politicians to save nature
Over the course of the show, we met with the UK Government’s Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, Under-Secretary of State for Wales, Guto Bebb, and new MP for Cardiff North, Anna McMorrin, to talk about nature-laws post-Brexit and how farmers will receive payments for managing our land sustainably when we leave the Common Agricultural Policy. All were positive meetings, but there is still plenty to be done to ensure we secure the best deal for nature.
On Monday we saw chough species champion, Rhun ap Iorwerth AM, who popped in with his son to do a bit of pond dipping. On Tuesday we saw the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs (CCERA) Committee as they launched their new forestry report. Whilst on Wednesday we met with swift species champion, Jenny Rathbone AM, and ash tree species champion, David Melding AM, at the launch of CCERA Committee’s new ‘Rethinking Food in Wales’ consultation.
We supported a Wales Environment Link event, as they launched the network’s ‘Vision for Sustainable Land Management in Wales’ (#Vision4Wales), which drew a crowd of over 100 people. Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, spoke to the audience about what a brilliant example this was of partnership working to build a better future for people and nature in Wales. Chris Baines, leading environmentalist, television presenter and author, summed up the vision with an inspiring speech, before we all filtered out for tea and cake in the sunshine.
Working with farmers to save nature
We met with farmers from across Wales, including members of Fferm Ifan and Fairness for the Uplands, spoke to young farmers who were interested in wildlife friendly farming. RSPB Cymru Director, Katie-Jo Luxton, sat on an NFU panel alongside the Wildlife Trust and other farming unions, to talk about the future of farming and the environment. RSPB’s Global Conservation Director, Martin Harper, also joined us at the show, and published a fantastic blog on the farming post-Brexit and how the Barnett formula could affect Wales.
National Trust and RSPB Cymru also signed a pledge on Monday to work together on the Ysbyty Estate in north Wales. This involves both charities working closely with farmers in the area to deliver landscape-scale conservation and is a huge step for Welsh nature. On the same day, we also signed the CLA’s Countryside Matters Campaign – a brilliant example of how farming unions and conservationists can work towards the same goals for our planet.
The Royal Welsh Show was packed with a variety of things to see and do, but most importantly, every day included steps that helped save nature in the long run. We are really looking forward to seeing even more people next year and continuing on our journey to bring even more people closer to nature and wildlife.