Happy New Year!
I’m in Oxford today for the Oxford Farming Conference. It’s a good way to start the year, catching up with those from the farming community that we have worked with in 2012 as well as some with whom we have crossed swords.
Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, will be speaking this morning and this afternoon we will hear the results of a review of farming's Value to Society (a piece of research co-sponsored by the RSPB).
I’ll say more about this tomorrow.
But for my first blog of the year, I thought I should start in more traditional way.
I’ve been having a tussle with a friend about the merits of new year resolutions. He’s against them, I’m agnostic. His argument, I think, is that new year resolutions set people up to fail – within days our great plans for diets, for greater botanical expertise, for serenity in the face of very loud children all collapse reinforcing a sense of unworthiness. His view is that we should reconcile ourselves to who we are, to our situation and live our lives as best we can.
Up to a point, I, of course, agree with him. But, when it comes to tackling the many environmental crises we face, I think that the new year is a good time to reflect on the challenges ahead, refocus and resolve, yes, resolve to make more a difference.
And a new year should bring new optimism. Inspired by Andrew Balmford’s excellent book, Wild Hope, and a lecture I heard him give at the Royal Society in December, I am determined this year to look for the positive impact that we and so many others in the nature conservation community are making both here and further afield.
Here are three great examples from late last year.
In September, work started on Europe’s largest coastal habitat project at Wallasea Island in the Thames Estuary. With great support from Crossrail, we plan to recreate 670 hectares of coastal habitat to provide home for tens of thousands of migratory birds while also combating the threats from climate change and coastal flooding. This is just one of a large number of major habitat recreation projects taking place across the UK and is a sign that as a society that, at last, we want to restore some of what we have lost.
In November, BirdLife International reported that the rate of decline of three Asian vultures (down 99% in 20 years) had slowed. This first sign of recovery is thanks to a huge effort from the Save Asia’s Vultures from Extinction coalition (which includes the RSPB).
And then in December, we celebrated the fact that Ascension frigatebirds had been found breeding again almost 180 years since it was last recorded on the UK Overseas Territory of Ascension Island. This was the result of a RSPB project (part-funded by the Foreign Office) to remove feral cats nearly a decade ago.
These three stories show what can be done. Like the many examples in Andrew’s book, they give us hope that despite the huge pressures facing the natural world, with wit, ingenuity and hard work we can make a difference.
So this year, I shall attempt to lighten the mood when faced with a wave of gloomy statistics about the state of the planet. I promise (even resolve) to sprinkle this blog with good news stories about how we (and others) are helping to make a difference and providing a lifeline to wildlife.
Have a great 2013.