I'd like to talk to you about footballer Rxxx Xxxxx, but that's old news now.
I want an injunction on sustainability, then maybe we'd see some interest from our news media in the shocking state (and decline) of our wildlife. I admit we're not talking sexy species like tigers and elephants, but vanishing grasses, bugs and yes even some birds is pretty bad news.
In London, we're losing house sparrows, tree sparrows, swifts, black redstarts and many other common species. We know from research that there are some basic things that can be done quickly and cheaply, but our sense of urgency when talking to the media is dismissed as, "oh, that's just another bird ringing story (a BBC TV producer's comment on our tree sparrow project). Or. "I can't see the news angle in that," ( the opinion of an editor working for a well known London freesheet on our partnership project to support and track swifts).
I appreciate that there's a global economic crisis, big foreign stories, visiting presidents and debates on privacy, but isn't there also room for stories on the way we're losing bits of our natural world? Bits of the natural world that, in one way or another, form part of the cycle of life that keeps us alive!
Slapping an injunction on the word sustainability would highlight next months National Ecosystems Assessment by the UK Government. We're trying to encourage Chancellor Osbourne to build sustainability in to policy and gagging the media would be a sure-fire way to get the S word on everyone's lips. It's a simple enough ask, ensuring that Government policy and spending put equal emphasis on economic, social and environmental outcomes.
That way, the Olympic Park, High Speed Rail Two and other big projects would have to deliver benefits on all three areas.
That surely is something we'd all like to shout about.
Hi- we all jump up and down to save rain forests and species in vanishing habitat BUT ...
Dartford warblers in natural heathland habitat are being fragmented across southern england- they are in the same situation as more exotic spp.
S
Hi Tim,
I absolutely understand what you mean regarding all your points.
We know how to help certain birds such as birds of prey with Peregrines, Red Kites and Ospreys all benefitting from the action taken from conservation bodies, local councils and the support of residents and grants etc.
Education I think has to be the key here, young people learning about the world around them, industry being educated on their impact from pollution to the building industry providing nesting areas as standard for these birds.
One area in which the man on the street now has a voice is social networking media, If these issues can make it big on these sites then the press will have to get involved and it can only be a good thing, far more interesting and certainly more important than certain footballers love lives!
H