And what have you done, another year over....
I heard John Lennon's Happy Christmas on the radio and it prompted me to consider what the RSPB London team has done this year. Well, it ended on a high with snowflake the albino robin on Hampstead Heath. To use the proper term, snowflake is leucistic rather than albino; with patches of white. It's quite rare to see birds like this.
Over the past twelve months in London, we've: delivered lessons on nature and wildlife to more than 15,000 children; helped set-up a new RSPB Local Group for people in north east London; introduced some 31,000 people to the peregrine falcons living wild in London from our viewing area outside the Tate Modern, launched a new research project to restore house sparrow numbers in the Capital, building on the work of the ongoing house sparrow research project; and, welcomed some 40,000 people to our Rainham Marshes nature reserve at Purfleet.
It's an impressive list of achievements, but we don't think it's enough and will be working harder in 2009 to speak-up for London's wildlife. Making sure there are enough houses for people to live in, with easy access to schools, hospitals, public transport, work and the services we all need is a major task in an ever expanding London. Making sure wildlife also gets access to food and shelter is often overlooked, yet urban wildlife is essential for our mental health and well-being. Ensuring there is ample green space for people and wildlife is not only a good investment by a civil society, it's also a money saver when it comes to improving air quality and helping to prevent flash flooding. The green spaces help absorb rainfall and trees and plants filter pollutants and generate oxygen and of course, it all provide us with space to pause and take stock of our lives.
London is an amazing place for wildlife. Think of it as a patchwork quilt. It has squares of meadow, squares of woodland and of water. Marshes, heaths, orchards, gardens and farmland all have a place in this mosaic, alongside the steel, tarmac, concrete and glass. There's probably a greater variety of wildlife concentrated in this area than you'll find in many other parts of the UK. I'm not saying London is equivalent to the mass of wildlife in a tropical rainforest, just that there are lots and lots of plants, bugs, birds and other wild things that have made London their home.
At one event in inner London I spent a few minutes chatting with a young boy and pointing out some of the bugs and birds we could see. He said thanks and ran-off, reappearing a few minutes later with his Mum. It turned out she was a single-mother with three young children. They've lived in London for twelve years now, since she arrived from Africa. Her son pointed out the things we'd just been looking at and proclaimed: "This is the best day of my life!" It turns out that boy and his Mum hadn't previously had the opportunity to look at the wildlife around them and no one to explore it with. They've now got a whole new world to discover together on their doorstep.
Now if that doesn't inspire you to stop and take time to enjoy the wild side of London, then please help others to enjoy it by either supporting our work or by doing something simple, such as feeding wildlife or leaving some clean drinking water out for birds and other creatures. Here's wishing you and nature a very happy New Year.