Great Big Green Week is the biggest collective movement to tackle climate change and protect nature in the UK. Towards the end of September, RSPB NI got involved with Northern Ireland’s only nature and climate festival, Climate Craic, an event that aims to create positive, cross-community engagement with climate action.
During the event, our staff and Youth Campaigners had a stall, to showcase what individuals can do to make an impact locally for the nature and climate crisis. Over the course of the day, we spoke to thousands of visitors, with over 200 people potting a plant and nearly 300 people creating a pledge for nature. It was an incredibly inspiring day, with many highlights.
Campaigning for Change
As part of our #NaturePositiveNI campaign, we’ve been encouraging people to take actions in their lives to make a difference locally.
At Climate Craic we showed people how to grow their own veg, even with a small space. Growing food minimises how many crops we consume from places further away, reducing our food miles. In the summer months, growing fruit and veg is also brilliant for pollinators.
Since it’s Autumn and not a lot will be able to survive a long, harsh winter, we planted seeds that could grow easily on a windowsill and that would grow quite quickly, like herbs, cress, spinach, radish and even some edible flowers.
For many participants, it was their first time dabbling in dirt, potting up their own plants to take home and look after.
Making a promise to take action in their personal life, members of the public got creative and wrote pledges to protect nature. Here are just some of them…
Suzanna, age 8, said “I will reduce, reuse, recycle more”
Riya, age 10, says she “will plant more plants”
Henry, father of two, said he’d “start litter picking at his local beach with his kids”
Aimee, a student, pledged to simply “appreciate nature more”
Sisters Emily and Aliza pledged to “eat more nature-friendly food”
Mum, Samantha, said she’d “join a protest to spread awareness”
Betty, a student, pledged to “make a nature-friendly area in the university accommodation courtyard by putting up a birdbox and making a small pond”
Tim, keen birder from County Down, said he’s “starting a hedgehog highway with his neighbours”
Community empowerment drives action!
The Youth Campaigners did an incredible job of engaging with the public to promote nature-friendly actions. Handing out leaflets with our five steps to a Nature Positive NI, the group of 16-29 year olds helped to spread awareness about issues driving Northern Ireland’s biodiversity decline.
RSPB NI Policy Officer for Sustainable Agriculture, Ruairi Brogan, and Campaigning Communications Officer, Ruby Free, got involved in the Climate Craic Climate Chats. Climate Chats are informal, round table discussions where members of the public, individuals from eNGOs, scientists and environmentalists come together to debate and discuss environmental matters.
Covering several key topics; from nature-friendly farming to community campaigning, Ruairi and Ruby discussed how to help halt and reverse nature loss via nationwide education and collaboration. Talking about the actions people could take at RSPB NI’s stall that day, they showed how taking action into our own hands is vital if we want to see change. “Like seabirds, we have strength in numbers!”
The pair touched on the importance of nature and climate legislation, explaining how targets in law are vital for nature’s recovery. Following a discussion of Northern Ireland’s Climate Change Act, showcasing how people-power paid a key role in getting the act through, Ruby highlighted the need for legally binding targets and a biodiversity strategy that would halt nature’s decline by 2030. Emphasising the importance of campaigning she said, “we will be launching a campaign action when the draft strategy is released in a few months to ensure its ambitious enough – follow RSPB NI for more.”
Be sure to check out this wonderful video Climate Craic put together of the event. This is what happens when we come together - Climate Craic Festival 2022: Highlight Video - YouTube
We hope you had a wonderful #GBGW22. To find out more about Campaigning in Northern Ireland with RSPB, visit Nature Positive NI (rspb.org.uk)
To keep updated on all things Nature Positive NI, be sure to subscribe to our campaigns mailing list or if you’re between 13 – 29, why not become a Youth Campaigner?
For further inquiries on Nature Positive NI, contact campaigns.ni@rspb.org.uk