A guest blog from our Director of Campaigns and Mobilisation, Alice Hardiman, introducing you to our new team.
The founders of the RSPB were campaigners. For decades, around the turn of the 20th Century, the focus of the charity was solely campaigning – for the end of the plumage trade that was pushing bird species around the world toward extinction.
In the century since the Plumage Act came into effect, the RSPB has added to the tools we use to save nature – we’ve bought and managed nature reserves, we research the challenges facing nature, we help species recover and we develop nature-positive policies which we seek to persuade governments to take on board. But campaigning has remained a key part of what we do, and it has been instrumental in critical wins for nature like ensuring our most important wildlife sites remain protected in law, and securing legally binding targets for nature’s recovery.
As we look at the stretch needed to set nature on the path to recovery, it is clear we need campaigning, and the voices of the millions who love nature, more than ever. To help us achieve that goal, we have over recent months invested in building our campaigning team at RSPB UKHQ - a team that will work closely with existing campaigns colleagues in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
I am delighted today to tell you more about the new team
Firstly, our Systems Change Campaigning will tackle big systemic problems facing nature and climate across the UK. The team’s initial and primary focus will be on the UK farming system. We know that farmers are central to nature’s recovery, and we will need your support to help us unblock obstacles for farmers who want to shift to being nature-friendly.
Secondly, our cross-UK Policy Campaigning will take the lead in holding governments across the UK to account for their commitments to nature’s recovery by 2030. The team will campaign for policy shifts that take us closer toward meeting these commitments, and against those that take us further away.
Thirdly, our Community Campaigning & Mobilisation will be supercharging the communities we engage in our campaigning. The team will be evolving and updating the ways we engage and support our campaigners, providing training and guidance for those keen to take on new and different campaigning actions.
Fourthly, our Youth Mobilisation, where the team have already overseen the launch of the successful new pilot of free youth access to our reserves. The team will be bringing young people closer into the work of the RSPB and our campaigning in particular, to support and empower young people to use their powerful voices for nature.
The most important part of our campaigning force is you, our supporters
Without your action and your voice, our campaigning would be nothing. Campaigning is about people power, about providing opportunities for those who love nature to use their voice to speak truth to power. Whether you’re new to campaigning with the RSPB or you’ve been taking action with us for years, thank you for everything you’ve done. We hope to inspire you to campaign in new and different ways over the coming years.