Er mwyn darllen y blog yma yng Nghymraeg cliciwch yma os gwelwch yn dda
The past month has been jam-packed with activity about farming, nature and how we manage our land. The Welsh Government announced their new vision for land management policy (a green paper that lays the foundations for our new law on how we manage our land, including farming, forestry, water, and conservation), and the agricultural shows have started, including the biggest of them all, the Royal Welsh Show. Filled with family activities, food to try, animals on parade, farmers and politicians to talk to – we couldn’t not join in!
You can find us there from 23-26 July in the Countryside Care Area, stand CC775 on the map. Join us to ‘make your wish for nature’ and explore the beautiful field of wildflowers and grassland on our stand as we celebrate our precious pollinators. We’ll be hosting fun family activities from pond dipping and owl pellet dissection to nature themed face painting. Our membership team will be on hand to answer any questions and help even more people to get closer to nature. The RSPB shop will also be selling a range of gifts, books, toys, bird feeders and much more so you can help give nature a home.
Our staff will also be meeting politicians and farmers at the Show to talk about the future of farming in Wales. Brexit and farming will be the talk of the town – we all want to be able to visualise what life will be like outside of the EU. It is very timely that the Welsh Government have released their new Green Paper, Brexit and Our Land, outlining what our new policy will look like; it’s a perfect opportunity to promote the 12-week public consultation that they’ve launched so people can have their say on the plans. (You can find out more about the consultation here. Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks when we’ll tell you what we think about the Government’s plans and provide lots of guidance on how you can contribute to the consultation.)
Although we are experiencing a time of great uncertainty, it is also a time of great opportunity; if we work together we can build the future we all want for Wales. Critically for nature, this means changing the laws and policies that govern our land so they restore nature rather than deplete it.
As part of this new conversation about our land and our future, RSPB Cymru has teamed up with CLA Cymru, National Trust, Wildlife Trusts Wales, Coed Cadw (Woodland Trust) and WWF Cymru to host an event that demonstrates a united vision. We share the same goals - as farmers, land owners and managers, rural businesses, unions and conservationists – to keep our people on the land so our rural communities, economy ad nature thrives. For a very long time the farming and environment sectors have been pitted against each other, but this is our time to put our differences aside and work together for the greater good.
It’s an exciting time, with even more to look forward to in the next few months. More amazing food and farming events over the summer like the Pembrokeshire County Show, Abergavenny Food Festival, Conwy Food Festival, the Anglesey Agricultural Show – there are so many opportunities to continue this discussion. You can find our membership teams at these events too, with pin badges galore and free goodies with every membership.
If you want to know more about RSPB Cymru at the Royal Welsh Show, or if you have any other questions, please contact cymru@rspb.org.uk.