In part one of this blog I spoke about Iolo’s passionate speech about his local patch. It left the room buzzing after he walked off stage. There were two more addresses to come; it was going to be a tough act to follow.
Dr Trevor Dines of Plantlife Cymru was next up, after a short introduction by RSPB Cymru Director Katie-Jo Luxton. His speech was just as passionate as Iolo’s, and struck as much resonance as he “bigged it up” for those species that are in as much as a stark decline but just don’t get the press that a bird species gets. No one really notices declining numbers of mosses, lichens or certain flowering plants, but the message of the interconnectivity of these ecosystems was drilled home. You cannot remove blocks of it without there being consequences. He also thanked the thousands of volunteers for all their help in the counting and surveying all the species across the twenty five organisations, without whom there would be no report to launch. It was another lump in the throat time for me, I had nothing to do with the production of The State of Nature, but you do realise that the little that you do when helping the RSPB or any of the other NGO’s is important.
Finally, Alun Davies AM, the minster responsible for the Environment in Wales spoke on how he was committed to doing all that he could in the light of this report. Sensing the mood in the room he also asked for meetings to be set up to try and form a joint response in time for the Royal Welsh Show in July. This was not a night for "fluffy" conservation. This was the sharp end of the stick. We had a live link up with Sir David Attenborough in London following the speeches from Iolo Williams,Trevor Dines and Alun Davies; he used the phrase "a call to arms". That was what the evening was all about. This is a line in the sand. The whole report gets repeated in four or five years’ time. The time for talking has ended; the time for action has begun. We are destroying the very ecosystem we rely on to provide our everyday needs.
The RSPB prides itself on having “a million voices for nature” isn’t it time we started our voices and make people listen, and more importantly see the damage that is happening. The next time you see a petition you agree with sign it, don’t put it off until tomorrow. A few simple clicks on the internet can be so powerful now. There is going to be massive doubling of effort by the conservation groups after this report, and they need our help.
I have one RSPB pin badge that has pride of place on my best jacket’s lapel. I could have chosen any of the fantastic designs that are available, but I thought long and hard about the one that means the most to me when I look at it. I chose the House Sparrow, the one bird that defines population decline to me more than any other. The fact it is called House Sparrow because of how closely our lives and have intertwined from our days of being rural dwellers to urbanisation, and how we have contributed to its perilously state of survival is a tragedy unfolding before this generations very eyes.
From the House Sparrow to the common bumblebee; from the meadow plants and butterflies to our seabirds and the marine environment around this wonderful coastline of ours; from the woodlands and heathlands, they are all under threat; we are at war with them. We will be the eventual losers. It's a sobering thought isn't it....?
It’s not too late to do something … but only just …
As a footnote to this blog, I wrote another version of this for my own personal daily photo blog. A quote from it has been placed in a time capsule along with a copy of The State of Nature and other relevant items at RSPB Conwy. You can read about that by clicking this link.
The full speeches from the evening have now been uploaded to the RSPB YouTube Channel .. they can be accessed from this blog.
All Images © Anthony Walton