Kate Jennings has been at the heart of our campaign to save the laws that protect nature - she will be speaking at our AGM and Members' Day in London on 10 October - here's a flavour of what she'll be saying about this important campaign.
It goes without saying that the audience at our AGM and Members’ Day gets nature ... and in a big way. I’ll be stating the obvious when I say that a cornerstone of nature conservation is effective laws that make a difference – but I’ll say it anyway as an introduction to a campaign that has been keeping many of us busy during 2015.
Since 1979 birds and the places they depend upon have been safer and better protected by the European Birds Directive – this was joined by the Habitats Directive in 1992 – and together they form the European Nature Directives which have transformed our ability to tackle some of the greatest threats to nature.
Imagine a world in which campaigns to save our most special places for nature were doomed to failure as short term needs and economic growth were always given precedence over our nature and wild places, where crimes against wildlife went unpunished, where we have less capacity to restore habitats, and give the species that depend on them a home; a world not unlike the dark days of the 1970s when conservationists often seemed to do little more that bear witness to the headlong loss of wildlife.
The Nature Directives are currently under review and in danger of weakening – a setback for wildlife that we cannot afford.
As politicians strive for economic recovery across Europe – nature stands at risk. Add to that the zeal for de-regulation and the risk becomes a clear and present danger. But the case that protecting wildlife hampers our economy doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
We’ve embarked on a major campaign with BirdLife International in Europe, WWF, Friends of the Earth and the European Environment Bureau to Defend Nature and safeguard the laws that protect wildlife – we’ve amassed the evidence (from the UK over 100 organisations took part), we’ve lined up progressive businesses to support our call to back off from unpicking the most successful legal framework for nature in the world. And we lined up over 520,000 individuals across 28 countries to support our campaign.
You may be one of them – and if you join us in London I’ll thank you personally because together we’ve delivered the biggest campaign the European Commission has ever received.
So is it all over? Far from it. Making a strong case and demonstrating public support is just the first step and we will need to keep the pressure on, the spot light on the issue and be ready to call on you and our wonderful supporters again over the coming months and in the New Year.
Have you ever been to our AGM and Members’ Weekend? We’d love to see you there on 10 October at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center in London – here’s the details.