At the end of a very busy year for conservation, Jo Gilbert, Conservation Programmes Director at the RSPB reflects on some of the stories that we’ve been sharing here on the Conservation Action blog.
It’s been just over four months since we re-started blogging on the Conservation Action platform and over that time we’ve seen a fantastic variety of blogs from colleagues and partners in the UK and overseas.
The variety of stories that we’ve been privileged to share is testament to the sheer range of work that the RSPB is doing to save nature.
We’ve heard stories from our nature reserves – on how we’ve been working to slow the flow of water through woodlands, so that they are able to hold onto water for longer and benefit wildlife. Continuing the woodland theme, we learnt about the Woodland Wildlife Toolkit – a fantastic online toolkit that is helping land managers to look after their woodlands and help resident wildlife. And let’s not forget the amazing work that RSPB Scotland are doing as part of the LIFE 100% project to help Choughs, where livestock management (and dung!) forms an important piece in the puzzle of helping these red-beaked wonders.
Read more about our work to support Chough in Scotland and the important role of livestock management, here. © Hannah Sharratt.
It has been wonderful to virtually travel overseas and hear from partners in the UK Overseas Territories who are working to protect some of the UK’s most vulnerable and unique wildlife. We’ve celebrated the cloud forest restoration work on St Helena and been inspired by actions in Tristan da Cunha to protect the ocean, restore the native Phylica forest and prevent invasive species from reaching these remote and biodiverse islands in the South Atlantic.
Read more about work to restore native Phylica forest on Tristan da Cunha here. © Natasha Glass.
We’ve learnt of the importance of key landscapes – including the fight to save the largest continuous wetland in the Caribbean from destruction – the Central Mangrove Wetland in the Cayman Islands. And we celebrated the biodiversity-rich hotspot that is the Harapan Rainforest in Indonesia, and how organisations have come together to protect it.
Find out more about work to save the Central Mangrove Wetland on Grand Cayman here. © @CaymanIslandsMangroveRangers.
We’ve heard from colleagues who are working with businesses and industries to help to create a world that’s richer in nature. From work in the urban environment to make sustainable and wildlife-friendly towns and cities to out on golf courses where we’re working to deliver greener, wildlife-rich spaces, it is really inspiring to see how we’re helping others to take action.
Read about our work to support nature in the built environment here. © John Day.
Saving species is key to our work at the RSPB and our blogs have reflected that. We’ve travelled to the Caribbean to discover how the RSPB is helping to save rare Rock Iguanas and we’ve soared to the flyway of the Egyptian Vulture in Europe, the Middle East and Africa where huge steps forward have been made for this remarkable migratory vulture.
Discover how we've been working with partners to support Egyptian Vulture conservation here. © Vladimir Dobrev.
We’ve celebrated people coming together too – both at the 100th anniversary celebrations of the BirdLife Partnership – an incredible gathering of conservation organisations from across the world. And we had an insight into the workings of the Pan-African Ornithological Congress that brought together over 300 people from 60 nations to discuss bird conservation in Africa.
Find out more about the Pan-African Ornithological Congress here. © Ian Barber.
What’s remarkable is there’s so much more to talk about. We look forward to bringing you inspiring news and insights from across our work in 2023.
It has been a busy and challenging year for conservation but we’ve achieved a great deal as our stories show. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to these blogs, and thanks to you, for reading them. We hope to inspire and enthuse – nature is in crisis but together we can save it.
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