A year ago, I gave you some wishes for 2011.
Perhaps some of them were a bit ambitious but let’s see how they turned out.
Wish 1. Dungeness is, finally, given the protection it deserves and is cherished both for its wildlife and as a great place to visit and get close to nature. We’ll have to roll that one on as we await the outcome of the public inquiry that ran through much of 2011.
Wish 2. In England we want the Natural Environment White Paper (NEWP) to be a landmark in the history of nature conservation and be the point at which the coalition Government adds meaning to it’s aspiration to be the greenest government ever. Two cheers for NEWP – coming out of the part of Government that doesn’t seem to regard being green as an ironic challenge!
Wish 3. The wildlife of Talbot Heath, in Poole, is not lost to the pressure of housing development. We await the outcome of a public inquiry ... keep wishing.
Wish 4. Wise decisions are taken on the Humber that enable port-related development to go ahead (with all the jobs that will create) while ensuring that the area’s natural environment is effectively protected and cherished. ABP have shown the way to do it with their Green Port Hull proposal ... showing that integrating good business with effective conservation is possible.
Wish 5. What do we want? Marine Protected Areas! When do we want them? Now (in other words 30 years after they were actually due). We were sadly disappointed as further delays were announced.
Wish 6. The Scottish Government says no to Hunterston and turns its back on dirty coal. It’s been a roller coaster of a year for Hunterston but ending positively with a clear rejection by Ayrshire Council ... but there is a way to go yet.
Wish 7. Mersey barrage? It was the wrong option 20 years ago – it’s the wrong option in 2011. Say no now. No was said – for now.
Wish 8. Letter to the Future hits new heights in terms of support. It did, you’re all fantastic. And we handed it to No 10 on the day we launched Stepping Up for Nature.
Wish 9. Our new campaign will build on the support of the hundreds of thousands of you who are already stepping up for nature – and you have and we are!
What no one envisaged a year ago was the degree to which the environment would be caricatured as a block on economic recovery by the highest levels of Government. There were stirrings the forests – but no sign of the wind of grassroots mobilisation in England that blew the doors of DEFRA off their hinges for a while. Planning (again in England) was in the spotlight – but the row over the En Pee Pee Eff (and the National Planning Policy Framework became know) was still months away.
Feels like 2011 was a grim year for the natural environment. I think that it will act as a stimulus to environment movement, to us all – it should, as the threats are real and growing.
There’s never been a more important time than this to step up for nature.
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