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I’ve been in York at a roadshow with colleagues planning work around our new campaign, Stepping Up for Nature. (Here’s our new web page – one I hope you will want to come back to).
We shared a session where we started to work on some of the stories we want to tell. Stories of passionate people who’ve made a difference. Being in York meant there was no shortage of material – Yorkshire is full of examples of places saved by the actions of individuals stepping up for nature. The history of our nature reserves at Fairburn Ings and Old Moor (amongst several others) is a rich heritage of local action. I want to come back to these stories one day in these posts – they certainly inspired me when I first volunteered and then worked in the county.
One of our challenges is always striking the balance between highlighting the scale of the threats and losses faced by the natural world and accentuating the positive and focussing on the great stories that demonstrate that real positive change is possible. It isn’t really a choice – as we will be doing both, but yesterday was most definitely on the positive side.
Just in case there was any risk of underplaying the risks, on the way back from York I picked up the news of yet another maritime accident – the wrecking, last Wednesday, of the vessel MS Olivia on the coast of Nightingale Island (part of Tristan de Cunha) and a paradise for seabirds. (Here's the coverage in the Guardian)
The vessel was shipping soya beans and somehow ended up hitting the coast of this small island – the good news is that the crew are safe. Oil from the ship is leaking and there are reports that it has already circled the island and is affecting the northern rockhopper penguins. Half the world’s population of this endangered bird nest on Nightingale Island.
Oiled rockhoppers - picture Trevor Glass
Add to the toxic tide of oil the risk of rats leaving the ship and making it to the island – and this has the makings of a disaster. The Tristan Conservation Department has reacted quickly and put bait traps out at the closest landfall to the wreck.
Nightingale Island is part of one of the UK's overseas territories - though a long way away the
It’s a time likes these that the fragility of the natural world is highlighted – and the scale of the battle that guys like Trevor Glass the Tristan Conservation Officer, are facing.
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More haste less speed! You may have noticed a I left a sentence hanging in the air. What I was going on to say was that this dreadful incident has been easier (if that's the right word) because of the South Atlantic Invasive Species project which meant that they were prepared to respond. Too often the wildlife of the UK overseas territories (UKOTs)are out of sight and out of mind - but they are part of the UK's international responsibility to safegaurding nature world-wide. There is a real role for DEFRA to play by providing dedicated support to the UKOTs.