Blogger: Erica Howe, Communications Manager
Perhaps David Cameron should take some tips from our very own Paul Lambert. Norwich City hasn’t exactly had an easy time over the last few years. It takes a lot to bounce back from a losing streak, to get your head into gear and stay positive. Next year will be a true test for our green and yellow army, but full respect has to go to them for playing their socks off this year and earning their place with the big boys.
Last week I walked my usual route home from work, a typical Tuesday evening. In my head I was concocting what we would have for dinner, but something was different, the city was buzzing. A swarm of NCFC shirts, scarves and flags breezed past me as children, families, couples, grandparents all took to the streets beaming with pride for their local team. As the cheering and singing echoed around the city centre, through the empty market stalls and over the tree tops, I started thinking about how amazing it was to see people coming together like this. If we could bottle the passion and pride that Norwich's Green and Yellow Army have and use it for conservation then we could do some truly amazing things.
Some might say that the battle to save our natural world is in a totally different league. With government squabbling about how reduce co2 targets, how to be the ‘greenest government ever’, are we losing sight of what really lies ahead? Unless we get our heads down, be realistic and focus on the long term goal, we will end up spiralling into a relegation situation. I can’t see anyone coming out to dance in the streets because we’ve let ourselves and the environment down, again.
Tomorrow is International Biodiversity Day. Perhaps not the most glamorous of occasions, but it’s a vital marker for our natural world. How many of us will go about our merry way this weekend blissfully unaware that our natural world is screaming out for help. Cries that seem to be falling on deaf ears. What will it take for the Cameron/Clegg duo to listen to the big stars of our natural world; the cuckoos, the house sparrows, the bumble bees, the bluebell woods, that are sadly all facing the relegation zone?
When you’re at the bottom of the ladder, you have to fight the hardest. Nature has never ever needed a bigger voice and it needs your help. There are many ways that you can Step Up For Nature this International Biodiversity Day. Let’s get our fighting spirit alive again and make our natural world richer tomorrow than it is today – our grandchildren will thank us for it.
To see how you can help give nature a bigger voice visit www.rspb.org.uk/steppingup/
Article in Eastern Daily Press on Saturday 21st May 2011
Flock of knot. Photo Credit: Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)