Blogger: Rachael Murray, Project Officer
As you will no doubt be aware following months of high profile press coverage, HMV, the UK's last surviving national music retailer, collapsed in January after months of financial crisis.
Today, national media the world over are giving prime media space to the announcement that HMV has been thrown a lifeline. International restructuring specialist, Hilco, are swooping in to save the day, and are confident that their £50 million investment will afford the much loved high street music chain a successful future.
What, you might reasonably be asking at this point, has this got to do with nature then?
Well, the news, its sheer prominence in our mass media, and the resulting investment by Hilco has got me thinking.
As a music lover, HMV has a special place in my heart because it has provided the soundtrack of my life. But so has nature. My life’s memories are infused with bird song. The sound of a robin’s cheery tune whilst eating newly unearthed worms as I plant my first tomato plants; the gentle song of a blackbird as I leave my house to walk to work in the mornings; the inimitable melody of a skylark hovering high above whilst on summer’s walk; the soaring call of gulls on a memorable weekend away by the coast.
Like HMV probably did, we have been able to do a sort of ‘profit & loss’ statement for our garden bird species, thanks to many of you taking part in our Big Garden Birdwatch Birdwatch 2013. This year, the data uncovered worrying indications that some of the UK's most threatened and best-loved bird species are continuing to decline*.
I’m sure that similarly ‘worrying indications’ eventually gave rise to HMV’s predicament back in January this year. However, unlike the positive turn of events for HMV, if we lose a species, a ‘restructuring specialist’ will not be able to do the business here.
To my mind, if HMV goes, there is always iTunes or some other online retailer, and the soundtrack to my life will play on. In short, there is an alternative. But until I can download a real, live long tailed tit from the internet (iBirds anyone?) there is no alternative for nature.
So, whilst safeguarding the jobs of many thousands of workers and keeping a much loved music industry afloat are indeed most laudable objectives, and ones that I wholeheartedly support, I would just ask that the same levels of investment are made in saving the ‘high street chains’ of our natural world – our garden bird species.
I appreciate that it is difficult to assess the return on such an investment, in comparison to financially backing a clearly priced commodity. But we must remember that nature doesn’t have a price tag, not because it isn’t worth anything, but because it is priceless.
I call for more front page news highlighting the desperate state of the populations of some of our most cherished species, more mainstream information on what the problems are and what we can all do to help (that includes you Mr Cameron!) and far greater investment in protecting wildlife in the long term. £50 million wouldn’t go amiss for starters!
For us mere mortals, individuals, who do not control the resources of the national media, Government policies or an international conglomerate, it can seem a real challenge to understand how we can help. But help we can.
Why not visit www.rspb.org.uk for more information on the challenges wildlife species face and good ideas for how you can make a difference. Why not become an RSPB member or supporter and add your voice to over 1 million others in support of nature? Together we can make a difference.
*Our 2013 results show that Starlings hit an all-time low in the 2012 and their numbers sunk by a further 16 per cent in gardens this year. As a UK 'red-listed' species (meaning it is of the highest conservation concern) this is a worrying trend.
Numbers of house sparrows, also on the red-list, dropped by 17 per cent in gardens compared to 2012, whilst bullfinches and dunnocks, both amber-listed, fell by 20 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.