Blogger: Aggie Rothon, Communications Officer
A programme to rally the UK to help tackle the crisis facing nature has received overwhelming support, with people taking over one a million steps in just six months. Our Stepping up for Nature movement is one of the most ambitious nature conservation charity efforts in the world, and one step has been taken every 18 seconds since it started in March. We launched Stepping Up for Nature to help tackle the catastrophic declines in bird species and other wildlife, and the damage and destruction of their habitats. We believe small individual steps can make a big difference, and if everyone acts together nature stands a chance.
Steps include any effort to help nature both here in the UK and overseas, and are separated into four categories; giving, doing, volunteering and campaigning.
Included in the million steps that have already been taken are feeding garden birds, putting up nest boxes, volunteering on a reserve, donating money to save rockhopper penguins affected by an oil spill in Tristan da Cunha, and e-mailing government in response to their flawed proposals to change England’s planning system.
With help from those ‘stepping up’ we are able to help turn around the fortunes of wildlife like bitterns, corncrakes, stone curlews and great yellow bumblebees. People taking steps include farmers, landowners, gardeners and shoppers.
It may sound like a daunting task to save nature from the crisis it’s facing but if we all do our bit, small steps can add up to make a big difference. There are so many species teetering on the brink of disappearance and many of them are in our own backyards. For the future of much of our natural world it’s ‘kitchen sink time’ and we need to throw everything at it. Government, organisations like the RSPB, wider society and individuals all need to make a difference. People all over our region are already joining the Stepping Up for Nature movement and doing their bit for nature. Just take a look at farmers like Robert Law from Hertfordshire, a Nature of Farming award regional winner. He’s worked to turn his land in to a haven for wildlife as well as a productive business. Schools across the region have been putting the environment at the top of their agenda taking part in projects such as the Big School’s Birdwatch and Bird Friendly Schools and volunteer groups take steps everyday to care for their local commons and parks. But it doesn’t need to stop there, your first step most definitely shouldn’t be your last.
Steven Roddy, RSPB parliamentary campaigner says: “We knew we need to do something drastic to help the situation facing the natural world and Stepping Up For Nature is a massive effort to rally our supporters and give nature its best chance of survival. We knew we had the potential for huge levels of participation but a million steps in just the first six months of the campaign is a great start and we’d like to say a massive thank you to all those who have got involved so far. Now we just hope that even more people will join in and step up, but importantly, that the government catches up. We can’t do this on our own and the goodwill of our supporters desperately needs matching. In light of the massive amount of support we’ve already received, and look set to continue receiving, we hope the UK Government realises that it too must step up to help save the natural world or risk being left behind.”
One step you can take today is signing the pledge calling on ministers to help safeguard our seabirds at sea now: www.rspb.org.uk/marinepetition.
For more ways to step up for nature visit www.rspb.org.uk/steppingup