Good afternoon! I hope that this post finds you full of the joys of Spring. The blue tits are nest prospecting, the spring bulbs are coming alive and those thermal gloves are getting that little bit too warm to wear.
But if you happened to have got out of the wrong side of bed this morning, maybe a trip to the local shop’s penny sweet trays, the taste of a cola bottle or the smell of a freshly opened packet of parma violets will help transport you back to the heady days of childhood. Those were times when budding RSPB employees here in the EERO’s comms team got their first tastes of nature. Sun on their backs Adam battled stag beetles with his younger brother and Aggie discovered cowslips in the garden.
These kinds of memories and experiences are what have driven us to do what we do today. But we didn’t just stop at nostalgia, we stepped up for nature - and just look at us now!
But looking to the future, we’ve got plenty more to do and many more steps to take.
More than 355,000 people; me, you, your friends, your neighbour, have signed The RSPB’s Letter to the Future and today we are taking those signatures to Number 10, Downing Street to show just how many people are calling on the Government not to cut funding for nature conservation.
This public demonstration of support also marks the launch of the most ambitious campaign in our 122 year history in an effort to end the continuing threat to wildlife in the UK and across the world. In 2010 the world failed to meet a global target to halt the decline in biodiversity. A new target was set by the EU for 2020, and UK governments have signed up to it.
The RSPB’s Stepping Up for Nature campaign aims to encourage Government, businesses and individuals to step up and play their part for nature. This time we can’t fail.
So take a moment today to remember your first experiences of the natural world and how you’ve got to where you are now. We hope that today you can remember tadpoles in the garden, the scent of bluebells, skylark song in the fields and sparrows under the eaves and look forward to how, together, we can all Step Up For Nature.