Once Nick Clegg completed his speech to his party faithful in Glasgow today, the curtain fell on the 2014 political party conference season.
For the RSPB's hard-working parliamentary team it means that they can go home and recover from a month on the road which took in Brighton, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow.
And, the end of the conference season means it is possible to take stock on the how the parties are gearing up to face the challenges facing the natural environment.
Our conversations with politicians covered our top priorities especially our concerns about the threat to the EU Nature Directives, our call for licensing of grouse shooting and our desire for a Marine Protected Area to be established around Ascension Island.
With the Wildlife Trusts, we also pitched our idea for a Nature and Wellbeing Act (see here) to each of the Westminster parties. I think it has been well received by all. Perhaps we were only talking to the 'believers' in each of the parties, but there does appear to be a genuine desire to do more for nature - Bob should be pleased.
While we may not know the full detail of Conservative and Labour manifestos for many months, as ever, the Liberal Democrat Party published a pre manifesto paper and so it is possible to get an early insight into the platform on which they plan to go to the polls next May.
The good news is that, as part of a package of five green laws, they have promised to "pass a Nature and Wellbeing Act with a long-term commitment to restore nature - including targets for biodiversity, clean air and water - and empower the Natural Capital Committee to recommend actions to meet these targets".
I was able to welcome this commitment on the main stage at their conference as I had been invited to join a panel to debate the environment. And I was delighted to do so - a political party that promises (and more importantly delivers) good things for nature deserves credit.
But I also left a challenge for the party - to get serious about food and farming. If you have not done so, I urge you to read the Square Meal report (here) that we, with nine other organisations, published in the summer. The case for a radical overhaul of food and farming policy is clear...
...a third of those under the age of 18 are overweight or obese...a quarter of farmers are in poverty...in the year ending March 2014, the Trussell Trust alone provided emergency food for three days on over 900,000 occasions...75 per cent of protein fed to livestock in the EU is imported and...farmland wildlife remains in crisis with 60% of species for which we have data declining in my lifetime.
In the short term, we need our elected leaders to use available CAP funds to incentivise wildlife friendly farming - the design of new agri-environment schemes is key. In the medium term we need a proper debate about what we should expect from food and farming policy so that it provides a better deal for people and wildlife.
Dealing with these challenges requires creative and energetic leadership from the parties. And, when it comes to food and farming, I think this leadership is currently lacking from all of the parties.
This is why we shall continue to encourage people to back our Vote for Bob campaign. We want more people to express their concerns about nature and encourage a response from politicians that is commensurate with the scale of the challenge.
Nearly 100,000 people have already backed this campaign. I hope we can at least double this number before the ink dries on each of the party manifestos.
What would you like to see and hear from the main Westminster parties in the run up to the May election?
It would be great to hear your views.
I wrote to my MP asking him to "vote for Bob" I received the following reply:
"Thank you for your recent email about UK wildlife and the RSPB’s ‘Vote for Bob’ campaign.
Like you, I know that the UK’s natural environment and our vibrant native ecosystem is one of our most precious inheritances. We have a responsibility to act as caring stewards of this legacy.
It is a fact, however, that biodiversity is under pressure; many of our bird, butterfly and plant species are threatened. That’s why I’m proud that the Government has established a proper strategy, Biodiversity 2020, to halt and reverse the decline. Progress is being monitored by an annual set of statistics and there is plenty of scope for public engagement, with the latest news, including on how local conservation groups can contribute, spread through social media.
£7.5 million has been provided to establish 12 Nature Improvement Areas across the country: these are large areas that contain more and better-connected habitats, providing space for wildlife to thrive. ‘Biodiversity offsetting’ is currently being piloted and also shows promise: this means that when a new development cannot be completed without damaging nature, bigger or better alternative sites will be created.
My Party’s manifesto will be published during the General Election campaign, but I believe the progress the Government has made shows our commitment to leaving British nature to our children and grandchildren in fine form.
Thank you, once again, for taking the time to contact me.
Kind regards"
No evidence there that he voted for Bob and I think the whole letter is rather complacent. If they believe that nightingales can be successfully relocated under a 'biodiversity offsetting' strategy, I despair that they think that the scheme 'shows promise'
Well done to all the RSPB Parliamentry team. I would imagine it is pretty hard work going round all these conferences and having to be chatty and pleasant to all those politicians some of which have little or no understanding of nature and its needs.
I think you have summarised very well Martin what we would like to see and hear from the main party leaders.It is so important not to forget the urgent needs of nature in the UK's Overseas Territories where so many species are serverely threatened.
I think more of the politians are getting the message about the alarming decline in nature but I would like to hear the party leaders themselves voicing this concern and promising to take action,not just some of their colleagues. A few words from them about the need to help nature would make such a difference instead of the never ending boring propoganda about the deficeit and taxes.
I think the "Bob" campaign is great and of course I have voted for him and encouraged others to do so.
Finally, while I know it is not fashionable just now with UKIP on the "up" and not withstanding the threats of referenda and the UK leaving the EU, I would nevertheless like to see a bigger committment from the parties to working within the EU to sort out this currently misguided CAP, to ensure the EU works much better for nature than at present and, especially, to stop the slaughter of our birds in the Mediterranean. Despite the current politics surrounding the EU, Britain must continue to be highly involved in it and not sit on the sidelines.