Following the launch of the State of Nature report, I am keen to stimulate a debate about what else we need to do to live in harmony with nature. Over the next few weeks, people from differing perspectives will propose their One Big Thing for Nature. Today, I am delighted to welcome Andy Lester, Conservation Director of A Rocha UK. A Rocha is a Christian environmental and nature conservation movement which now operates in 19 countries on five continents, including the UK. Its work encompasses practical involvement in nature conservation projects and ecological research, campaigning on biodiversity issues and engaging with churches, schools and communities.
The State of Nature report at first glance makes for some truly depressing reading. Whilst the facts and the figures are not entirely unexpected - others stand out as an appalling testament to the state of our nation ... no more so than the knowledge that we have lost 44 million birds since the 1960s. No wonder our countryside and our towns and cities seem bereft of clouds of wheeling swifts, flocks of chattering house sparrows and large autumn murmurations of starlings.
But all is not lost. There is real hope - and if anything this report serves, in the words of Sir David Attenborough, as a wake-up call, an opportunity for real hope and genuine inspiration.
So what happens next? What is the next big thing that can really reshape the conservation arena? In the book of Romans in the New Testament St Paul says; “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not already have we wait for it patiently”. (ch 8, v24-25) This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take stock at not just the state of our natural world but also the deeper state of the nation and in doing so find real reasons to hope again.
For our charity, the journey starts with God: that the planet belongs to Him. Psalm 24:1 says, “The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it ...” and that our role is as the stewards or protectors of the planet.
In this context we believe that the answer to the State of Nature report is found in empowering individuals from the ages of 3 to 103 with a deep excitement and reverence for nature. That does not just mean loving nature - but loving a creative God, who through evolutionary principles has created a world of intricate detail, immaculate design and incredible revelation. To make this happen we are working with churches to create urban and rural blueprints for change. That means encouraging community groups, with church support to take on brownfield sites, waste ground, old gardens, churchyards, allotments, former industrial sites and transforming them into creative community expressions of hope.
From inner city Glasgow, to urban London and from the Gower to Sussex we are working with a multitude of organisations and inspired individuals determined to make a difference. We are also running a green church award scheme to encourage churches to take practical local action for wildlife. This then is an opportunity to develop a network of imaginative, conservation focussed, small scale, entirely accessible locations on our doorsteps. So that when things get tougher - which they surely will, each of us has a place to go and become re-inspired.
This is the only way forwards. A nation dedicated to local expressions of hope and inspiration. If we all play our part, the next State of the Nation won’t be as challenging as this last one - and there will be enough good news to keep us focussed and hope-filled.
Do you agree with Andy? And what would be your One Big Thing for Nature?
It would be great to hear your views.
Comment from Twitter from @Garden_Holmes:
@Natures_Voice I'm lucky surrounded by nature. Get out and about in it to love & value it too. Hearts won will push it up people's agenda.
Andy Lester's piece highlights a principle that is often neglected in 'science-led' conservation ngos - that, maybe, the best way to save nature is to not to measure it, analysise it to destruction and produce science-led programmes for its protection and recovery, but to encourage the universal love of it. A society in which there is wide-ranging, if not universal, love of nature might well be expected to save it. After all, this is a natural, human response to what is cherished and loved. The love of nature arises, as Peter Crispin asserts (above), from 'wonderment'. This does not mean that science cannot contribute to this wonderment, and hence to the love of nature. For instance, of the 23,300 genes found in the California purple urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), scientists have found that 7,077 of them are also found in humans. The scientific revelation that the sea urchin shares a common ancestor with Man - an ancestor that lived over 540 million years ago, is not only a cause for wonderment, but reminds us of the underlying unity of all life on earth. Embedding this belief in 'unity' (it should not be the prerogative of religious groups) should make the 'saving of nature' a lot easier, if not inevitable.
I am not sure on a planet wide scale that hope and inspiration are enough. Major positive actions are needed. Now if the Church were to provide strong support to a programme of birth control around the planet that would, in the long run help to reduce human poverty and stem the loss of biodiversity.
I would assert that the greatest miracle is that the elephant is related to the shrew; that is a cause for what used to be called "wonderment" ?