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 some thoughts from a youth perspective from some of the RSPB's Phoenix forum members on legal and societal change.
Our teenagers recognise that nature conservation should be everyone’s concern. They want to use the full force of the education and legal systems to prompt the societal change that will be required to see nature flourish. They talked about “crimes against nature” being given comparable weight to “crimes against humanity” and about how “loving nature needs to be made the norm”, and about how there need to “be rights for more than one species.”
As a last word, I’d like to quote the teenager who suggested a renewed focus on urban areas: “Instead of lamenting the degradation of habitats (which I am not condemning, the rate at which we are gobbling up wild areas is sick) I think more attention should be paid to making the new 'habitats' we have more suitable for wildlife. Urban areas are not barren wastelands. I have walked down a London street and seen black redstarts on the roofs. Peregrines are expanding in cities whilst others of their species are being shot to pieces on grouse moors or upland areas.
“On no account should we neglect or forget to fight for the remaining natural habitats we have left, but it would not be a huge effort to install more green roofs, where beehives could be kept. Swifts could see an urban revival with the explosion of swift boxes which could be installed on most buildings. Suburban gardens are this country's best wildlife corridors. Almost all of our large cities are on rivers which sustain some of the largest numbers of species.
“This will not help Hen Harriers, Scottish Wildcats, Willow Tits and many other British species which are in danger of slipping away. But working with what we now have (more buildings and urban areas) we could make a change to a large chunk of our species.”
Do you agree? And what would be your One Big Thing for Nature?
It would be great to hear your views.
I agree very strongly with what this teenager is saying - this is about the sort of environment we all actually live in - I don't subscribe to the 'uplands are the green lungs of the nation' - just how long are we expected to hold our breath ? But its not just the cities themselves - there is a vital no mans land around our cities, some verdant green belt (although generally with intensive farming washing up against the last larch lap fence), but also some of the most total dereliction because we've stopped development, but, through our negative planning system have never worked out what to do with the land. There is no better example than Rainham marshes - but what most RSPB members won't realise is that Rainham is at the centre of a growing network of new habitat - more and more RSPB ownership/management of the Thames marshes both sides of the river (Cliffe Marshes are almost opposite) but also increasingly extensive community woodland. There is a real possibility of serious habitat scale developing, and surely this land is more valuable as the 'setting' for our cities than simply more intensive farming ?