I am told that this is my 1000th blog since May 2011. I feel a little exhausted just thinking about all the words that have been written. At times, it has felt like a labour of love. But, for nearly six years, it has provided an outlet for me (and occasionally others through guest blogs) to reflect on the state of nature, the pressures it is facing and the action that we are taking to try to make things better for wildlife and people. And, as I write this, the world feels even more chaotic and uncertain than it did six years ago.Yet, despite this turbulence, we are clear about the contribution that we can make with others to make things better. There is nothing like a crisis to provide focus and solidarity amongst our sector. My optimism and confidence comes from the impact we have had throughout our 128 year history and I am particularly proud of recent successes, all of which have relied on effective partnerships...
...raising the profile of the state of UK nature with over 50 other organisations
...recovering threatened species such as cirl bunting (with partners such as farmers and Natural England) and reducing the extinction risk to black-browed and black-footed albatrosses (through the BirdLife marine programme)
...piloting new ways to meet human needs while recovering wildlife such as at Medmerry (with Environment Agency), Wallasea (with many including Crossrail) and Kingsbrook (with Barratt)
...successfully defending the European nature directives (through a powerful pan-EU partnership of NGOs)
...making the case for a network of marine protected areas around the UK Overseas Territories (through the GB Ocean Coalition)
...putting in place the partnerships to restore landscapes at home (with RSPB nature reserves at their heart) and on 200,000 hectares of tropical forest (through our Gola and Harapan projects)
Today, we continue to benefit from passionate, expert staff and volunteers as well as 1.2 million members. And we are clear what we want to do next, how we shall do it, where and by when.
WHAT
We want to make a contribution to global UN targets for sustainable development and biodiversity and ensure that...
...20% of land and at least 10% of sea is well managed for nature by 2025
...conservation prospects have improved for three groups of threatened species: migrants, seabirds (including albatrosses) and a suite of species associated with the UK uplands
...millions of people remain connected to nature
HOW
We will do this by...
...valuing expertise and equipping people to take action based on good conservation evidence
...though practical conservation projects, inspiring others to take action for nature as a contribution to both global and national biodiversity targets
..by investing in strategic partnerships (such as BirdLife International and The Climate Coalition) to influence the main drivers of change in nature
...growing support including accessing new sources of income to scale up action for nature
...investing in our future, by making sure the charity is fit for purpose in the 21st Century
WHERE
We plan to have impact...
...in the UK, its crown dependencies and the 14 UK Overseas Territories on land and at sea
...along the Africa-Eurasia Flyway with and through our BirdLife partners
...globally, where the need is great and where only we can make a material difference
It's an ambitious plan, but the need is great, so we better roll up our sleeves and get on with it. Which is why this week, as part of The Climate Coaltion, you will see us wearing our green hearts on our sleeves to #ShowTheLove for the things that are threatened with climate change and next week, through the parliamentary launch of #GreenerUK, we shall be outlining how decision makers can make Brexit work for nature.
This is the path we are on and I look forward (!) to the next 1000 blogs to help inspire others to take action for nature.