Kate Jennings, RSPB Head of Site Conservation and Species Policy, has worked for RSPB for over 13 years. Kate fell in love with nature as a child and joined the RSPB’s Young Ornithologists Club when she was just seven years old. She’s been trying to save nature ever since.
Close your eyes, picture your most favourite natural space to visit in the UK, the place you run to when you need that essential dose of nature, your breathing space, your grounding place. Is it an urban greenspace, local park, are there trees, rolling fields, a river? Can you hear birdsong, the hum of insects, the bustle of others enjoying nature too?
Now imagine that the very existence of your special nature space is suddenly, and without warning, threatened. That the Government that has pledged to halt the decline in nature is now directly attacking it. How does that make you feel – sad, shocked, angry?
And now we, the RSPB, are calling on people across England and beyond – across the whole of the UK in fact - to help sound the alarm to protect the wildlife they love, by contacting their local MPs and making themselves heard.
Photo Credit: Dove Stone Hillside by Steve Laycock
To be honest with you, since Thursday evening, when the UK Government detailed their plans to “sunset’ the vital laws that protect our special natural spaces (that’s legal speak for “delete”), I have been on a roller coaster of emotions. We are used to Governments not doing enough for nature, (if they did England would not be one of the most nature-depleted countries on earth) and we are used to them promising high and delivering low (they have been promising to leave nature in a better state than they found it for years, and yet, as the State of Nature report makes clear, over 41% of species in the UK have been in decline since the 1970s). But what I and my colleagues were not expecting was that a Government which has made much of its role as a ‘world leader’ in committing to protect 30% of our land and seas by 2030, and has given itself a legally binding target to halt the decline in the abundance of species (also by 2030) would – in the space of 72 hours – destroy any chance of doing so, and instead lock in further catastrophic declines. For all who care about nature and understand it’s vital role in underpinning both our economy and our wellbeing, this is as frightening as it is shocking.
Timeline of Nature’s proposed destruction by the UK Government so far…
A heavy price to pay
Just one of these decisions happening would be a disaster for wildlife, but all three together, without consideration, scrutiny, or debate, amounts to one of the most brazen attacks on nature we have ever seen.
Why, at a time when we need nature most, and nature needs us, is the UK Government setting us all up to fail? If we don’t have a healthy, functioning ecosystem or a stable climate, our businesses won't succeed and there will be no growth. The environment isn’t an optional extra we can think about later – it is what our lives and our very survival, depend on. This is why I – and so many others - are angry.
What does this mean for England's nature?
As of now, our wildlife is facing its greatest threat for decades. For many of our vulnerable species, this attack from the UK Government will be the final nail in the coffin. From Cornwall to Cumbria, Norfolk to Nottingham, and across England, the Government is risking the homes of vulnerable wildlife including otters, birds, dolphins, and bats.
Photo credit: Stone-curlew in a field by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
How you can help – next steps...
The Government has launched an attack on England's wildlife, and the places you love. But there is hope because together, we can bring a halt to nature’s destruction. The groundswell of love, support, and shared anger from our supporters over the past few days has been overwhelming, very humbling, and has brought many of us at the RSPB to tears, including myself.
Right now, rippling out across our shires, towns, seas, and cities there is a groundswell of anger – that this cannot and must not come to pass. The RSPB and our supporters, along with others including the National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts, and the Campaign for National Parks, are drawing a line in the sand and together we are standing firm and declaring to the UK Government that enough is enough.
Nature deserves better, we deserve better, and there is a moral, an ethical and an economic imperative for Government to act to save nature. So now we have one simple ask: tell your MP how you feel. Don’t let the Government do this in your name.
Nature needs you now, more than ever.
To find out how to help, and how to contact your local MP, visit: bit.ly/attackonnature