Nature Crisis - State of Nature report shows one in six wildlife species at risk of extinction in Great Britain

[HeritageBlooms]

We all sensed how much climate change, amongst other factors, was impacting nature. This report puts it into sobering detail. With water companies still polluting rivers, the government announcing pushing back net zero timeframes and just yesterday giving go ahead for Rosebank, the extinctions will be a reality if we continue on this path.

Conservation groups like PTES and RSPB will be giving their responses during the day, please add them to this thread if you see them before I do.

Lets use this thread for positivity too, please share details of groups local to you that people can join and/or things that people can do right now in their local area.

I know people may think ‘it’s pointless’ but if you haven’t already, please e-Mail your MP to express your concerns and ask them what they are going to do.

I put the link to the BBC article in my first post by mistake. Here’s the link to the State of Nature report

This is the Action for Nature toolkit from the RSPB

Am I posting about this in the wrong topic?

I expected some responses- I’m curious about why

@HeritageBlooms I was looking for something on here on this topic. For me this is the number one priority in politics. However, we seem to have a government that is in dire straits that thinks the only way to get votes is to at best water down tackling environmental issues. They could have stopped HS2, but no they just might not build all of it for cost reasons.

There are other threads that don't seem to care about the sycamore gap tree. I was on a thread earlier this week, which said "stuff the environment" in relation to buying Halloween stuff from shops. You got no responses to this thread. I find it really difficult that so few people care.

This is so important. Thanks for highlighting it. I’m really making my garden a haven this year. I’ve put in more water places for wildlife to drink. I’m aiming to get a pond as well. I have a large wild area and I’m going to plant some more trees. My in-laws have a few really wild acres of woodland I’m going to take over managing.

Thanks for sharing the articles. I am going to try and read them but I really struggle to read about the reality of what we are facing. Especially when the attitude of many seems to be "as long as I dont have to do anything that affects me now"

I will email my MP but I don't hold out much hope. We have a totally ineffective climate change team at our council who's only role seems to be doing local roadshows showing people how to separate recycling.
They wanted ideas from residents about going greener and had a feeble reason they couldn't do all eight that I thought should be done. Everything from banning balloon releases, plastic grass and bringing in food waste collections.... not possible apparently.

It’s heartening to see responses! Thank you!

For those of you already or about to take action in some way, thank you.

I would like this to be a awareness/everyday things we can do thread. So if you’re doing something or want to share something that’s going on in your local area, please share.

this has just come through to me from Wildlife Trusts - a list of simple actions everyone can do in their garden/local area.

For those posters who are feeling frustrated in their local government or our central government- keep going. Change is hard because people are complex.

my advice (for what it’s worth) is:

• Keep sharing factual information with everyone in your network
• help people to join the dots between their every day actions and the impact on the state of our nature
• join one of the organisations committed to protecting our environment (they are all collaborating together now because this is such a huge threat)

In terms of small changes we can make, here is one of my favourites which may be an idea approaching christmas...

For christmas each year DH, MIL, FIL and I do gifts along the theme of "charity shop - in the worst possible taste", so we have a £5 limit and it has to be something hideous from the charity shop. It absolutely takes the pressure of present shopping, is more fun and isn't creating new crap to burden the planet with

thanks for sharing @DCINightingale , fits with the cost of living crisis as well as the Nature crisis

I like this final message that Pope Francis sent to world leaders

"To the powerful, I can only repeat this question: 'What would induce anyone, at this stage, to hold on to power, only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?'"

Climate change: Pope Francis warns world 'may be nearing breaking point’

I feel a real mixture of emotions watching Planet Earth III - look what climate change is doing, creatures can’t adapt fast enough to the changes

It’s all so heartbreaking.

What the water companies are doing is despicable.

And it must be extremely hostile to so many species. And that's something that we can and should be demanding action on (try following Feargal Sharkey - yes The Undertones - on Twitter as tweets a lot about this)

Intensive farming isn't doing any favours to wildlife either.

Also messing with things - like protecting badgers, which means hedgehogs and some ground nesting birds have become endangered.

It's really tough as whatever lengths you go to here, on this tiny island, is going to make next to no difference. Especially if people keep buying plastic tat and hopping in a plane every few months.

That Wildlife Trust link has some great ideas - thank you.

Thanks for the post. I'll def email my mp, though he's pretty rubbish.

I'm a member of local wildlife trusts, and there's some good local initiatives that people might be able to get neighbours/ school involved in eg nest boxes being put up.

I hate seeing halloween decorations with those cobwebs across hedges - I found a bird once all tangled up in it with a broken leg - absolutely awful and should be banned. Spread the word about these.

Maybe we can all send the wildlife trust link to our children's schools.
I'm a primary teacher, we have a wildlife area with some of these things already but more ideas are great.
Schools are dotted all over. Little pockets of wildlife friendly places sounds marvellous.

i know it feels hopeless. I’d like to tell you that the fact that you all cared enough to read and contribute to the thread/share what small things you’re doing or thinking of doing has given me a much needed boost.

Please keep posting ideas/sharing what happened as a result of them.

I mentioned contacting your MP above - the Wildlife Trusts has hints and tips Hints and tips for contacting your MP. Or you could choose to send your MP a ‘defend nature’ postcard

the Wildlife Trusts also suggest writing to your local editor - Send a letter to your editor

just think, if everyone on Mumsnet did these two small things today and also asked everyone in their networks to do this today, wouldn’t that be a single loud shout?

I'm.contacting mine. I've done a lot in my garden as well and I intend to do more.

The RSPB have just sent links to the webinars they did earlier this month. Free online support sessions for your nature campaign