We’re campaigning for nature with your help
AS a fighting force for the county’s wildlife and wild places, our nature reserves, including the much-loved Attenborough, vast Idle Valley and remnants of Sherwood Forest such as Rainworth Heath, are perhaps the most tangible aspect of our efforts to protect and restore the county’s wildlife.
Notwithstanding the importance of these cherished sites, our local and national campaigning work is equally important.
In fact, many of the nature reserves we care for only exist due to earlier campaigns – with high-profile fights to save sites from damage and destruction stretching back to the 1960s.
Campaigning is core to our charity’s DNA. For almost 60 years – the documents required to set up the trust were actually signed in this week back in 1962 – we have stood up for Nottinghamshire’s wildlife; whether through launching bids to buy sites, fighting damaging planning proposals or challenging government policy or fighting for better wildlife protection.
The trust was set up because people who cared about wildlife felt they could no longer stand by and see more sites damaged and destroyed.
Sadly, whilst awareness of the importance of nature to our health, happiness and wellbeing is greater than ever, the threats to its future are at an all-time high. Despite the best efforts of the early pioneers who set up the trust, and for all our many, many notable successes; replicated by nature conservation charities across the UK; species and habitats have continued to decline.
Against a backdrop of spiralling nature and climate crises, and limited time to act to put nature on a path to recovery; the raft of potentially damaging and dangerous deregulatory polices announced by the Government since the summer came as a real blow.
We knew we had a battle on our hands to put nature into recovery but felt the tide was turning. After decades of campaigning based on sound science, we thought the Government understood the importance of a health, biodiverse environment at least in principle.
Sure, there would be fights ahead about the best policies to deliver a cleaner, wildlife-rich environment and arguments about the pace of change, but it seemed there was common
ground on the direction of travel.
This “mini budget” and accompanying growth plan somewhat shattered this perception overnight and the response from across our sector was visceral.
Now, whilst the change of prime minister has brought a softening of the tone in Government announcements with vague promises to protect the environment and a U-turn on a U-turn on fracking; much of the worrying and recently laid deregulatory architecture remains in place.
As I write, the Retained (EU) Law Bill - which could see up to 1000 environmental laws and regulations wiped from the stature books – is quietly trundling through Parliament.
We remain angry and are channelling our concerns into continuing to fight wildlife’s corner – as we have when shielding Mission Carr Nature Reserve from fracking; helping prevent damaging development next to Quarry Lane Local Nature Reserve in Mansfield or working with local campaigners to prevent quarrying on designated Wildlife Sites opposite Attenborough Nature Reserve.
Our fight is not a party-political one. As we have demonstrated down the years, we are here to give nature, and the people who care about it, a voice and will continue to do so.
As we continue to respond to the climate and ecological crises, we know we must do more. Alongside work to ensure that the Government delivers on its promise to restore nature; so far this year we have responded to over 150 planning applications that threatened wildlife.
We are also providing advice and support to farmers keen to support wildlife and to local planners to make the most of opportunities to put nature back - but this requires resources.
As we approach our 60th anniversary year we are, for the first time in a long time, specifically asking the public for financial support to enable us to continue standing up for wildlife.
If you would like more information on our efforts to stand up for wildlife visit nottinghamshirewildlife.org.