Fifty years of 'countricide'. Do we care?

My manifesto could save Britain’s dying wildlife

Chris Packham
From: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/my-manifesto-could-save-britain’s-dying-wildlife/ar-BBNxaz1?MSCC=1537366644&ocid=spartandhp



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Earlier this summer, I sat in my garden, admiring a small wildflower patch I’d sown. Then I realised something was missing. Not a single butterfly jinked between the flowers, no bumblebees buzzed, no hoverflies hovered.

We have lots of data to prove these absences, and have become inured to them. We say that we’ve lost 97% of our flower-rich meadows since the 1930s or that we’ve lost 86% of corn bunting or 97% of hedgehogs. Loss, lost … as if this habitat and these species have mysteriously disappeared into the ether. Lost means inadvertently misplaced. No, our wildlife has been killed, starved, poisoned, ploughed up or concreted over.

Our lazy, self-excusing terminology is representative of our chronic acceptance of such appalling catastrophes. We share these shocking statistics like a vicious game of Top Trumps – to the extent that they have lost their meaning. We’ve forgotten that they are a death toll, the dwindling voices of vanished millions, a tragic echo of a recent time of plentiful life. According to the definitive State of Nature report, between 1970 and 2013 56% of UK species declined, and 15% are now threatened with extinction. Of the 218 countries assessed for “biodiversity intactness”, the UK is ranked 189. We are among the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

But this isn’t some fluffy bunny-hugging endeavour. We have specific ideas to fix this too. Today I’m publishing a People’s Manifesto for Wildlife which we will present to the environment secretary, Michael Gove. I asked 17 independent experts to suggest practical, creative and hard-hitting measures to stop the destruction. They’ve amazed me. We’ve produced a manifesto containing nearly 200 ideas to revive British wildlife.

Some are imaginative steps to ensure future generations grow up better connected to the natural world. Every primary school child could have one day of outdoor learning each fortnight. Twin every primary school with a farm to help children understand farming and food growing. Get primary school classes to name and own significant urban trees in perpetuity to form lifelong bonds between people and trees.

It’s time to rouse ourselves from this complacent stupor, because we are presiding over an ecological apocalypse. But it is not too late. There is hope we can hold on to, and there is action we can take.

I’ve been organising the first People’s Walk for Wildlife, which takes place in London this Saturday from midday. Everyone is invited – foresters, reserve wardens, teachers, students, children, scientists, artists, bloggers, activists, volunteers, gardeners. We are going to sing songs, play birdsong from the missing birds and share our love of all species.

Sign up to the Green Some are imaginative steps to ensure future generations grow up better connected to the natural world. Every primary school child could have one day of outdoor learning each fortnight. Twin every primary school with a farm to help children understand farming and food growing. Get primary school classes to name and own significant urban trees in perpetuity to form lifelong bonds between people and trees.

Other ideas will ensure that everyone – no matter how urban – can gain access to high-quality green space. Hospitals must be supported to increase provision of “nearby nature” for patients and relatives. The NHS could work with environmental groups to develop “eco-prescribing” such as forest bathing, as practised in Japan. Swift, sparrow or starling boxes could be installed on all new-builds. Every park and industrial estate should have a wildlife pond.

We also call for long overdue legal changes. Ban the weedkiller glyphosate. Ban driven grouse shooting. Ban scallop dredging in UK waters. Ban snares (the UK is one of only five EU member states where snaring is legal). Some bans will directly impinge upon our popular freedoms, such as excluding dogs (except assistance dogs) from nature reserves. We cannot live with impunity now we number nearly 70 million people.

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Many of these measures are cheap. Introduced today, they would transform Britain’s wildlife tomorrow. But the biggest positive effect on wildlife can be made by the custodians of 70% of Britain’s land: farmers. There is no doubt industrial farming has driven much of the decline in wildlife but it is not fair to blame individual farmers. If this becomes a fight between farmers and conservationists we all lose. Brexit gives us an opportunity to devise new, improved financial support for genuinely sustainable farming – which by definition is wildlife-friendly farming. Ultimately we depend on other species for our food, and our survival. In 2017 a scientific report revealed that 76% of flying insects had vanished from German nature reserves over the past 25 years. Extinguish insect life, and human life will follow.

One farmer quoted in the manifesto argues that we must all rethink the way we live, shop, cook and eat “so that we wean ourselves off the damaging farming that has fed us cheaply, but at an appalling price to nature”. The manifesto is only a first draft. Some ideas will be criticised. Many of you will have other great ideas. Let’s share them, debate them, and take decisive steps to save the wildlife that enriches every single one of us.Light email to get the planet's most important stories

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Other ideas will ensure that everyone – no matter how urban – can gain access to high-quality green space. Hospitals must be supported to increase provision of “nearby nature” for patients and relatives. The NHS could work with environmental groups to develop “eco-prescribing” such as forest bathing, as practised in Japan. Swift, sparrow or starling boxes could be installed on all new-builds. Every park and industrial estate should have a wildlife pond.

We also call for long overdue legal changes. Ban the weedkiller glyphosate. Ban driven grouse shooting. Ban scallop dredging in UK waters. Ban snares (the UK is one of only five EU member states where snaring is legal). Some bans will directly impinge upon our popular freedoms, such as excluding dogs (except assistance dogs) from nature reserves. We cannot live with impunity now we number nearly 70 million people.

Many of these measures are cheap. Introduced today, they would transform Britain’s wildlife tomorrow. But the biggest positive effect on wildlife can be made by the custodians of 70% of Britain’s land: farmers. There is no doubt industrial farming has driven much of the decline in wildlife but it is not fair to blame individual farmers. If this becomes a fight between farmers and conservationists we all lose. 

Brexit gives us an opportunity to devise new, improved financial support for genuinely sustainable farming – which by definition is wildlife-friendly farming. Ultimately we depend on other species for our food, and our survival. In 2017 a scientific report revealed that 76% of flying insects had vanished from German nature reserves over the past 25 years. Extinguish insect life, and human life will follow.

One farmer quoted in the manifesto argues that we must all rethink the way we live, shop, cook and eat “so that we wean ourselves off the damaging farming that has fed us cheaply, but at an appalling price to nature”. The manifesto is only a first draft. Some ideas will be criticised. Many of you will have other great ideas. Let’s share them, debate them, and take decisive steps to save the wildlife that enriches every single one of us.

• Chris Packham is a naturalist, nature photographer and author

31.7.2023:  There has been another 'Agricultural Revolution' in the past century, as influential as the 18th Century one. It has been both social and technological and the two are closely intertwined. In a way it reflects changes in the commercial sector, in which we see small independent businesses replaced by international conglomerates. People have exercised their 'pound choice', not realising or caring about the longer term consequences. The objectives of 'improvement' and 'efficiency' always result in seen or unforeseen harmful side-effects. More than 50% of traditional family farms have closed as have high street shops. The traditional mixed farm was inherently 'ecological'. It was also an important part of the rural social network. The countryside and nature has suffered as a result. The productive land has been drenched in dangerous chemicals, whilst land unsuitable for mass production has reverted to waste. These trends can be reversed but they first need to be recognised and then require government, industry and consumers to create the framework to facilitate it.