Village Raw - ISSUE 6

VILLAGE RAW
SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE
SHAPING
THE WORLD
AROUND US
We are in a geological
epoch defined by human
impact - the Anthropocene.
What we do with that
knowledge will shape
the world for ever.
Words and photos by Chris King.
I listen intently to Ed Santry, the new Nature Conservation Officer
for Haringey Council, as he gives a talk on the latest Biodiversity
Action Plan (BAP) he’s working on for the borough. His audience
are members of the Friends of Alexandra Park, a volunteer group
which plays a vital role in maintaining and monitoring the plants
and animals within the park - one of many such groups in the area.
He stresses how conserving those green spaces, and the
corridors between them, is vital to maintaining biodiversity within
the borough, and it will be one of the priorities of the new BAP.
After he finishes talking about Haringey’s new plan, Ed tells
me that one of the key challenges to creating positive change is
the need to raise awareness of the impact we are having on biodiversity
in all aspects of our lives and society. That means not just
across the council and government departments, or the boardrooms
and offices of corporations, but also within the household.
Over 25 years ago that awareness actually existed, with an
acknowledgement by governments, scientists, and the wider
public alike, of the need for swift, meaningful action to be taken,
at a national and global level, to address the issue of biodiversity
loss. There was seemingly a political will to do exactly that…
In 1992 over 150 heads of state, and thousands of other delegates
from across the globe, descended upon a sunny Rio de
Janeiro. They were there to participate in the UN’s Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED), more widely known
as the Earth Summit, motivated by increasing scientific evidence
highlighting the impact of human activities on the environment.
The gathering was unprecedented in its size and political
support. Never before had so many heads of state attended a
convention, never before had the environment been given such a
high priority within the global political agenda. As the UK government
would later declare, there was a “shared belief that action
must be taken to halt the worldwide loss of animal and plant species
and genetic resources”.
At the convention, Prime Minister John Major signed the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the first treaty to provide
a legally binding framework for biodiversity conservation. It
calls on the signatories to establish and enforce national strategies
that ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity.
Two years later, the UK published its Biodiversity Action Plan,
to tackle biodiversity loss at a national level - the first country to
do so. The plan set out to “conserve and enhance biological diversity
within the UK and to contribute to the conservation of global
biodiversity through all appropriate mechanisms”.
Despite this, we are now in the midst of a sixth mass extinction.
Not caused by an asteroid collision, or a volcanic eruption shrouding
the sky in ash, but by our actions. We have managed to wipe out
60% of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish since 1970, and over 40%
of insect species are declining and are under threat of extinction.
The UN’s latest Global Biodiversity Outlook report states that
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drivers linked to agriculture account for “70% of the projected
loss of terrestrial biodiversity”. The UK itself has lost 54% of its
species of farmland birds since 1970. Examples of species in decline,
near extinction or becoming extinct over the past few decades,
within the UK and beyond, are numerous.
It’s clear the legislation that has existed to date, at all levels
of government, and both nationally and globally, has failed to
counter the impacts of our ever-growing industrialised societies.
Until we start to value the life around us more, engage in helping
preserve it and nurture it, and become more conscious of the
interconnectedness of all things, then the situation is only going
to get worse - spelling disaster for those plants and animals that
still remain, including for us.
While individual responsibility is undoubtedly important, and
we should inform ourselves and do all we can to minimise our own
impact, this alone is not enough - we must also engage with our
politicians. It is they who can introduce legislation that can have
a meaningful impact in a short timeframe on issues such as pesticide
use and air pollution, if the political will is there.
It’s been proven time and again, that when an issue moves
up the public agenda, it also moves up the political agenda. We
must therefore work individually and collectively to ensure the
protection of biodiversity is at the top of our government’s agenda,
much like it was in 1992, and to do all we can to keep it there,
lest history repeat itself. •
This page: Ed Santry, the new Nature Conservation
Officer for Hanringey Council.
You can find out how to contact your local MP, as well as members of All-Party Groups
and Select Committees, by visiting: www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-your-mp
To help with the conservation projects in your area, visit your borough’s website and
search for “conservation groups” or “get involved”.