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This year, our government is due to produce a
document of potentially monumental impact: a report
that will be scrutinised by everyone with an interest in
our environment, so… well, everyone with a pulse! The
Environment Plan sets out a framework for the future
of nature in this country for the next twenty five years,
and this timescale is vital. Perhaps the greatest challenge
facing conservation is that a standard government’s term
is not sufficient to implement real change and strategies.
Everything takes time and long-term commitment, and
this statement of intent could affect the choices of an
entire generation.
The British countryside I grew up in and adore is in
flux, affected by a bewildering multitude of complex
conundrums. We need to make sure that people in
government are seeing, feeling, tasting and touching
those changes for themselves, understanding potential
impacts on an experiential level – and that they use
those experiences to inform decisions on everything
from economics to planning and healthcare. We need
clear systems to put nature in the heart of democratic
decision-making. It’s essential that we have powerful
advocates in high places, and that people care as we do,
for every part of the puzzle, from the bugs and the birds,
to the wider wonders of our wild places. The environment
cannot be perceived as a troublesome shackle that is
always dragging back progress. Nature must be seen
as a treasure to be cherished.
Photo Credit: Discovery
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