Conservation groups unite to ask UK Government to restore nature now

Protests were held across the UK on Thursday 28 September with the largest taking place outside the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) offices in London. Organised by wildlife TV presenter, conservationist and RSPB Vice President Chris Packham, the demonstrations saw the UK’s leading conservation charities and wildlife welfare charities come together to ask the UK Government to take more action for nature.

The protests are a response to the State of Nature report which documents an unrelenting loss of UK wildlife. In England, Scotland and Wales, almost 1,500 species are now at risk of being completely lost, while in Northern Ireland 281 face a similar fate.

Speaking in advance of the protest, Chris Packham explained: 

“We’re dissatisfied with the investment going into nature restoration and recovery in the UK (and) not meeting our biodiversity targets… The State of Nature report tells us that the state of nature in the UK is terrible. 

“But within that very good report, there is hope. Because where we focus our endeavours, where we’ve got good financial backing, where we’ve got the skills and time to implement that, then we can make a difference. But we’re just simply not doing it broadly enough and rapidly enough and in order to do that we need government assistance.”

The RSPB joined the protest outside DEFRA along with many other conservation and wildlife charities, including the Wildlife Trusts, WWF UK, Butterfly Conservation, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Bat Conservation Trust and River Action.

Alice Hardiman, the RSPB's Director of Campaigns and Mobilisation reflected at the end of the day: “It has been wonderful standing in solidarity with so many incredible organisations and passionate nature-loving individuals today. A decade on from the first State of Nature report, it is heart-breaking to see nature still in decline. We know the threats facing nature, we know the solutions, and we know that they work. But we simply aren’t acting fast enough or at a big enough scale.

"We need to see urgent action and much stronger commitment to nature’s recovery from politicians of all parties. Only they have the power to embed nature in our decision making and ensure environmental protections are maintained and enforced. If we wait another decade before we really step up for nature, it may be too late.”

The State of Nature report is published by a partnership of over 60 conservation organisations. It highlights that the UK is now one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. Of the species studied, around one in five (19%) have declined since 1970. But despite many grim statistics, the report does offer a lifeline, showing us that when we take action to protect and restore nature, it works. 

That’s why we, as the RSPB, are asking politicians of all parties to put nature at the heart of their decision making. We need our elected representatives to act now to protect what’s left, and to restore and repair our natural world so that nature can thrive once more. 

You can help by getting in touch with your elected representative to act for nature now. By taking our simple e-action, you can help restore nature and protect wildlife.

Please act today. Nature can’t wait. 

Email your representative