The Peoples Walk For Wildlife 2018 - the day the tide turned?

Saturday 22nd September 2018. A date that I hope (and think) will go down in UK conservation history as the day that the tide in the war against wildlife turned. The day when the people of the UK stood up and raised their voices for those species who can’t raise theirs. A day of passionate speeches filled with hope. A day of birdsong, beautiful costumes and rain. The Peoples Walk for Wildlife 2018.

When we arrived in Hyde Park at 10:45am, it was to find a good-sized crowd already turned out. Chatting excitedly, visiting stalls set up by some of our major conservation agencies and listening to young people describe what wildlife means to them on a couple of big screens. However, that crowd was absolutely nothing compared to the number of people gathered by the time the walk headed off at 1pm. The police (who deserve a mention for how well they organised the walk) estimated that 10,000 people took to the streets. A staggering number, particularly given the heavy (sometimes very heavy) rain.

The speeches in Hyde Park kicked off with a sight that I believe should precede any and all sets of talks in the future: a turtle dove dancing to the OutKast hit Hey Ya! And the turtle dove had some moves…. That costume was fantastic and looking around, there were awesome costumes everywhere. Foxes, badgers, bats, octopus, the list went on. My favourite sight had to go to Biggles, the bat from the Bat Conservation Trust who came complete with moving wings, a moving mouth and several midges! The larger than life barn owl and tawny owl were also incredible.

Dancing turtle dove on stage

Biggles the bat in Hyde Park

Barn and tawny owls watching proceedings

The speeches and songs that followed covered a breadth of topics and all of the speakers did a fantastic job. From Dominic Dyer (CEO of the Badger Trust) who gave an exceptionally passionate speech about why the badger cull should be ended immediately to Ruth Tingay who relieved the heartbreaking end to the tragically short life of golden eagle Fred to the clarity and power of the message conveyed by Bella Lack, all of the talks delivered. And they were accompanied by several appearances from Billy Bragg and Grace Petrie, who brought humour and some pretty powerful lyrics.

Following the speeches, we walked from Hyde Park to Downing Street. A walk that no one who took it will surely ever forget. It was only now that the sheer number of people present could be fully appreciated. I would guess we were somewhere in the middle of the line and could not see the front nor the back as the walk stretched along Pall Mall and Piccadilly. And the walk was accompanied by a cacophony of birdsong, played out from mobile phones for the ‘missing millions’. This was a genius idea and gave the walk extra poignancy.

Outside Downing Street, there was time for a couple more speakers before Chris Packham and several young naturalists delivered the petition to end the war on wildlife to 10 Downing Street.

A few thoughts from the talks.

We have excellent young naturalists in the UK for which we can all feel proud and which should give us hope for the future. I wouldn’t classify myself as old (26 at the last count) but I’m frankly aged compared to some of the speakers who took to the stage. It was incredible to see the clarity and strength of arguments put forward by Bella Lack and the inventiveness of Dara McAnulty. The emphasis in the Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife on inspiring youth is spot on.

George Monbiot closed the talks with an exceptional and passionate speech outside the gates of Downing Street. One thing from George’s talk that stuck with me was the need to make sure that our thoughts on wildlife are put in a positive context. We need to phrase our thoughts in terms of ‘this change would be fantastic because….’ rather than ‘we need to do this or else….’. This is a small change but an important one. I think of the difference in the way we perceive ‘a 60% chance of success’ versus ‘a 40% chance of failure’. In reality, both statements convey the same information, but I’d be much more likely to think positively about having a 60% chance of success instead of a 40% chance of failure.

It was fantastic to hear the topic of diversity raised. Wildlife is enjoyed by everyone and its preservation is much more likely if we can inspire people from all walks of life to get involved.

What each and every one of us can do in the wake of the Walk is to send a copy of the Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife to our MP. We can all bring the excellent ideas in this Manifesto (more on that in a future blog post) to our MP’s attention and push to see them enacted in our area. And add our own thoughts on how wildlife can be helped. Make sure they know how many people walked for wildlife. More MPs aware of these issues and potential solutions means more areas of the country where solutions can be enacted.

All in all, the Peoples Walk for Wildlife has to be viewed as a huge success. 10,000 people is an incredible turn out for what hopefully will become an annual event. The hashtag #PeoplesWalkforWildlife even trended at number 1 on Twitter. Huge thanks need to go to Chris Packham, his ministers and all of the other organisers for giving people the opportunity to raise their voices with their feet for UK wildlife. As Billy Bragg put it: ‘This is the start of something’. In London yesterday, it sure felt like it. I think a fitting way to finish is with a lyric from Grace Petrie’s song snowflake that she played so brilliantly in Hyde Park. I’ll admit, I’m still not too sure what a snowflake is, but the lyric goes:
You’ll see how much a snowflake matters
When we become an avalanche
Maybe, just maybe, this was the day that the people of the UK started an avalanche for UK wildlife.

Biggles amongst the people walking though London

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