Why you should attend the Peoples Walk for Wildlife on Saturday 22nd September



Next Saturday, 22nd September, will see the first Peoples Walk for Wildlife. This event starting in Hyde Park, London, will bring people together from across the UK to voice a very simple message: we want wildlife. Wildlife in the UK is in real trouble and its up to all of us to speak up for those species that can’t speak up for themselves. The more people who attend, the louder this voice will be.



So what’s the walk about? Its not just about the scores of hen harriers, golden eagles and short eared owls that are illegally killed on Britain’s grouse moors each year. Its not just about the thousands of badgers that are being killed in a cull that is not just scientifically questionable, but acts against scientific evidence. Its not just about the foxes that are still being killed by dogs in fox hunts in the UK, despite the Hunting Act coming into effect over a decade ago. Its not just about the 97% decline we’ve seen in our hedgehog population or the recent collapse of our insects. Or just about cetaceans, seabirds and fish being killed in high numbers through by-catch.

All of these issues are clearly important. But the Peoples Walk for Wildlife is not only about specific issues, but is also about our overall attitude towards wildlife. How can we better manage our countryside, towns and cities to restore the biodiversity that has been lost? How can we make sure that wildlife is considered by lawmakers, the government and local authorities to ensure it is preserved and cherished? How can we best connect people with the landscapes and species around them?

This is particularly important at the moment because Brexit means our environmental laws are up for debate. Its vital that we ensure that our wildlife is cherished. By giving wildlife the protection it deserves, it will flourish.

This is why its so important that as many people as possible turn out next Saturday in Hyde Park, London. The day starts at 10am with some entertainment followed by the walk at 1pm. And if you need one more reason to attend, Dame Judi Dench says you should. Follow Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) on Twitter or visit his website (www.chrispackham.co.uk) for more specific details about the day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Species Focus: Yellow-Eyed Penguin

Image
Yellow-eyed penguin This is the first in a new series of blog posts that will focus in on the conservation of some of the world’s less well known species, animals that are not particularly famous amongst the general public but who need urgent conservation attention. The posts will give some background on the species and then focus in on the conservation challenges they face and the efforts being undertaken to conserve them. The first species placed under the spotlight is the beautiful and charismatic yellow-eyed penguin. Yellow-eyed penguin,  © Chris Ruis Species profile The yellow-eyed penguin is endemic to the dramatic coastlines and churning seas of New Zealand, where it is found in the southeast portion of the South Island and on Stewart Island and the subantarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands. It’s a species with a rather descriptive scientific name: Megadyptes antipodes translates roughly as ‘large diver of the southern islands’. And the Maori
Read more

Good news for Mountain Gorillas! But there's still work to do before they're out of the extinction woods

Image
The latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has provided hope for the conservation of the Mountain Gorilla, which has moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered. In a forest of lush green vegetation, you wouldn’t have thought that a human would look like a suitable and comfortable seat would you? And yet, that was exactly what one young mountain gorilla decided Sir David Attenborough looked like during filming for his Life on Earth series. This scene is one of Attenborough’s most iconic and showed the soft and playful nature of these huge primates. A young mountain gorilla testing the comfiness of Sir David Attenborough during filming for Life on Earth But these gentle giants haven’t had things easy on the conservation front. The last IUCN assessment of the mountain gorilla carried out in 2008 estimated that only roughly 680 individuals survived. This report placed the species in the ‘Critically Endangered’ category, meaning it was facing an ‘extreme
Read more

How do we decide which species should be given conservation priority? The application of the EDGE score

Image
With so many species under threat of extinction, how can we decide which species to prioritise? The EDGE score uses a scientific framework to identify the world’s most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species that can then be targeted for conservation intervention. Staggeringly, of the 93,577 species whose conservation status has been assessed to date by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 26,197 are under threat in 2018. That’s roughly 28%. And as 95% of known species are yet to be assessed, the number of threatened species is only going to increase, and is likely to increase massively. Current estimates from the IUCN suggest that up to 10,000 species are being driven to extinction each year. Depressing stats for sure. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of conservation organisations and governments worldwide, resources for conservation remain comparatively scarce in the face of the enormous challenges facing our wildlife. This raises
Read more