Wildlife campaigner and TV presenter Chris Packham has published a People’s Manifesto for Wildlife. You can download a copy on the page by following the link.
It states:
“Between 1970 and 2013, 56% of UK species declined . . . of the nearly 8,000 species assessed using modern criteria, 15% are threatened with extinction. . . . this suggests that we are among the most nature-depleted countries in the world.”
“Of the 218 countries assessed for ‘biodiversity intactness’, the UK is ranked 189, a consequence of centuries of industrialisation, urbanisation and overexploitation of our natural resources”.
As part of this growing campaign there will be a People’s Walk for Wildlife on Saturday 22nd of September in London.
The first pages of the manifesto contain the names of the many species already extinct or under threat in the British Isles.
There are contributions from several specialists, ‘Ministers’, who put forward their proposals for protecting wildlife. One of the main proposals is a new independent public service body – Life UK
It states:
“I believe that an independent public service body should be established to oversee all conservation and environmental care and that it should receive significant, long-term, ring-fenced funding, so that it is independent from the whims of party politics and different periods of government.
“That body – LIFE UK – would thus address issues from climate change, biodiversity loss, landscape and conservation management through to wildlife crime, all of which (and more) are discussed in this manifesto
“As the UK’s nations have devolved government, LIFE UK could be publicly funded with an independent tax akin to the BBC licence fee, payable by all UK adults and similarly scaled. We want and need our wildlife back – so we will all have to pay fairly for it. But we want results too – so its conservation must be independent, informed, efficient and deliver real benefits in real time.”
The manifesto is designed to be controversial and political – to open up the discussion at all levels about what is happening to our wildlife. You will be able to follow the discussion and updates from the walk on Twitter #ThePeoplesWalkForWildlife.
44 million birds have been lost from the British Isles since 1966, goodness knows how many other species of wildlife.
Birdsong of Blackbird, Blackcap, Chiff-chaff, Nightingale, Robin, Willow Warbler, Song Thrush and Skylark plus a few strays like Pheasant.
You can download it here for your phone: Birdsong
