"The England I knew as a child and a young man was breathtakingly beautiful, hedgerows and small copses were abundant, and small streams and rivers teemed with fish and fed the otters. It has not all gone yet, and I ask, is there no one prepared to let it survive long enough to illustrate a gentle relationship between humans and the land, a living example of how one small group of humans, for a brief spell, did it right?” James Lovelock
Now look around you and think about how much has gone since you first moved here or were born here. How much more should we clean and cut, and relegate nature to a sterile backdrop or boundary marker without valuing its diversity as a part of our well being. The UN CoP15 on biodiversity last month, emphasised the links between recovering ecosystems and tackling the climate emergency. The future of humanity is on the line.
Why have I bemoaned for so long the decline in species and their populations? It's because they’ve gone and will never come back to enthrall and inspire me with their beauty that grieves me so.
If you do want to help reverse climate change through natural processes then please make a resolution this year to proactively increase the numbers of wild creatures and plants that find sanctuary in your garden and home. There are many ways to do this if you look online.
I sense there is a great need to reconnect with nature and to learn that we must stop its decline before its too late. For those of a certain leaning, a bio-count every year to monitor your success and their return will provide positive feedback. We may then briefly, as James Lovelock’s quote suggests, do it right again.
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