Rose tinted view on environment can pose a risk to nature says Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

For just short of 30 years I have taken great pleasure from being able to celebrate nature and seek to inspire others to act for nature through my work. — Writes Erin McDaid, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

The charitable objectives of my employers, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, are to ‘promote and protect’ the wildlife of our fair county and I am firmly of the view that if people are to care enough to act to protect something, they first have to be aware of and appreciate its value.

This belief drives me to share my knowledge (and that of my much wiser colleagues) and passion for wildlife and the environment but, with nature seemingly under attack from all directions, I increasingly wonder if I have been guilty of overselling the wonders of nature down the years.

Not a second do I feel that I have over emphasised the implicit beauty and value of nature but may have failed to focus often enough on the scale of what we have lost and the perils now facing our natural world. In this respect, I may have a case to answer, but in my defence, I would argue that I too am a victim of our collective love of nature.

A victim of our hankering for a romanticised view of the countryside and a national disposition that means we are more likely to bury our heads in the sand than to shout our concerns from the rooftops.

We want our landscape to be filled with nature, at some base level we need it to be.

We therefore tend to cling to any sight or sound of nature and to allow our mind and emotions to fill the blanks where once a flurry of activity or a cacophony of birdsong might have been.

By painting a rose-tinted view of the natural world, we can avoid the stark reality that precious little of our landscape truly teems with nature.

Even our most protected places have less wildlife in terms of number or abundance of species or both. Collectively we are too often guilty of focusing on where to see and enjoy species, rather than considering where they have disappeared from and why.

The continue loss and degradation of wild habitats and the long-term decline in wildlife is the devastating backdrop against which many across the environmental sector have reacted so viscerally to recent Government announcements relating to their Growth Plan.

Whilst some have sought to characterise our response as a partisan over reaction, I would argue it has been wholly appropriate given that we face a scenario where the threats that have so clearly pushed much of our nature to the brink may soon be unshackled.

In our early responses to the raft of policy shifts affecting nature and the environment, including the removal of so called ‘red tape; and the ‘liberalisation’ of planning rules, we somewhat unusually and uncharacteristically referred to being angry.

This anger stems not from party politics or preference, but from our heartfelt determination to stand up for nature at a critical time.

We remain angry, and The Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and National Trust have made it clear that all options for defending nature remain on the table, but our collective anger will be channeled into highlighting where removing or relaxing environmental protections or planning rules will further threaten nature. We will also continuing to give wildlife a voice and to mobilise our supporters and like-minded folk who care about nature.

Personally, I will continue to celebrate nature, but, the glasses that cover my eyes are less and less rose-tinted. I will increasingly use my passion for nature as fuel to seek change and as motivation to encourage others to act.