From the foreword to Nature Positive 2030 report
Co-written by Holly Gillibrand, 16, Scotland, Mya-Rose Craig, 19, England, Dara McAnulty, 17, Northern Ireland, Emily Davies, 23, Wales
“We are the generation who has been handed the climate and ecological crisis and we are the generation who will have to live with the decisions you make today. You have nine years to make the changes needed. You have to fix it. We have to live with it.
It’s the year 2050. Imagine this.
A coast with the sight of a surge of redshank, knot, and oystercatcher flocking in, to breed, make their home and thrive. A coastline where the cry of tern and flute of curlew competes with wind and wave. A place where the salty air is fresh and untainted by the stench of human waste and the shoreline is free from plastic. The feel of rocks encrusted with barnacles, periwinkles, and bladderwrack. An intact marine ecosystem with mammal, bird and fish in abundance. Harmonious and majestic; a place to get lost in. One that can persist for generations into the future for all to love and enjoy.
The rivers of the UK run clear and rich of life - tufted banks, luscious wet meadows and long reed beds stretch from the meanders up the valley sides. The electric blue flash of a kingfisher disappears into an overhanging veteran willow. Beavers gnaw loudly in the woodland, engineering the diverse ancient landscape where otters and water voles now thrive. The woodlands are now vast and sprawling, a mosaic of coppice and old growth, providing protection from memorable flash flooding in the town below. Fungi and bird nests burst from the gnarled standing dry timber as hazel dormice and nightingales recover their ancestral lands. The farmlands are now stitched together with a patchwork of dense and continuous hedging, which tumbles into crop fields with a broad and colourful meadow verge. These rich green corridors connect to the horizon, creeping through the urban gardens, linking commuting routes for wildlife and people to connect as one.
The sprawling UK uplands, once over-grazed and burned, are clothed in a myriad of habitats and species. Young saplings, springy and tough, rise from the feet of towering giants draped in moss, providing a home to nests of great spotted woodpeckers and dreys full of sleepily squirming squirrels. The woodland, humming and buzzing with life, trails up the steep mountain slope to the weathered peak far above, buffeted by winds where ptarmigan cower and golden eagles soar, free from persecution. This is a land where people and nature walk as one. A sanctuary, healing and free.
As animals, we respect our place in nature. Somewhere that keeps us well and allows us to flourish within a clean, nurturing and healthy environment. Swimming safely in rivers and seas free from sewage, breathing lightly and feeling the clean fresh air of our cities and countryside on our smooth skin. Badgers, hedgehogs, sparrows and starlings once again a regular sight in our gardens, wild verges and wildflower meadows heavy with bees, butterflies and ladybirds. Everyone with equal access to natural spaces and with the freedom to enjoy our environment.
This is a world worth living in for generations to come, one which can be achieved. But only through concerted action and a will for change and only if we begin this journey now. A first, critical step is becoming Nature Positive by 2030. We can do this, as demonstrated in this report. Curbing climate change, hand in hand with nature to benefit both humans and wildlife in an inter-connected cooperation”.
Source https://jncc.gov.uk/media/6428/nature-positive-2030-summary-report.pdf
More: In November 2022, the UK's Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies published a Joint Statement entitled Nature Recovery for Our Survival, Prosperity and Wellbeing. The Statement highlights the critical role of nature recovery in our survival, prosperity and wellbeing; along with the contribution that the UK's nature conservation bodies can make in achieving the recovery of the UK's nature. Read it here.
Co-written by Holly Gillibrand, 16, Scotland, Mya-Rose Craig, 19, England, Dara McAnulty, 17, Northern Ireland, Emily Davies, 23, Wales
“We are the generation who has been handed the climate and ecological crisis and we are the generation who will have to live with the decisions you make today. You have nine years to make the changes needed. You have to fix it. We have to live with it.
It’s the year 2050. Imagine this.
A coast with the sight of a surge of redshank, knot, and oystercatcher flocking in, to breed, make their home and thrive. A coastline where the cry of tern and flute of curlew competes with wind and wave. A place where the salty air is fresh and untainted by the stench of human waste and the shoreline is free from plastic. The feel of rocks encrusted with barnacles, periwinkles, and bladderwrack. An intact marine ecosystem with mammal, bird and fish in abundance. Harmonious and majestic; a place to get lost in. One that can persist for generations into the future for all to love and enjoy.
The rivers of the UK run clear and rich of life - tufted banks, luscious wet meadows and long reed beds stretch from the meanders up the valley sides. The electric blue flash of a kingfisher disappears into an overhanging veteran willow. Beavers gnaw loudly in the woodland, engineering the diverse ancient landscape where otters and water voles now thrive. The woodlands are now vast and sprawling, a mosaic of coppice and old growth, providing protection from memorable flash flooding in the town below. Fungi and bird nests burst from the gnarled standing dry timber as hazel dormice and nightingales recover their ancestral lands. The farmlands are now stitched together with a patchwork of dense and continuous hedging, which tumbles into crop fields with a broad and colourful meadow verge. These rich green corridors connect to the horizon, creeping through the urban gardens, linking commuting routes for wildlife and people to connect as one.
The sprawling UK uplands, once over-grazed and burned, are clothed in a myriad of habitats and species. Young saplings, springy and tough, rise from the feet of towering giants draped in moss, providing a home to nests of great spotted woodpeckers and dreys full of sleepily squirming squirrels. The woodland, humming and buzzing with life, trails up the steep mountain slope to the weathered peak far above, buffeted by winds where ptarmigan cower and golden eagles soar, free from persecution. This is a land where people and nature walk as one. A sanctuary, healing and free.
As animals, we respect our place in nature. Somewhere that keeps us well and allows us to flourish within a clean, nurturing and healthy environment. Swimming safely in rivers and seas free from sewage, breathing lightly and feeling the clean fresh air of our cities and countryside on our smooth skin. Badgers, hedgehogs, sparrows and starlings once again a regular sight in our gardens, wild verges and wildflower meadows heavy with bees, butterflies and ladybirds. Everyone with equal access to natural spaces and with the freedom to enjoy our environment.
This is a world worth living in for generations to come, one which can be achieved. But only through concerted action and a will for change and only if we begin this journey now. A first, critical step is becoming Nature Positive by 2030. We can do this, as demonstrated in this report. Curbing climate change, hand in hand with nature to benefit both humans and wildlife in an inter-connected cooperation”.
Source https://jncc.gov.uk/media/6428/nature-positive-2030-summary-report.pdf
More: In November 2022, the UK's Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies published a Joint Statement entitled Nature Recovery for Our Survival, Prosperity and Wellbeing. The Statement highlights the critical role of nature recovery in our survival, prosperity and wellbeing; along with the contribution that the UK's nature conservation bodies can make in achieving the recovery of the UK's nature. Read it here.