Page 3 - Natural World Winter 2017

ALEX MUSTARD nwLeowailtrdseglsia/ftnneUedtrwKuis-ssswtusied. se:

Common seal, Time to
Isle of Coll plan far ahead

“Dear Theresa, Please will In turbulent times wildlife can bring
you be a friend of the sea?” great solace. World politics spins
around us at an unprecedented
It’s a fair question – especially coming from the pace, but even in winter there is joy
next generation. This summer, 1500 junior and beauty to be found in nature. It
members sent friendship bracelets to Theresa may take more determination to get
May asking her to be a friend of the sea. Some of out of the house as the days draw in, but there will
them handed the 100-metre-long petition in to certainly be a Wildlife Trust nature reserve very
Downing Street in August, with a message to the close to you and perhaps a Wildlife Trust café with
Prime Minister to complete the network of Marine welcoming people and a fabulous view.
Protected Areas around the UK. For some people it is very hard to get to see
wildlife, but we believe that no-one should be
deprived of that opportunity. We have projects up
and down the UK helping to break down the
barriers to people’s contact with the natural world.
Your support is helping us do this, and also
means we can stand up for wildlife so that it can
thrive in town and country and at sea. And
recently we have had some great successes across
the Wildlife Trust movement: saving Lodge Hill’s
nightingales from housing development in Kent;
bringing beavers back to Scotland, Kent and the
West Country; and ensuring more kids than ever
have a chance to take part in forest schools.
Everything we do is much easier to achieve if
we have the certainty of strong legal protection for
our most precious wildlife sites and tight rules
about pollution. As the UK leaves the European
Union, we need to make sure we retain high levels
of protection and set the right direction for
farming and fisheries. It is a big ask, and even then
it won’t be enough. We will need new ambition if
the country is going to look and feel and sound as
we would all love it to in 25 years’ time. We will
need a new Act of Parliament that provides the
framework for restoring our damaged ecosystems,
bringing wildlife into our towns and cities, and
allowing an abundance of wildlife to return to our
seas. Please support our campaign for a new
Environment Act.

Jedae, Joshua and Jenayde about to knock at No. 10 Stephanie Hilborne OBE
Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts
@stephhilborne

Wherever you are in the UK, your Wildlife Trust is standing up for
wildlife and wild places in your area and bringing people closer to
nature. Contact us on enquiry@wildlifetrusts.org or 01636 677711.
To join your Wildlife Trust, visit wildlifetrusts.org/joinus. Natural
World, The Kiln, Waterside, Mather Road, Newark, Notts NG24 1WT.
Editor Rupert Paul Layout editor Dan Hilliard Communications
Manager Lucy McRobert. Cover: Starlings coming in to roost at
Shapwick, Somerset Levels, by Guy Edwardes/2020Vision

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WINTER 2017 NATURAL WORLD 3