A bird book published in 1970 records the status of birds that we no longer hear and see or, heart-breakingly, are fast disappearing from our lives: Swifts and Swallows were very common; Turtle Doves, House Martins and Spotted Flycatchers were common; and Nightingales were fairly common. In the past decade alone populations of insect-eating Swifts, House Martins and Swallows have dropped by 40% or more*. There are also fewer places for them to nest as old houses are renovated, leaving fewer gaps in roofs and eaves – putting up special boxes for them and/or installing bricks for Swifts can help. The decline of insects means there is less food around for these birds and their chicks; this is scary – we all depend on insects.
So it is lovely to see many unmown areas flourishing around the village providing joy to so many of us, and providing native plant growth for insects to breed as well as feed. Thank you to all involved. Ditching pesticides and growing as many native plants and shrubs as possible helps. Visit our sustainable Wildlife Garden which is open during Great Big Green Week for the Church’s Open Gardens on Saturday 15th!
As the economist Professor Sir Partha Gupta so aptly puts it, GDP totally ignores how much nature is being lost to create so-called growth. Imagine a football team which measures its success only on the basis of the goals it scores and doesn’t count the goals it concedes. That football team could be losing without recognizing it. If we were to include the loss of nature as part of GDP, our economies aren’t looking so successful anymore. It’s not customary to take nature seriously in mainstream economics but it’s a massive mistake to think of nature as an infinite source of goods and services. A report has warned that destroying nature will cause a bigger economic slump than the 2008 crisis, not to mention the damage to agriculture. And, similarly, the economic damage wrought by climate change is six times worse than previously thought, with global heating set to shrink wealth at a rate consistent with the level of financial losses of a continuing permanent war.
We can and must do something now to ensure the huge changes ahead are for our good and not ill. Sign & share your support for the Climate & Nature Bill: https://action.zerohour.uk
One thing you can do: Join Chris Packham and the NT, RSPB – all the nature charities – for the Restore Nature Now march in London on 22 June at 12. Visit www.restorenaturenow.com See you there!
Sources:
* according to the latest BTO Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/17/economic-damage-climate-change-report.
The economic damage wrought by climate change is six times worse than previously thought, with global heating set to shrink wealth at a rate consistent with the level of financial losses of a continuing permanent war, research has found.