Comments on First Wild Summit
“Who are we, collectively?
“We are brilliant, rich thinkers with passion and power. We are not nimbies and blockers. Nature is the future.
“What could we do together? How can we marry the fierce rage of grassroots activists with big policy thinking from the nature charities? THEN we would be a mass movement demanding and proposing change.
“Our sector is big and bold and can work together. Let us make future Wild Summits sufficiently imperative to demand the attendance of the Prime Minister.”
Thus spake the wise, incisive Richard Benwell at the inaugural Wild Summit arranged by Wildlife and Countryside Link. Over 1000 paying guests represented 8 million members of wildlife, research and governmental groups. Government ministers attended.
The workshops, talks and panels showed that we are all desperate to halt nature’s decline by 2030. On current trends, we cannot. Richard summed up the overall ideas:
- Water: Catchment management regulations should be hard and binding to stop river pollution
- Finance: The inherent risks in nature depletion should be revealed in company’s Corporate Disclosure – and regulation used to drive demand for nature investment
- Farming – what would it really take to provide nature public goods? Farmers should not be bashful in demanding what is needed
- Planning – build nature into development
- Wildlife – personhood of nature as for companies
- Work with development banks and national banks to make nature an investable proposition nationally and globally
Specifics from sessions Richard Harding and I attended were:
The XR fast-ssembly workshop:
- communities to adopt their local river and its basin for protection and restoration
- confer personhood and name the river basin
- new statutory protections to be created at this local level “River Parks”
On global action:
- remember the effect of global supply chains on global nature
- UK could take leadership – but first must get our own house in order
- we must improve our position from that of a most nature-degraded country
- our global leadership would be through partnering rather than dictating
Gems from the talks:
- we should have those difficult conversations with those of diametrically opposed views
- be optimistic! Government ministers are on our side – nature is not party-political
- be realistic! The growth agenda and despising of nature from on-high is not helpful
- nature MUST be monetarily-valued for it to have a chance in the capitalist world
- support Biodiversity Net Gain
Our Voice for Nature is fragmented and (necessarily) place-based. We need to rise as One and speak forcefully. Nature imbues our actions from grassroots community groups and farmers, to regional clusters, and national and international clubs; at all political levels; and from Local to Global.