"A
Focus on Nature is filled with young people brimming with passion and
talent to communicate about nature and to protect it. But as many of
us know, decisions about nature don’t always go our (or nature’s)
way. This is because those in power don’t feel enough pressure to
decide in our favour. As young people, we’re going to suffer the
worst consequences of this. When the politicians in power now are
retired or dead, we’ll be living in the natural world built by
their decisions. That’s why those decisions have to reflect our
ambitions."
Matt
Williams - AFON
My
Vision for Nature
The
air we breath, the environment we live in, it's all influenced, and
inextricably linked to natural world. However, with increasing
population pressure, the ever growing demands of industry and
economy, we are beginning to see the cracks appear in the landscape.
With a rapid deterioration of ecosystems our own well being, as a
species, is suffering. But what can we do, we need solutions that
work for people AND wildlife.
Conservation
is a word that in many ways could invoke inaction, but conserving
must not be confused with preserving. Action needs to be taken to
improve our natural environment, not just to preserve what wild
places are left. Life has a knack of clinging on, bringing its
vitality to the concrete jungle many of us call home. It's this that
can be encouraged, improved and increased.
So
what is my vision for nature? It's a future where nature is not
sidelined. This is not to say I do not believe in building new homes,
new schools and businesses, but that this can be done sensitivity and
sensibly. There is still so much scope for the nature to be
incorporated into our everyday lives. I want to see urban reserves,
thriving and connected. Water courses, free from pollution and houses
teaming not just with homo sapiens, but also a myriad of
other animal life. As well as conserving wild and green areas, we can
create new habitats, new build homes can have living opportunities
for other animals incorporated into their design, nest boxes for
house martins and bat roosts. Rather than the constant displacement
that leave so many populations isolated and dwindling.
Wild
places teaming with life are not the preserve of the countryside,
where often the reality is barren intensive farmland, wild places can
be at the heart of the city and in some cases already are. I want to
see more of them spring up, and opened up, to be appreciated and
enjoyed. This can and needs to be part of the urban development in
the 21st Century, trees to cool and clean the air, and nectar rich
plants to feed the bees. Modernisation is about learning form the
past, not replicating previous mistakes.
So
it seems it's up to us, the next generation, to make our visions a
reality. We are calling on all political parties in the run up to the
elections to take these issues seriously. The youth have a voice and
we want to see real policies on the environment and on climate
change, that will safeguard the future of this planet for everyone,
of all species.
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