2020 – Urgency and action | Shropshire Wildlife Trust

What a year 2020 could be. There are all manner of things that need doing NOW – none more so than tackling the climate crisis. Will this be the year we turn things around? A few New Year resolutions won’t go amiss:

As good or better.

As we move towards leaving the EU we need to ensure that we have environmental protection that matches or exceeds current EU standards.

Get climate change done.

Let’s see some urgency and action to reduce greenhouse gasses. Everyone needs to play their part, however small, but central and local government must take this seriously. No more roads – please!

Help nature recover.

Wildlife is beleaguered, under pressure from intensive farming, relentless development, climate change and public apathy. We will help build a nature recovery network to allow wildlife to spread easily and thrive.

Habitat creation, development pressures — Terry Whittaker2020/Vision

Beaver in shallow water — Taken from Welsh Beaver Project photograph by Allard Martinius

Bring back the beaver.

Persecuted to extinction, beavers engineer rivers to clean the water and alleviate flooding. Let’s get ‘em back.

Beautiful Telford.

Telford is a gem of a town, with an accessible and wildlife-rich green network envied up and down the land. We want to make it even better by improving habitats – starting now!

Tough times for farmers.

Brexit will spell difficult times for some farmers, particularly on marginal land. A switch to subsidy for public goods will see the Trust well-placed to offer advice and support to farmers.

Action for insects.

Insect numbers have crashed. This is disastrous for the many animals and birds reliant on them as a food source. We will take action to prevent a silent spring.

Swifts.

The real portent of summer, swifts do everything on the wing except raise young; no wonder they are so steeped in folklore. Piqued your interest? Look out this spring for “Swifts and Us” by our own Sarah Gibson, published by Harper Collins