Surviving the Future
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPERATIVES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
1 The Russian Invasion of Ukraine, understandably, dominates all headlines, but the British Isles are not yet either ‘post-Brexit' or ‘post-Covid’ ; it seems clear that both will limit our lives for some years to come. Meanwhile, the Westminster Government continues to be semi-paralysed (as it has been since 2016). which means that the threats of the CLIMATE AND ECOLOGICAL CRISES, (Global Warming and Global Extinctions, if you will), fail to be addressed with anything like the urgency they demand.
2 To do so will require truly fundamental changes in society, economy, employment, travel etc., across the Globe, changes which are well beyond the scope of this paper. These changes will have to be initiated at every level, ie at the level of nations and governments, conurbations, towns, villages, and, crucially, by individuals. This short paper aims to outline some of the environmental imperatives which will help to mitigate the dual crises above, some actions which individuals or small groups can undertake, or for which they can organise to put pressure on government.
3 PROTECT: we must protect what remains of the Natural World. As people are increasingly enjoying the world of nature, they should, methodically, get to know, love and watch over their own ‘patch’. We must not accept further erosion of open space; alert others/the local community to threats, and take action. The major threats are:
New Housing: this has to be stopped on green land; brownfield sites (unless they have become real havens for wildlife) must be preferred. Redundant hotels, office blocks, empty buildings (including shops) should be converted to affordable housing. Our city and town centres need again to be places where people actually live as well as work. ‘Levelling up’ (with substantial new funding) is needed to make areas which are currently ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘depressed’ actually attractive as places to live and work, lifting pressure from ‘honeypots’.
Travel Infrastructure: We must dramatically reduce commuting, and properly co-ordinate delivery services, in order to reduce traffic and the endless need for new roads, etc.
Industry: This must be located in disused industrial locations; there are plenty!
4 OBSERVE AND UNDERSTAND: (Citizen Science in action). Watch what is happening, learn how human involvement can lock up carbon, enhance habitats, improve conditions for wildlife.
Examples include traditional management of native woods, wildflower meadows, conservation grazing rotated through paddocks.
5 GET OUT THERE: We need far more people out working on the land: conservation bodies, (as well as agriculturalists) are often tempted to use big, new machines in place of labour; this is not at all green. We need, not just more conservation volunteers, but employed people too-a whole, new Land Army, working in agriculture, land management generally, conservation and landscape enhancement, with fiscal encouragement for employers to take on labour rather than mechanise.
6 GROW THINGS: Grow wild and garden flowers for pollinators, grow your own food, trees, bushes, have a pond. Orchards, gardens, allotments, all benefit wildlife, air quality, your own well-being. NB: Tree-planting is very fashionable, but requires a long commitment of care. Cultivation should be as minimal as possible and peaty soil should never be planted. Natural regeneration should be preferred where possible, as should reinstating traditional management of old woods. Retaining old trees is more important than planting new ones.
7 AGRICULTURE: We will still need areas of intensive agriculture (not all areas can simply be ‘rewilded’) but they need to be modified to be as wildlife-friendly, as ‘low-input’ as possible; ‘regenerative agriculture’ is the model to follow. Less intensive agriculture should be encouraged; much should become ‘multi-purpose’, (agri-forestry), eg., large orchards with fruit/veg gardens under the trees, and/or paddock grazing of stock. Variants on this theme can be devised to suit local climatic and soil conditions. (Read ‘Orchard’; Macdonald and Gates, William Collins 2020).
Not all farms can follow Knepp, but we need similar sites across the country, as ‘reservoirs’ for threatened wildlife; they can spread out into suitable niches in the surrounding, enhanced landscapes.
8 ACCESS: access to the countryside needs to be widened and enhanced; paths can be used to ‘tempt’ walkers and dogs away from sensitive areas, but need maintenance. More car parks are needed, but they must be landscaped and provided with compost loos.
9 AREAS OF CONCERN 1) and 2) especially in uplands):
Deer Populations need to be assessed for sustainability and firmly managed. (All over Britain they effectively negate major conservation efforts).
Commercial Forestry: We have enormous areas given over to commercial forestry, still managed in hugely unsustainable ways, from mounding on peaty soils through to extensive clearfell. These practices need progressive elimination. While it has to be accepted that Britain needs to continue to meet its requirements for wood/timber, areas zoned for commercial growth still need mitigation measures. Non-commercial woods, (in whatever ownership) should be modified for conservation, amenity and community purposes; Community Woodlands extended.
Towns and Cities: Here there are two urgent priorities; Housing must be made fit for the 21st century, places for living happily, whole environments, properly insulated living /working/leisure places for families. We need a NATIONAL HOUSING CAMPAIGN, employing an URBAN RENEWAL ARMY, whose other task should be creating new and attractive neighbourhoods; with leisure space and opportunities.
Water: We must zone our waterways for leisure activities and nature conservation, or wildlife will suffer. River catchments need ecological restoration, abstraction from rivers and lochs/lakes should be firmly controlled, discharge of sewage into fresh- or sea-water eliminated. Access to waterways in England should be widened, as in Scotland.
Energy: We need a comprehensive, long-term, centrally-directed Energy Policy; small-scale, local energy sources should be encouraged. For pragmatic reasons, some conservation policies will have to be relaxed: houses in conservation areas should be allowed solar panels and efficient windows, for instance.
EDUCATION: Without a continuing programme of education about the overwhelming significance of Global Warming and Global Extinctions, the public will never be brought onside, will never accept the necessary changes and restrictions. THIS MUST BE THE URGENT RESPONSIBILITY OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
ROBIN NOBLE: FEBRUARY 2022.