A WORCESTERSHIRE charity has called for the nature and climate crises to be tackled ‘together and at speed’.
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust said the two crises were inseparable and humans won’t solve either if we don’t all take action and prepare for a changing world.
If the two crises are not tackled, Worcestershire could see more extreme rainfall events and floods as well as extensive droughts that cause wildfires across heathland in the north and grasslands in the south of the county.
The charity is warning that much-loved wildlife like cuckoos and habitats like wildflower-rich grasslands that support multitudes of bees, butterflies, birds and mammals may not survive a rapidly changing climate.
Together with trusts across the country, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is calling on the UK Presidency of the global climate conference COP26 to tackle the nature crisis alongside the climate crisis as well as encouraging local authorities, businesses and residents across the county to do their bit.
Colin Raven, director of Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, said: “Nature plays a vital role in storing carbon safely as well as providing us with clean water, clean air and much more. But our natural places are in decline and now face an even greater risk of degradation from the results of climate change that are already inevitable in the near future.”
The trust is looking for sites next to its own nature reserves to ensure wildlife has space to move and adapt as changes to our climate take hold.
Wetlands, grasslands, heathland and saltmarsh as well as woodlands all store carbon so ensuring their creation and restoration helps wildlife, the climate and people.
The trust is about to launch a fund-raising appeal to buy 60 acres of land next to its Monkwood nature reserve near Sinton Green.
The trust intends to plant native trees on some of the fields in order to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and to provide important connectivity between their nature reserve and other woodlands in the area.
Together, the trust’s 1,290 acres of woodland across the county sequester an estimated 3,700 tonnes of carbon per year.
Its Natural Networks project, a European-funded partnership with Worcestershire County Council, helped to fund work along the Duck Brook in Worcester.
A new brook channel was created which provides fresh habitat for wildlife and helps to prevent flooding of a nearby cycle path which allows children to reach the nearby Cherry Orchard Primary School. Wildflower seeds were sown and blossom and berry-rich trees were also planted.
A new project to inspire and encourage communities in Worcester to make space for nature and live more sustainable lives is about to be launched by the trust.
Wilder Worcestershire, funded by the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund, will enable the charity build partnerships with community groups, housing associations, schools, faith organisations and residents to help nature to recover and to make access to nature more equal, diverse and inclusive.
The trust is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the UK calling on the Government to commit to take urgent steps to stop carbon-emitting activities.
Visit the website at www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/cop26 for more information about the campaign.
